Wednesday, December 28, 2016


Check out the amazing titles that released
 Tuesday, December 27!


Proprietor of the Eternal Slumber Funeral Home, Emma Lee can see, hear, and talk to ghosts of murdered folks. And when her high school nemesis is found dead, Jade Lee Peel is the same old mean girl—trying to come between Emma Lee and her hot boyfriend, Sheriff Jack Henry Ross, all over again.
There’s only one way for Emma Lee to be free of the trash-talking ghost—solve the murder so the former prom queen can cross over.
But the last thing Jade Lee wants is to leave the town where she had her glory days. And the more Emma Lee investigates on her own, the more complicated Miss Popularity turns out to be. Now Emma Lee will have to work extra closely with her hunky lawman to get to the twisty truth.


Kristan “Stan” Connor gladly turned tail on her high-flying job and moved to a quaint New England town to sell organic pet treats. But with her nose for solving murders, there’s no such thing as a quiet life…
 
Summer is winding down in Frog Ledge, Connecticut, but Stan’s love life and career are both heating up nicely. In between planning her new pet patisserie and café, Stan is settling into living-in-bliss with sexy pub owner Jake McGee. Love’s on the menu for Stan’s mom, Patricia, too, who’s engaged to Frog Ledge’s mayor, Tony Falco.
 
Mayor Falco’s dogged ambition isn’t popular among locals, but it’s his executive coach, Eleanor Chang, who’s inspired a dangerous grudge. When Eleanor is found dead, there’s a whole pack of suspects to choose from. Stan has first-hand experience of Eleanor’s unsavory business tactics. But finding out who forced her to take a fatal plunge off the corporate ladder means unearthing some shady secrets…and a killer who’s too close for comfort.
 
Includes Gourmet Pet Food Recipes!



The snow is deep in Maine’s Busman’s Harbor and the mighty rivers are covered in ice. Snowden Family Clambake Company proprietor Julia Snowden and her mother, Jacqueline, are hunkered down for the winter when a mysterious package arrives—heating up February with an unexpected case of murder . . . 
 
Inside the mystery package is an enormous black diamond necklace that once belonged to Julia’s great-grandmother and disappeared in the 1920s. Who could have sent it—and why? Julia’s search for clues takes her on a perilous journey through her mother’s troubled family history, from a squabble over the family fortune in “frozen water” to the recent unexplained death of Jacqueline’s long-lost cousin Hugh—who’d been missing and presumed drowned for more than forty years. To protect her mother’s inheritance, Julia must fend off a small army of feuding relatives, solve the mystery surrounding Hugh’s demise, and get back home before the next blizzard buries them all . . .


In post–World War I England, Lady Phoebe Renshaw and her lady’s maid, Eva Huntford, encounter an uncharitable killer at a charity luncheon sponsored by a posh school for girls . . .  

Good deeds build good character, and good character is what the Haverleigh School for Young Ladies is all about. Lady Phoebe—with the tireless assistance of Eva—has organized a luncheon at the school to benefit wounded veterans of the Great War, encouraging the students to participate in the cooking and the baking. But too many cooks do more than spoil the broth—they add up to a recipe for disaster when the school’s headmistress, Miss Finch, is poisoned. 
 
The girls at Haverleigh all come from highly respected families, none of whom will countenance their darling daughters being harassed like common criminals by the local police. So Lady Phoebe steps in to handle the wealthy young debutantes with tact and discretion, while Eva cozies up to the staff. Did one of the girls resent the headmistress enough to do her in? Did a teacher bear a grudge? What about the school nurse, clearly shell shocked from her service in the war? No one is above suspicion, not even members of the school’s governing body, some of whom objected to Miss Finch’s “modern” methods.
 
But Lady Phoebe and Eva will have to sleuth with great stealth—or the cornered killer may try to teach someone else a lethal lesson.

Happy Reading!


As always, please leave a comment and 

let me know what you think!

Follow my blog by 
clicking on the link in the 
upper right hand corner of this page.

