Tag Archives: mysteries

Warm Up With a Good Cozy!

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cupcakeA cozy mystery is just the thing when I’m looking for a fun, light read.  Cozy mysteries usually omit graphic violence and generally take place in a small community with likable characters.  Many of the cozy mysteries I enjoy are ones in a series of mysteries.  After reading a couple you feel like you know the recurring characters and they feel like old friends.

Elaine Viets has a couple of enjoyable series.  “Dead-End Job Mysteries” and “Josie Marcus Mystery Shopper”.  The author always combines a sense of humor and engaging characters into her mystery stories.

Think food and murder make a good combination?  Diane Mott Davidson, Joanne Fluke, Isis Crawford, and Sammi Carter are authors who include recipes in their stories

Do you have a soft spot in your heart for animals?  Give “The Cat Who Series” by Lillian Jackson Braun a try.  This is a series featuring KoKo, a delightful Siamese Cat. The human characters in this series are as endearing as the cat.  Miranda James’ “Cat in the Stacks” mysteries feature Diesel, a fantastic Maine Coon cat and his librarian owner. “Midnight Louie Mysteries” by Carole Nelson Douglas, “Dixie Hemingway, Cat Sitter Mysteries,” by Blaize Clement, and “Death on Demand Series” by Carolyn Hart all feature cats.

There are cozy mysteries for just about any interest;  gardening, crossword puzzles, quilting, pet stores, diners,  historical themes, and travel themes, to name a few.  So, next time you are looking to curl up with a book, a Cozy Mystery might be just the read you want.

Spend some time at the Jersey shore (skip Snookie, meet Ceepak)

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chris grabensteinNot ready to give up on summer just yet?  If you like mysteries, consider a trip to the Jersey shore via Chris Grabenstein’s John Ceepak series.  Set in the fictional town of Sea Haven, these fun books star upright police officer John Ceepak, a former MP who served in Iraq, and his easy-going partner Danny Boyle, who begins his police career as a summer cop and narrates the stories.  Grabenstein won a Best First Novel  Anthony Award in 2006.  To date, there are seven books in the series.

  1. Tilt a Whirl: Having recently joined the Sea Haven police department after his tour of duty in Iraq, former MP John Ceepak investigates the murder of a billionaire real estate tycoon at a seedy amusement park, a case that is complicated by an undedicated young partner.
  2. Mad Mouse: Part-time cop Danny Boyle and his beach buddies are targeted by a vengeful madman and Danny, assisted by honor-bound officer John Ceepak, negotiates high-stakes challenges that threaten everyone and everything he loves.
  3. Whack a Mole: In the wake of a series of grisly clues that point to the reemergence of a long-dormant serial killer, honor-driven Jersey shore cop John Ceepak and his wise-cracking rookie partner, Danny Boyle, confront an increasingly dangerous adversary who follows an unusually rigid code of conduct.
  4. Hell Hole: Called in to investigate the supposed suicide of a soldier recently returned from Iraq, police officer John Ceepak and his partner discover that the victim may have had knowledge of a conspiracy linked to U.S. involvement in the Middle East.
  5. Mind Scrambler: Learning that a former crush, Katie, is happily employed as a magician’s assistant, Sea Haven police officer Danny Boyle is shocked by Katie’s subsequent murder and teams up with partner John Ceepak in a race against time to find the killer.
  6. Rolling Thunder: In the wake of the suspicious death of a prominent Sea Haven, New Jersey, resident on the opening day of a new boardwalk roller coaster, straight-arrow cop John Ceepak and his partner Danny Boyle discover links between the case the subsequent death of a beach beauty.
  7. Fun House: When one of the cast members of a raucous reality television show set in the New Jersey seaside resort town of Sea Haven is murdered, John Ceepak and Danny Boyle must move to protect the others and find the killer.

The Yard by Alex Grecian

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The Yard is set in London, 1889. The Scotland Yard is still reeling from their failure to catch Jack the Ripper, and have lost the respect of the public who call them “bluebottles.” Inspector Walter Day has been a member of the Murder Squad at the Yard for less than a week when a fellow Murder Squad detective is found dead in a steamer trunk. With help from a fellow detective, Black, Constable Hammersmith and Dr. Bernard Kingsley, a pioneering forensic anthropologist, he tries to solve the case in crime ridden Victorian London.
I was mesmerized by how the author was able to make you feel like you were a part of this time period. It was a fast read not because it was a great whodunit, but because it was an eloquent character study of law enforcement officials at the beginning of the modern age where forensic techniques that is commonplace today were looked upon with suspicion by the police. For example, Dr. Kingsley tries to convince the detectives to use fingerprints to eliminate suspects.
I would recommend this book to any person who enjoys historical fiction or is interested in Victorian England or the birth of a modern city and its police force. This impressive debut is the beginning of a series and I will definitely be reading the next one!

