Cozy Mystery Saturday

Cozy Mystery Saturday is a meme hosted by BookMagic. If you love cozy mysteries check out her meme.

This weeks Cozy Mystery is:

Murder Uncorked by Michele Scott

Murder and mayhem in Napa Valley, Murder Uncorked tells the story of Nikki Sands, an actress/waitress from Los Angeles. After a disastrous evening culminating with the loss of her waitressing job, Nikki is offered a job at a winery located in the Napa Valley. Derek Malveaux offers Nikki several times her waitressing salary to come to Napa and work at his vineyard.

Desperate to escape from LA, Nikki flies with Derek to Napa for a tour of the Malveaux vineyard and to make her decision. Before she can settle into the guest cottage, Nikki discovers the body of murdered winemaker Gabriel Assanti. Nikki discovers that there are many quirky and often dysfunctional people in the area who all seem to have a motive for the murder. Nikki chases down every lead to find the identity of the murderer while fighting against her attraction to the blonde-haired, blue eyed, owner, Derek Malveaux.

Nikki is a not-so-good actress coming to terms with her lack of real acting talent while discovering her talent for food and wine pairings. She is likeable and fun. Derek is an interesting character who remains a little mysterious to Nikki and the reader. He is complex and maybe a little too good to be true. Among the other characters in Murder Uncorked are Derek’s step-mother and ex-wife, the “Botox Twins”, as they are referred to, as well as Andres Fernandez, a neighboring winemaker, who seems to be eccentric, dark, and brooding. The plot is fun and engaging. Throughout the book recipes and wine pairing recommendations are shared. Murder Uncorked is a delicious, fast- paced, and fun loving cozy mystery with a surprising twist at the end. If you love a fun cozy mystery, a nice glass of wine, and good food you will enjoy this book. I recommend this book, curl up and enjoy.

Cozy Mystery Saturday, Homicide in Hardcover

Sorry for posting this so late. I have been a little under the weather and took a couple of days to recover and get caught up on some of my reading. Hope you all have a great weekend.

Cozy Mystery Saturday is a meme hosted by BookMagic. If you love cozy mysteries check out her meme. She has some great suggestions to add to your TBR list.

                                                                Homicide in Hardcover

 Synopsis from cover:

Brooklyn Wainwright is a skilled surgeon. Sure, her patienst might smell like mold and have spines made of leather, but no ailing book is going to die on her watch. The same can't be said of Abraham Karastovsky, Brooklyn's friend and former employer.

On the eve of a celebration for his latest book restoration, Brooklyn finds her mentor lying in a pool of his own blood. With his final breath, Abraham leaves Brooklyn a cryptic message. "Remember the devil," and smiles as she takes possession of his priceless--and supposedly cursed--copy of Goethe's Faust.

Brooklyn suddenly finds herself accused of murder and theft, thanks to Derek Stone, the humorless--and annoyingly attractive--British security officer who found her kneeling over the body. Now she has to make sense of the clues left behind by her mentor if she hopes to restore justice....

This is the first in a series by Kate Carlisle: A Bibliophile Mystery

my review:

This book has plenty of LOL humor and many interesting characters. Brooklyn's parents are former Dead Heads who moved to a commune where they raised their children. Brooklyn herself now resides in an interesting neighborhood in San Francisco. This provides some nice scenery as well as many quirky and fun characters. The plot has many red herrings leaving the ending somewhat of a surprise.

I enjoyed this book very much! I found it to be fun. I like the characters very much but then I like quirky. If you don't mind quirky, odd characters then you should have a good time with this story. I will be following up with more from this author and this series.

5 out of 5.

Cozy Mystery Saturday: The Merlot Murders

Cozy Mystery Saturday is a meme hosted by BookMagic. If you love cozy mysteries check out her meme. She has some great suggestions to add to your TBR list.

The Merlot Murders by Ellen Crosby

Lucie returns home from France, where she has been recovering from a disabling car accident, to attend her late father’s wake only to find the family winery in disaray. Her brother and sister have changed, her godfather is rumored to be losing it, and her former boyfriend has hooked up with her little sister. What is happening in this small Virginia town at the foot of the Blue Ridge Mountains? Rumors and gossip fly around this small town seamlessly, except for the really important ones. Who was trying to secretly buy the winery and were they responsible for Leland’s death? Lucie must not only fight to keep the winery going but answer these questions before more mysterious accidents happen.

This cozy mystery is entertaining and filled with historical references to Thomas Jefferson and the American wine industry. If you enjoy a nice glass of wine and a good cozy mystery you might enjoy this series. The characters are not very likeable for the most part but they are interesting. Lucie is not as pleasant as most cozy mystery heroines but she grows on you. After all she is struggling to accept her disability from the car accident. I think that I like to a read a book ocassionally where the characters aren’t all sweet and fun. These characters are more complex and have definite issues. Like most of us they are slightly dysfunctional.

All of the questions are not answered in this first book of the series. I enjoyed the read and play on reading more from this series. If you are looking for light reading for entertainment this is a good place to start.

I give this a 3 out of 5. Again, a worthwhile read.

Cozy Mystery Saturday: Real Murders by Charlaine Harris

A small suburb of Atlanta, a young librarian with an unfortunate name, a real murder club, and real murder---all together a classic cozy mystery. Charlaine Harris is perhaps best known for her series featuring Sookie Stackhouse. Her writing is marked by a warm sense of humor. The characters are fun.

This is the first in a series featuring Aurora Teagarden. Aurora is a young librarian who is drawn into the murder investigation through her involvement in a real murder club. She is a modests young woman who has some interesting friends.

I was drawn to read this book through an interest in reading something more from Charlaine Harris. This fall while visitng my sister in South Carolina I was presented with the first of the Sookie Stackhouse books. Although I am not so much into the current vampire craze I enjoyed her writing style.

my review: Real Murders was an enjoyable story. The story begins at a meeting of the Real Murder Club and moves quickly into murder. Aurora Teagarden, Roe to her friends, becomes part of the investigation while juggling the men in her life. There are twists and turns along the way. This mystery is a fun read. Harris has a unique style that makes you want to read more. It is a worthwhile read. Those of you who love Sookie Stackhouse might not appreciate Aurora Teagarden as much in this first book of the series but she is a character that is worth following up on to see how she developes through the rest of the series.

I give this a 3 out of 5. A Worthwhile Read.

Special Thanks to BookMagic for letting me share this meme.