Tuesday, December 27, 2016


Lisa Ks Book Reviews blog is proud to bring to you
THE COZY TIMES

This is a weekly online publication focused on connecting cozy mystery readers to favorite cozy characters by way of their town's newspapers. 

The Cozy Times will be available every Wednesday right here on Lisa Ks blog.

*****!!!GIVEAWAY!!!*****

Keep reading until the bottom of this post 
for information on the giveaway!

I hope you'll enjoy this special edition.

Today's featured paper is the 
Sleepy Hollow Gazette

Check it out!


Reality Star, Jade Lee Peel, Death Ruled Murder

December 27, 2016
Fluggie Callahan

When former beauty Queen and beloved reality star, Jade Lee Peel, was found dead in the Sleepy Hollow Inn with a scarf tied around her neck, police wasn’t sure if it was suicide.

But family members and friends were skeptical. The star’s career was thriving and days before she’d landed her own reality show which was being filmed while her visit back to Sleepy Hollow for her ten year class reunion.

Even Sheriff Jack Henry Ross is skeptical. According to police records that were obtained by an anonymous source, Jade Lee and one of her former classmates, Emma Lee Raines, had a few words outside of the Sleepy Hollow Inn just a few hours before the local star was found dead. Also according to the source, Jade Lee had gotten her hair fixed by Mary Anna Hardy down at Girl’s Best Friend Spa. The source reports Jade Lee’s hair turned out less than stellar. Mary Anna was overheard saying a few unflattering things about Jade Lee.


“We have felt adamantly that Ms. Peel didn’t commit suicide. She was too vain to do such a thing,” said an agent from Hester and Hester Talent Agency who represents Ms. Peel’s career.

It’s unclear if anyone has been interviewed in relation to Ms. Peel’s death. Calls to the Sheriff’s department hadn’t been returned at the print of this article. We’d also reached to Coroner Vernon Baxter, he’d not returned our phone call as of print. 


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That's this week's edition of 
The Cozy Times 
I hope you enjoyed!


To learn more about 
Sleepy Hallow, Kentucky 
check out the 
Ghostly Southern Mysteries
by author 
Tonya Kappes


For years, USA Today bestselling author Tonya Kappes has been publishing numerous mystery and romance titles with unprecedented success. She is famous not only for her hilarious plot lines and quirky characters, but her tremendous marketing efforts that have earned her thousands of followers and a devoted street team of fans.
Sign up for her newsletter on her website at Tonyakappes.com .

Visit Tonya:
Facebook at Author Tonya Kappes,
www.facebook.com/authortonyakappes

Kappes Krew Street Team
www.facebook.com/groups/208579765929709/

Webpage
tonyakappes.com

Goodreads
www.goodreads.com/author/show/4423580.Tonya_Kappes

Twitter 
twitter.com/tonyakappes11

Pinterest
www.pinterest.com/tonyakappes/

For weekly updates and contests, sign up for Tonya's newsletter Kappes Krew Weekly via her website or Facebook.

~*~*~*~*~

Tonya is so excited about her new book 
A GHOSTLY REUNION
she's giving away a 
$10.00 Amazon Gift Card!


GOOD LUCK!

a Rafflecopter giveaway



As always, please leave a comment and 
let me know what you think!

Follow my blog by 
clicking on the link in the 
upper right hand corner of this page.

Monday, December 26, 2016


I hope everyone had an amazing Christmas! 

If yours was anything like mine, 
you're needing extra sleep today.

I'll be back
Tuesday December 27
awake a ready to go!

Have a great day!

Sunday, December 25, 2016


🎁MERRY CHRISTMAS🎅
🎄MERRY CHRISTMAS🎁
🎅MERRY CHRISTMAS🎄


I'll be back
Tuesday December 27
with more cozy fun!

Have a safe and 
🎄MERRY CHRISTMAS!🎄

Saturday, December 24, 2016


Taking a break to elf it out.
🎁Lots to do to get ready for Christmas.🎁

I'll be back
Tuesday December 27
with more cozy fun!

Have a safe and 
🎄MERRY CHRISTMAS!🎄

Friday, December 23, 2016


Taking a break to elf it out.
Lots to do to get ready for Christmas.

