Book Review

“Curse of the PTA” by Laura Alden

I realized after finishing this book, I don’t read enough cozies. I forget how delightful and entertaining they are. “Curse of the PTA” is definitely one of those.

Beth Kennedy is a bookstore owner, mom, President of the PTA, and police consultant. Police consultant, you ask? Sounds rather odd for someone who seems to be a wholesome, small town woman. True, but apparently Beth has a habit of coming across dead bodies and has an ability to find out some of the most inane information that to most, would seem like nothing, but ends up leading her to suspects. Some right, some…not-so-right.

Dennis Halpern is a financial consultant and Beth has him at a PTA meeting to discuss possible choices of investing the PTA’s money. But before he gets too much of a chance to actually say a few words, he’s shot and killed. How bad is this PTA anyway?

Alden’s story is enjoyable and I love the wit she throws in. Definitely recommended. Make it your next book you bring to the beach this summer.

Reviewed by Starr Gardinier, author of “The Other Side: Melinda’s Story” 

Book Review - "The Ghoul Next Door"

“The Ghoul Next Door” by Victoria Laurie

Don’t worry, this book is only about a bunch of ghosts. Well, maybe you should worry a bit, ghosts connote happy spirits. The ghosts in this book are not them.

Psychic medium M.J., her psychic boyfriend Heath, and her childhood friend and partner in ghoul-hunting Gil (the team), are all targets for one evil entity. So evil, in fact, the murders go back about thirty years. And the three of them need to find out how one is related to others.

M.J.’s ex-boyfriend Steven is now engaged. And his fiancée Courtney has a brother Luke, who’s in trouble. It seems he’s being haunted and intermittently possessed by an evil entity that relishes the taste and smell of blood. And it all starts and ends with one house on Stoughton Street.

Luke thinks he’s going crazy when furniture is rearranged at his rental on Stoughton. Then he sees shadows. He can’t sleep or eat, so Courtney intervenes. Steven talks M.J. and her entourage into helping Luke. The team sets cameras up and watches Luke while he’s sleeping. Nothing happens until he suddenly gets up, stares into the cameras like one possessed, and quickly leaves the house before they can get to him. A woman ends up being murdered a few doors down and Luke is accused and arrested for crime.

M.J., Heath, and Gil won’t give up. They know (hope—they go back and forth in their thoughts here) Luke is innocent and set out to prove it. But their tools of the trade—bubble vests, magnets, and stakes—may be not enough to protect the evil from invading their minds while trying to stop it from taking over and killing again.

What a fun book! It’s witty and a quick read. If you haven’t picked up Laurie’s work yet, I suggest you do!

Reviewed by Starr Gardinier Reina, author of “The Other Side: Melinda’s Story”

Book Review - "A Biscuit, a Casket"

“A Biscuit, a Casket” by Liz Mugavero

I love animals, but not more than Stan (Kristan) Connor. Disillusioned by the corporate world, particularly after losing her job, Stan moves to Frog Ledge. Here, she starts her own business making wholesome, organic pet treats. She becomes a hit with the residents of the small town. Particularly with Jake, a bar owner Stan has her eye on.

She does more than just make treats for animals. Somehow, she gets roped into having parties for dogs and cats, complete with costumes. Setting up for a party on a dairy cow farm which is also hosting a haunted evening, corn maze and all, Stan is brought into something scarier than just pop-up ghosts and an eerie maze. The farm’s owner Hal Hoffman is found dead in the corn maze, stabbed with an old sickle.

Hal’s wife Emmalee is understandably upset. The neighbors and co-op members all pull together to help with the farm chores and to bring solace to Emmalee. Emmalee pleads with Stan to help with the books and accounting because Stan used to be in ‘finance.’ Not really, but close enough for this group. Great. Just what Stan wants. But she knows she should have neighborly spirit and agrees.

Stan can’t help herself and immerses herself into the murder investigation, much to the dismay of Jessie, Jake’s sister and trooper. But it’s not all fun and games. There’s a murderer out there and Stan lands right in the middle of the manure pile, literally. Then her mother, Patricia, unexpectedly shows up for a ‘visit,’ and Stan knows there’s more to Patricia’s appearance than what she’s saying. But Stan doesn’t have time to figure it out. She has to concentrate on her orders for pet treats, solving Hal’s murder, throwing animal parties, and hopefully dating Jake...and staying out of muck that she seems to keep falling into.

