#Review by Lou of The Cat And The Christmas Kidnapper by L T Shearer @LTShearerOfficial @panmacmillan @RandomTTours #Cats #Christmas #Mystery #CosyCrime #CrimeFiction

The Cat and The Christmas Kidnapper
By L T Shearer

Review written by Louise Cannon

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Looking for a great Christmas present for cosy crime lovers and/or cat lovers? This book is just a fabulous combination, hitting the spot perfectly.
The Cat and The Christmas Kidnapper carries intrigue and mystery. Join Conrad the cat detective and retired police detective Lulu Lewis this Christmas for another case to solve. Check out the blurb and my review below for Random T. Tours.

Blurb

Join Lulu Lewis, a retired detective with a knack for uncovering secrets, and
Conrad, her extraordinary talking cat, as they take on their latest case.
Hoping for a relaxing break, Lulu sets off with Conrad on her canal boat, The Lark, to the picturesque city of Bath to visit friends. But Christmas cheer soon gives way to festive fear when the pair learn of a ruthless kidnapping plot that is plaguing parents in the area.
As the kidnappers fuel panic with further demands, the pair must unravel clues faster than Conrad can charm with his witty banter if they are to stand any chance of bringing the criminals to justice in time to save the holidays . . .

Review

Cat owners already know their cats communicate well with their owners, but Conrad is something different. He truly speaks, which reminded me of a novel I read a lot of years ago with a cat community who could speak English and read and do all sorts of things, so The Cat and the Christmas Kidnapper is all rather pleasing. It also fits well with that festive cosy crime vibe.

Bath looks festive at Christmas and the holiday vibe is on, or is it?
Retired Lulu Lewis and her rather smart cat are heading down the canal to Bath to visit friends to find themselves with a case on their hands as there is so much crime in the city, with the focus being on kidnappers. Both cat and human are intriguing within themselves, added to that, a crime to be solved and this book has a bit of depth. It is all rather intriguing and entertaining.
The manner of which the book is written makes it a book for curling up with your cat and/or festive treats on a cold, wintry night. 

 

#Review by Lou Of A Pen Dipped In Poison By J.M. Hall #JMHall @AvonBooksUK #CrimeFiction #CosyCrime

A Pen Dipped In Poison
By J.M. Hall

Review by Louise Cannon (Lou)

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

Our favourite teachers are back for a second outing and I decided I would publish my review now, just ahead of J.M. Hall appearing in Bloody Scotland Crime Festival.

Blurb

A Pen Dipped Into PoisonRetired schoolteachers and amateur sleuths Liz, Pat and Thelma have a brand-new mystery to solve in this witty tale – perfect for fans of The Thursday Murder Club, by Richard Osman

Curious white envelopes have been delivered to friends and neighbours. Inside are letters revealing the deepest secrets they have tried to hide.

As one by one, careers are ended, marriages destroyed and no one is beyond suspicion, the three friends decide enough is enough. They must take matters into their own hands before more damage is done.

But as they work to uncover the truth, they begin to wonder just how far someone will go to silence this poison pen…

Could a murderer be in their midst once again?

The second totally addictive and page-turning cosy mystery featuring these very unlikely sleuths. Fans of Agatha Christie and Midsomer Murders will be hooked from the very first page.

Review

Liz, Pat and Thelma are retired teachers who meet for coffee in a garden centre, which is a thing as one of my friends serves teachers in a garden centre cafe. They never intended to be sleuths and yet find themselves with another mystery to solve. Poisoned Pen letters are often intriguing. Sends you down an “Agatha Christie or Midsomer Murders lane”, but J.M. Hall puts his own spin on it to make it contemporary and keep it a concept that is still compelling to read.

Letters are penned that the perpetrator can be pretty certain would have far reaching consequences and sure enough the victim’s of the inked letters are all but destroyed. 

A Pen Dipped In Poison is better than the first in the series – A Spoonful of Murder,  although that did set the scene exceptionally well, but this second book is stronger and heightens the intrigue in this new mystery for the teachers to solve.

A Pen Dipped In Poison is better than the first in the series – A Spoonful of Murder,  although that did set the scene exceptionally well, but this second book is stronger and heightens the intrigue in this new mystery for the teachers to solve. It draws you in closer from the start and piques the imagination and curiosity.
It is a cosy mystery with plenty of danger and wile that is intriguing.

*Thanks to Avon Books UK for accepting a request to review.