I'll be back
Tuesday December 27
with more cozy fun!

Have a safe and 
🎁MERRY CHRISTMAS!🎁

Thursday, December 22, 2016


Taking a break to elf it out.
Lots to do to get ready for Christmas.

I'll be back
Tuesday December 27
with more cozy fun!

Have a safe and 
MERRY CHRISTMAS!


Wednesday, December 21, 2016


Christmas is coming!

So many things come to mind when thinking of Christmas, and they all bring a smile to my face. 
One of the things that brings the biggest smile?

COOKIES!!!

Luckily for cozy fans, there are tons of tasty cookie recipes in many of our favorite cozy mysteries! 

Every Tuesday, now until Christmas . . . . . 
We're out of Tuesdays, so why not a Wednesday?

Today's cookie is from

FINAL SENTENCE
by
Daryl Wood Gerber


This recipe can also be found in
THE COZY COOKBOOK


AUNT VERA'S GLUTEN-FREE
ORANGE-CHOCOLATE BISCOTTI

All food photos are courtesy of Googles Images.
You biscotti may differ in appearance.

Oh, how I adore making cookies. I love time-intensive cookies, the kind I can sink my hands into. Hands, as you might have figured out, have great meaning to me. They are the symbolic equivalent of power and balance. With your hands, you can make delicious foods as well as bring comfort. These biscotti, which I have chosen to make gluten-free because on of my dearest friends cannot eat wheat, are a wonderful combination of textures and the perfect accompaniment to a good cup of coffee or tea. (I have made these same cookies using regular flour. Just substitute regular flour for the sweet rice flour and tapioca starch. You won't need the xanthan gum, a magical ingredient for gluten-free bakers.) ~ Aunt Vera


Note: This recipe takes no time to put together, but the dough takes a long time to bake. 

MAKES 30 TO 36 BISCOTTI

Ingredients

1 cup sweet rice flour
¾ cup tapioca starch
½ teaspoon xanthan gum
¼ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon baking soda
2 eggs 
¾ cups sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon orange extract
Grated zest of ½ orange
2 tablespoons fresh orange juice
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips


Directions

Preheat the oven to 300° F. Place racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven. 

Line a cookie sheet with foil or parchment paper, or grease the cookie sheet. 

In a small bowl, mix sweet rice flour, tapioca starch (do not tamp down), xanthan gum, salt, and baking soda. Set aside.

In another bowl, mix the eggs, sugar, vanilla, and orange extract. Over the top of the bowl, grate the orange zest. Add the orange juice. Mix in the gluten-free flour mixture. Then stir in the chocolate chips. The mixture will be cookie-dough consistency---gooey. 

Scrape the batter, in 2 skinny lines, the full length of the cookies sheet, leaving 3 inches between lines. Use a spatula to clean up the strips. If necessary, rinse the spatula with hot water. 


Put the cookie sheet on the lower rack and bake for 15 minutes. Turn pan front to back and bake another 20 minutes until golden brown. Remove the pan and cool on a rack for 15 minutes. Leave the oven on. 

Using a spatula, transfer the baked strips to a cutting board. Using a serrated knife, slice the loaves on a diagonal into ½-inch-wide slices. Place the cookies on their narrow sides to "stand", this time on an unlined cookie sheet, at least ½ inch apart. Bake 20 to 25 minutes, until golden brown. If necessary, rotate the pans halfway through the baking process so the cookies are evenly baked. 

Cool the biscotti completely before storing. These may be kept in an airtight container for a few weeks. They are fabulous dipped into a cup of coffee. 


🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪

As always, please leave a comment and 
let me know what you think!

Follow my blog by 
clicking on the link in the 
upper right hand corner of this page.


~*~*~*~*~

Tuesday, December 20, 2016


Christmas is coming!

So many things come to mind when thinking of Christmas, and they all bring a smile to my face. 
One of the things that brings the biggest smile?

COOKIES!!!

Dessert, parties, cookie exchanges . . . 
Cookies play a big part in the holidays.

Luckily for cozy fans, there are tons of tasty cookie recipes in many of our favorite cozy mysteries! 