A laugh-out-loud and absolutely fun and quick read. Recommended!

Reviewed by Starr Gardinier Reina, author of “The Other Side: Melinda’s Story” 

Book Review - "The Pickled Piper"

“The Pickled Piper” by Mary Ellen Hughes

Piper Lamb is starting new. After leaving her fiancé—well, actually he left her to travel the world to ‘find himself,’ which gave Piper the out she needed—she moves and sets up shop in Cloverdale. Thinking she’d have a quiet life running her pickling shop, Piper’s world is anything but quiet.

She decides to join other shop owners and sets up a pickling booth at the town’s fair and does pretty well. Until a dead body—Alan Rosemont’s—is found in her pickle barrel. To say that it kind of sours her pickling is yes, a pun and probably crass, but it’s also the least of her worries.

Her only and faithful employee Amy is seeing Nate, who gets accused of murdering Alan. Piper tries to help Amy by helping Nate prove his innocence. But apparently, someone doesn’t want Piper figuring out too much. She becomes the target of some annoying and then deadly warnings.

Then it gets worse for Nate when more dead bodies are found. Piper figures they have to relate to each other and doesn’t stop trying to convince the sheriff and everyone else that Nate is not guilty.

Running a pickling shop and hunting down a killer keep her busy during the day. But so does trying to make her ex-fiancé understand they are over while getting cozy with a new man.

You’ll smile, you’ll root for Nate, you’ll tell Piper to move on with her new life and leave the old behind, and you’ll turn the pages while tension mounts up as one person after another becomes suspect—at least in Piper’s eyes. And you will not, assuredly, figure out who the actual murderer is until after Piper does.

Lots of fun. It makes for a great beach read!

Reviewed by Starr Gardinier Reina, author of “The Other Side: Melinda’s Story” 

Book Review - "Buried in Bargains"

“Buried in Bargains” by Josie Belle

What comes to mind when you hear the phrase ‘Good Buy Girls’ (GBG)? If you say a bunch of women who like smart finds, then you guessed it. But second hand shops, stationary stores, delis, and accounting are not all Maggie, Joanne, Claire, and Ginger are up to.

Much to the dismay of Sheriff Sam Collins—an ex-boyfriend of Maggie’s from her younger years—Maggie and her entourage insist on getting involved when a young girl is murdered. Joanne’s husband Michael is very protective of Diane Jenkins, his new hire at the deli, and the GBG girls can’t figure out why. Until plots, schemes, and stalkers make an appearance after Diane is murdered and Michael is knocked out and left for dead in his deli.

Maggie and Sam are lighting up their old flame again, but Maggie’s insistence in coming to the aid of her friend and getting in the way may be the one thing that may put that flame out again. But she can’t help herself when Michael becomes a suspect in Diane’s murder.

This is a tale of suspicions, Maggie’s amateurish sleuth, off-the-wall ideas, and mayhem, and it’s a load of fun! Recommended!

Reviewed by Starr Gardinier Reina, author of “The Other Side: Melinda’s Story” 

Rubbed Out Book Review

RUBBED OUT
By Riley Adams

Up for barbecue? Ribs maybe? While Lulu Taylor is busy running Aunt Pat’s—her
barbecue restaurant in Memphis—her best friend Cherry is helping out their friends at the
Rock and Ribs Festival.

There, Cherry gets into a beef with another contestant in a neighboring booth. Reuben
Shaw apparently, has a tendency to rub people the wrong way and ends up getting ‘rubbed out’
himself. And that happens right after Cherry discovers one of her booth’s tarps is missing. She
finds it—covering a very dead Reuben with a butcher knife in his chest.

Cherry becomes a suspect because people saw her arguing with Reuben—then again, who didn’t?—
and because her tarp was found with the victim. Lulu comes running to the rescue to help her best friend.