The Gods of Gotham by Lyndsay Faye

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The year 1845 heralded the birth of the New York City Police Department and the rise of the Great Famine in Ireland, which sent waves of immigrants to the United States and fueled Protestant-Catholic tensions.  This is the environment shaping Lyndsay Faye’s new historical mystery, The Gods of Gotham, the first in a new series.  As the story opens, we meet Timothy Wilde, a bartender who is methodically saving his money with the hopes of marrying Mercy Underhill, his long-admired friend, aspiring author, and charity worker.  When a massive fire sweeps though Manhattan, Tim’s life is changed abruptly by disfigurement and the loss of his job, home, and savings.  With extreme reservations, Tim accepts a position secured for him by his politically-connected elder brother as a “copper star” in the newly formed NYPD, patrolling the 6th Ward and the notorious Five Points slum.  One night Tim collides with a little girl whose nightclothes are soaked in blood, telling him seemingly wild tales of dead children buried in the woods.  Thus, Tim is launched on his first major investigation.  By the time he’s through he’ll have several run-ins with his tumultuous elder brother, be forced to reassess everything he knows about Miss. Underhill, find himself pitted against those promoting nativist sentiments, and become intimately familiar with NYC’s dark underbelly.  Lush in period detail and dialect, Faye’s new novel is a great match for fans of Caleb Carr.

Meet Walt Longmire

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Have you been watching the TV show Longmire on A&E?  Did you know that the show is based on a series of mysteries by Craig Johnson?  Both the show and the books star Walt Longmire (played by Robert Taylor), the veteran sheriff of Absaroka County, Wyoming, and a man rebuilding both his personnel and professional life in the wake of his wife’s death.  Longmire is accompanied in his investigations by his former big-city deputy, Victoria Moretti (Katee Stackhoff) and his Cheyenne best friend, bar owner Henry Standing Bear (Lou Diamond Phillips).  If you’d like to try out Johnson’s consistently well reviewed series, then start with the first installment, The Cold Dish.  If the story sucks you in, rest assured that you’re in store for a nice long visit with Walt.  The eighth book in this ongoing series, As the Crow Flies, was just released on May 15.

If you’re already familiar with Johnson’s work and would like to try out some other mysteries with a similar tone and strong sense of place, consider some of these:

  • C. J. Box – Featuring Joe Pickett, a Wyoming game warden.
  • James Lee Burke – Featuring Dave Robicheaux, a New Orleans detective.
  • Margaret Coel – Featuring Father John O’Malley and Arapaho lawyer Vicky Holden.  Set on the Wind River Reservation in Wyoming.
  • Paul Doiron – Featuring Mike Bowditch, a Maine game warden.
  • Tricia Fields – Featuring police chief Josie Gray, who defends her small West Texas border town.
  • William Kent Krueger – Featuring sheriff Cork O’Connor.  Set in Minnessotta.

Strawberry Swirl Cheesecake

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cheesecake bible

I love cheesecake! What’s not to love? It’s rich, creamy, and delicious.  When I have dessert out at a restaurant, nine times out of ten I will choose cheesecake with fruit drizzled on top.  YUM!  In honor of National Cheesecake Day on July 31st it might be fun to try your hand at making your own cheesecake at home.  I found this simple cheesecake recipe in The Cheesecake Bible by George Geary.

Strawberry Swirl Cheesecake

Preheat oven to 325⁰F

6 inch cheesecake pan, ungreased, or springform pan with 3 inch sides, greased

CRUST

¾ cup graham crackers

2 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

FILLING

2 packages (each 8 oz) cream cheese, softened

¾ cup granulated sugar

2 eggs

1/3 cup strawberry preserves or jam

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

  1. Crust: In a bowl, combine graham cracker crumbs and butter. Press into bottom of cheesecake pan and freeze.
  2. Filling: In a mixer bowl fitted with a paddle attachment, beat cream cheese and sugar on medium-high speed until very smooth, for 3 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, beating after each addition.  Stir in vanilla. Swirl in strawberry preserves.   
  3. Pour over frozen crust, smoothing out to sides of pan.  Bake in preheated oven until top is light brown and center has a slight jiggle to it, 30 – 40 minute.  Let cool in pan on a wire rack for 2 hours.  Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 6 hours before serving.