Every Tuesday, now until Christmas, I'll be sharing some amazing cookie recipes from some of your favorite authors and books! 

Today's cookie is from

HOLIDAY GRIND
by 
Cleo Coyle


CLARE'S OLD-FASHIONED 
SUGAR COOKIES

At the start of the holiday season, Clare Cosi mixes up a big batch of this sugar cookie dough and keeps it in the fridge, wrapped tightly in plastic. When she's ready to make a sheet pan full of cookies, she breaks off a piece of dough about the size of an orange, rolls it out, and bakes up a panful so she can serve freshly baked cookies to guests with their after-dinner coffee. 

Makes 48-60 cookies, depending on the size of your cookie cutters and how thin or thick you prefer to roll your dough.

Ingredients

6 cups all-purpose flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons salt
2 cups (4 sticks) unsalted butter
2 cups granulated sugar
4 eggs, room temperature!
3 teaspoons vanilla extract


Step 1---Make your dough: 

Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt. 
In a separate bowl, cream the butter and sugar.
Beat in the room temperature eggs and vanilla. 
Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients until a smooth dough forms. (Do not overwork dough or your cookies will be tough.)
Lightly pat the dough into a big ball, wrap snugly in plastic, and chill for at least 3 hours or overnight. 


Step 2---Roll your dough:

First, preheat the oven to 350°F.
Break off an orange-sized ball of dough, place it on a flat surface that's been rubbed with flour, and (if you know what you're doing) roll away!
For a thin, crisp cookie---which Clair recommends---roll the dough between 1/4 and 1/8 inch thick.
If you prefer a thicker cookie, roll the dough 1/2 inch thick. 

WARNING: If you skipped the chilling of the dough as suggested in Step 1, it may be too warm to work with and will stick to everything. So chill it, baby! When you take it out of the fridge, it will be firm. If it's too firm, let it warm until it becomes pliable. If you start having trouble rolling out the dough, then read the following suggestions to prevent sticking, tearing, or the toughening of your cookies by adding too much dusting flour!

Parchment paper solution: A good way to prevent dough from sticking is to roll the dough out between two flour-dusted sheets of parchment paper. The best method for rolling, by the way, is to roll in one direction, then turn the dough (paper and all) clockwise to the right and roll again. Keep turning the dough and rolling, turning the dough and rolling, until it's nice and thin. Before removing the paper, slide the sheet of rolled-out dough (paper and all) onto a flat pan and place the whole thing in the fridge to chill for ten to fifteen minutes. This will firm up the butter in the dough and make it less sticky so you can easily peel away the top sheet of paper without chunks of dough sticking to it. 


Step 3---Cut your dough: 

Once the dough is all rolled out, cut the dough into shapes with cookie cutters. 
Place the cookies carefully on a sheet pan covered in parchment paper or silicon sheets. (If you have neither, use cooking spray to keep the cookies from sticking.) 
Ball up any remaining dough pieces and either place them back with the remaining dough in your fridge or roll them out all over again to cut more cookies. 


Step 4---Bake: 

Bake for 10-15 minutes. Oven temperatures vary, so watch your cookies and don't let them overcook, or they'll be tough instead of tender!
Determine the best time for baking based on your particular oven and your cookie's size and thickness.


Step 5--- Decorate: 

While your freshly baked cookies are still on the sheet pan, brush them with Sugar Cookie Glaze and sprinkle with colored sugar.


SUGAR COOKIE GLAZE

Ingredients
1/2 cup powdered sugar
2 tablespoons milk
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
Few drops food coloring



Combine the sugar, milk, and vanilla in a bowl and whisk until smooth.
Clare makes three bowls of this glaze: one with red food coloring, one with green, and one she leaves as a clear glaze with no coloring. 
After creatively "painting" her holiday cookies, she sprinkles them with colored sugar.


Oh my goodness. I am so hungry right now! It's a very good thing I don't have any of these cookies on hand! 

🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪

As always, please leave a comment and 
let me know what you think!

Follow my blog by 
clicking on the link in the 
upper right hand corner of this page.


~*~*~*~*~