It seems that Lulu has a habit of trying to help the police solve crimes and she doesn’t hesitate in getting involved now. Lulu finds that many people have a rocky history with Reuben and she questions anyone and everyone she can. But Lulu sticks her nose into too many places and someone is unhappy. And that someone all but kills her to get her to mind her own business. What would stop most people, doesn’t affect Lulu the same way and she’s bound and determined to find the murderer.

A witty, fun read that not only satisfies a need for a good, down home mystery but comes with what
looks like really yummy recipes, too!

Reviewed by Starr Gardinier Reina, author of “The Other Side: Melinda’s Story”

Book Review

“How to Plant a Body” by Terri Ann Armstrong

Apparently, one day author Terri Ann Armstrong decides to churn together a blooming relationship with a healthy dose of disaster. Mix together a body found by a sensitive man in a greenhouse, one very sarcastic lady and her laid-back sister and you get “How to Plant a Body.” A title apropos to the story within the pages.

Lily Aster and her sister Angel manage a flower shop for their now retired parents. They have hired Joey Emerson to help them in the shop. One morning, Joey walks in and finds a body. Panic sets in and he calls the police. Lily and Angel arrive to find Detective Anthony Falcetti ordering them out of their own shop while he investigates.

Lily doesn’t take kindly to being ordered around, even if it is by the authorities. She sets her mind to doing her own inquiry into the murder and keeps running up against Falcetti at every turn. Or maybe he’s ‘planting’ himself close to her on purpose. He takes a liking to Lily despite her snarky tongue (or maybe that’s because of it) and tries to convince her they are going to have a relationship.

She fights him on it, not wanting to immerse herself in misery she defines as the male-female bond. While she’s fending off his unwanted (or wanted?) advances, Lily tries to find out what happened to the man found in her greenhouse. Falcetti does his job, but is unwilling to share his findings with a civilian, which leads Lily to quick retorts about the falsity of trust in a relationship (that is, if they were to have one).

This is a witty cozy that you’ll be more than glad you picked up. This is Terri’s first attempt at the cozy genre and I do believe she has found her calling. I rate it a five-star!

Reviewed by Starr Gardinier Reina, author of “The Other Side: Melinda’s Story”

Book Review

“Retirement Can Be Murder” by Susan Santangelo:

Santangelo pens an absolute delightful story starring Carol Andrews, unofficial sleuth.

Carol Andrews starts a ball rolling with her worry that her husband will actually do what he’s been threatening to for years—retire. The type that is born to meddle (I mean assist), Carol tricks her husband Jim into an appointment with retirement coach, Davis Rhodes. Not long after their initial meeting, Rhodes ends up dead and Jim is looking awfully good for the murder. But Carol isn’t going to sit back idly and wait for her husband to be arrested. With the help of her childhood friends and even her two children, she manages to unearth information the cops weren’t able to attain. But will it be enough or just be considered circumstantial?

A terrific, light comedic read that will sure to make you laugh while you “investigate” side-by-side with Carol to save her husband from jail.

Reviewed by Starr Gardinier Reina, author of “The Other Side: Melinda’s Story” 

Book Review

“Moving Can Be Murder” by Susan Santangelo:

Santangelo continues to delight her readers with this second in her Murder Series.

No matter how hard she tries, Carol Andrews ends up being the star attraction in her hometown of Fairport, Connecticut. Because her husband Jim—her ‘Beloved’—is retired and due to his slight health issue, they decide to move into an adult active community. Their old home is sold and it’s one less thing Carol needs to worry about…at least until the night before the closing when she goes to the house to say her final goodbyes and finds a dead body. Unfortunately, it’s the new owner. To say the sale is dead is redundant.

One of her best friends is a suspect in the homicide and Carol cannot just walk away and let the cops deal with it. That would be the actions of a sane person. No, she again ‘lends’ a hand to find the killer. Is it Mary Alice, her best friend?

What does a house sale, thrift shop, nun, and garbage have to do with Carol Andrews? Trust me, it wouldn’t be much fun for me to tell you. You have to read this book to find out! Just as with “Retirement can be Murder,” “Moving can be Murder” makes you laugh out loud. Another ‘Santangelo 5-Star’ read that you won’t want to miss!

Reviewed by Starr Gardinier Reina, author of “The Other Side: Melinda’s Story”