Cheesecake related mysteries to read while you are waiting for your masterpiece to bake and cool:

Throw Darts at a Cheesecake by Denise Dietz

Cherry Cheesecake Murder by Joanne Fluke

The Most Important Tools for Everyday Repairs

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simple home repair“Take these three items right here. You can have this. WD-40, vise grips, and some duct tape. Any man worth his salt can do half the household chores with just those three things.” ~ Walt Kowalski

The other day I found myself in a conversation about the four tools that everyone should have in their tool box. Many opinions will surface, but here is the list that we developed based on our vast years of knowledge and experience: Duct tape, WD-40, vise grips and a tool that is to be named later.

For example, let’s say you have a leaky faucet. So a quick look under the sink to turn off the shut off valve, only to find it is stuck. Simple solution spray some WD-40 on it and wait. If you don’t feel like waiting and the leak is driving you crazy grab the vise grips and turn the valve with all your might. While turning the lubricated, stuck valve with your vise grips, it somehow breaks and sends water shooting all over. Now grab your duct tape and quickly seal it off. Problem solved, except now there is a faster drip, but at least you got to use your tools. Last tool, the cell phone, it is used to call a plumber.

Here are some other handy uses for your tools: Creating a hole in the wall (vise grips), fixing a hole in the wall (duct tape), causing a slippery floor (WD-40), temporary replacement for a steering wheel (vise grips), getting your sister to be quiet (duct tape), cracking a walnut (vise grips), fixing a broken tail light (duct tape), Free a tongue stuck to frozen metal in winter (WD-40), instant step for climbing (vise grips), and I’m sure there are multiple other uses for these wonderful tools.

Here is a book you can read that you may find helpful: The complete idiot’s guide to simple home repair.

 

 

 

 

 

Val McDermid’s Grave Tattoo

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Thanks to Mystery Book Club at the Milford-Miami Township Branch, I had the pleasure of rereading the winner of the 2006 Portico Prize for Fiction, The Grave Tattoo by Val McDermid.  The book begins with an unusually heavy spring rains that uncover a body covered with tattoos similar to those 18th century seafarers received in the south Pacific.    Residents of the English Lake District think that it is Fletcher Christian who was a childhood friend the poet William Wordsworth.  Many believe that Christian escaped Pitcairn after the infamous mutiny on the HMS Bounty, traveled to England, and was able to tell Wordsworth his side of the story.  Jane Gresham, a William Wordsworth expert, goes to the Lake District to find the lost manuscript written by Wordsworth.  While searching for the manuscript, Jane becomes embroiled in a modern day mystery.  This book was one of the best literary thrillers that I have read.  If you get a chance to read this one, we will be meeting to discuss it on March 15.  Here are a few other literary thrillers that I would recommend.

The Rule of Four by Ian Caldwell and Dustin Thomason

The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova

The Dante Club by Matthew Pearl

The Book of Air and Shadows by Michael Gruber

Interred with Their Bones by Jennifer Lee Carrell

Mystery Movie Night

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This week TNT launches its new Mystery Movie Night, a series of new movies based on bestselling books.  Watch the movies and then read the books – you might just discover a new favorite author!  Here’s the line up:

Scott Turow’s Innocent – Tuesday, Nov. 29 at 9 p.m.

Sandra Brown’s Ricochet - Wednesday, Nov. 30 at 9 p.m.

Lisa Gardner’s Hide - Tuesday, Dec. 6, at 9 p.m.

Richard North Patterson’s Silent Witness – Wednesday, Dec. 7, at 9 p.m.

April Smith’s Good Morning, Killer – Tuesday, Dec. 13 at 9 p.m.

Mary and Carol Higgins Clark’s Deck the Halls – Tuesday, Dec. 20 at 9 p.m.

R.I.P. Lilian Jackson Braun

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Lilian Jackson Braun, the popular author of “The Cat Who” mysteries, died June 4 at the age of 97. If you’ve read all 29 of her novels and would be interested in reading some other mysteries with cats, you might try any of these:

Rita Mae Brown’s Mrs. Murphy Mysteries

Sofie Kelly’s Curiosity Thrilled the Cat

Miranda James’ Cat in the Stacks Mysteries

Blaize Clement’s Dixie Hemingway Mysteries

Shirley Rousseau Murphy’s Joe Grey Mysteries

Carole Nelson Douglas’ Midnight Louie Mysteries

Gilbert Morris’ Jacques & Cleo Cat Detectives