#Article By Lou – Another Instalment of the #CelebratingAuthorsandActors #series – @WendyHJones #CrimeFiction #NonFiction #YoungAdult and #ChildrensBook #Author

I am celebrating some authors and actors in the lead up to my blog’s 5th year in September. I invite you to find out more about author – Wendy H. Jones and also discover her books. Then discover her website and social media accounts from Twitter to TikTok…

Wendy H. Jones is based in Scotland. She is President of the Scottish Association of Writers. She writes books for adults, children and young adults. Her fictional books cover cozy crime, police procedural crime fiction, mystery and picture books. She also writes non-fiction books that assist writers – new and established as she imparts on invaluable advice. Her books sell worldwide and she does talks from library talks to festival talks in many places, both big and small. She also has a well-listened to podcast, Facebook pages for authors and readers, including one where she hosts an annual reading challenge. The great thing is, you can post what you’ve read over the course of a year. She is also instrumental to me starting my blog.
I met her at a library and later at the Edinburgh Book Festival for coffee and encouraged me, with a blogger, to start a blog, that I wasn’t even thinking about… and the rest is history. So, onto some of her books…

Her biggest series and is a bestseller is the police procedural- DI Shona MacKenzie series. Set in Scotland, it is a compelling and gritty series with quite the gruesome body count, in this police procedural, consisting of 7 books so far.

Antiques and Alibis sees Cass Clay take readers into a quirkier environment in the form of cozy crime. She is an ex-ballerina, clad in leathers with her motorbike who is now going to solve mysteries. She accidentally employs an ex-con dwarf and an octogenarian. It has wit and is all in all, very entertaining from start to finish. Find out more, including the blurb here: Antiques and Alibis

Bertie the Buffalo is a 2 book picture book series, each complete in themselves, suitable for children of 3 years to 6 years. – Bertie the Buffalo and Bertie at the Worldwide Games.
The first book was inspired by a buffalo who escaped in Scotland and took himself off on a wee (little) adventure. In this book young readers discover the friends he meets, the mild trepidation he comes across and how he returns to his field. It’s a charming story. Find out my full review, plus blurb here: Bertie The Buffalo

In the second book, Bertie at the Worldwide Games (he of course didn’t really, but imagine the headlines if he did and really did join in, they’d be even bigger than when he actually escaped). It does however show many of the events, being part of a team, friendships and the medals.
It’s a terrifically entertaining series, which is enthralling children across the world.
Find out my full review here: Bertie The Buffalo at the Worldwide Games

The Fergus and Flora Mysteries is a series of books for Young Adults. They have great characters and compelling mysteries to be enthralled by as they’re real page-turners.
The first book is – The Dagger’s Curse.

An ancient Egyptian dagger.
A hungry curse.
A city under siege.

In the dead of night the ancient dagger is stolen from the museum in Dundee. As mysterious accidents, illness and even death stalk the city, the Detective Duo, Fergus Bernstein and Flora MacDonald, follow clues that lead them into ever increasing danger. Can they find the dagger and break the curse before it’s too late?

The Haunted Broch is the second Fergus and Flora book.

A Scottish Broch.
An archaeologist scorned.
A ghost disturbed.

The Detective Duo, Fergus and Flora, are spending their summer on an archaeological dig, searching for the Lost Broch. 
But someone—or something—seems set on sabotaging the project. An infestation of spiders—a swarm of mice—the campsite trashed—who knew archaeology could be so dangerous? 
And is the Lost Broch really under a curse?

Creativity Matters – Find Your Passion For Writing is a book complied by Wendy H. Jones and has 13 authors informing you of their genres from fiction to non-fiction, whether your genre is history or contemporary, science fiction or humour, local fiction or set in a made-up world, fiction, non-fiction, memoir; it is all there to inspire and encourage readers of this book to find their passion and create their own writing.

Website and Social Media for Wendy H. Jones

https://wendyhjones.com/

https://Twitter.com/WendyHJones

TikTok

#BookReview By Lou of Rendered Incapable by A.B. Morgan #ABMorgan @HobeckBooks #CosyCrimeFiction #CrimeFiction

Rendered Incapable
By A.B. Morgan

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Rendered Incapable is in The Quirks Files series of books, that can be read as a standalone or part of the series. I really like Private Investigators that make up the Quirks and this one is a very good read, find out why in my review. First, onto the blurb and also a thanks to Indy publisher – Hobeck Books for inviting me onto the blog tour.

Blurb

Peddyr and Connie Quirk head for the Isle of Man, hoping for a well-deserved break from their private investigation business. However, in an underhand move by Peddyr’s cousin Superintendent Eddie Cadogan, their hotel booking is changed, and they are redirected to Hodge Fell Farm, with its farm shop, butchery, café and quaint holiday cottages.

When they meet their hosts – including a certain Nick Popadopoulos – a relaxing holiday of bracing walks by the sea is quickly replaced by pigs, adultery, soap-making, drag queens, smoked sausages, scams and skulduggery. In their quest to work out what despicable scheme Nick has underway, Peddyr and Connie soon realise that not everyone is being honest with them. Time is not on their side, and they must rely on their wits to act before someone gets away with murder.

Review


Peddyr and Connie Quirk set up a Private Investigator company for themselves around 4 books ago. Each case, like most cosy crime books are complete within one book. With all those cases, it is time for a holiday. The Isle of Man is the place of choice. What could possible go wrong? Well, when you have a detective or P.I.  involved, you can guarantee a mystery will ensue. This takes things one step further as their cousin – Superintendent Eddie Cadogan cancels their hotel and sends them to entirely different accommodation, which displeases Connie, even though it turns out not to be such a terrible place as feared, but still, nothing is as was planned. Suddenly their holiday is no longer the restful time the couple were expecting, but instead, just more work as there is a case to be solved.

The book is enjoyable and full of quirkiness and skullduggery and just who is their host – Nick Popadopoulos? This is a Greek man with quite a shady past with possible hidden depths as he may or may not be all he says he is.

With a mix of humour and mystery, this is another entertaining, yet complex case to crack, which moves along at a great pace, intertwining subplots with the main plot. Readers are in for a treat of a read!

50 Books To Read If You’re An Armchair Detective By Eric Karl Anderson @lonesomereader @MurdochBooksUK @RandomTTours #BlogTour #50BooksToRead

50 Books To Read If You’re…
An Armchair Detective
By Eric Karl Anderson

*****

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If you’re that armchair detective who likes to solve puzzles, then this is the perfect book for you, where you’ll find 50 book recommendations of the detective sub-genre of crime fiction. It is perfect for yourself or as a present for your partner-in-crime. They set me up good and proper with free gifts of a notepad and small pencil, detective glasses and magnifying glass to solve the cases. Thanks to Random T Tours for the invite and Murdoch Books UK for the surprise gifts and book. Investigate more in pics, blurb and review below…

 

A book lover’s guide to the 50 most iconic and interesting ‘cosy crime’ novels.

By Eric Karl Anderson

50 Books to Read If You’re an Armchair Detective is the perfect gift for book-loving friends.

Part of a new series of gift books celebrating books and reading, 50

Books to Read If You’re an Armchair Detective is packed full of

inspiration for fans of cosy crime to discover lesser-known books and revisit forgotten classics.

Whether you’re a Richard Osman fan or a Sherlock Holmes devotee, bibliophile and book blogger Eric Karl Anderson will introduce you to some new and unexpected novels. The book includes an interactive element with space for star ratings, lists of favourite reads, thoughts and dates for beginning and finishing books.

Encompassing a range of authors and books, from classic to contemporary, 50 Books to Read If You’re an Armchair Detective offers the lucky reader plenty of scope to discover the best cosy crime books across the globe.

Review

This is perfect for armchair detectives and would even make a perfect gift for someone or a treat for yourself. This book has a bit about contemporary titles and their authors, such as The Thursday Murder Club By Richard Osman, In The Woods By Tana French, The Vanished Bride by Bella Ellis, The Windsor Knot By S.J Bennett to Classic Crime such as Moonshine By Wilkie Collins, The Mysterious Affair At Styles By Agatha Christie and perhaps lesser known titles to discover such as from the mid 1900s such as The Clock Strikes Twelve by Patricia Wentworth, Why Shoot A Butler By Georgette Heyer. This is only a small selection of what you can find in this beautiful compact book that is full of useful and interesting information. Readers can also keep themselves organised at the back of the book as there are pages to write thoughts and lists on. It is a real gem of a book for avid and new readers alike.

#Review By Lou of Murder At The Summer Fete By Victoria Walters @Vicky_Walters @HeraBooks #CrimeFiction #CosyMystery #SummerRead #Mystery

Murder At The Summer Fete
By Victoria Walters

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Victoria Walters has branched out from romantic fiction in this book and lept into cosy murder with Murder At The Summer Fete. A book for fans of Richard Osman, S.J. Bennett and The Marlow Murder Club and Agatha Raisin. Find out more below in the blurb and my review below. Thanks first to Hera Books for a review copy.

Murder At The Summer Fete

Blurb

A fete worse than death…

After finding the killer of Lucy Roth six months ago, life has settled back to normal for bookshop owner, Nancy Hunter, and her grandmother, Jane. The annual Dedley End village fete is just around the corner, and Nancy is delighted when bestselling author, Thomas Green, agrees to launch his first new novel in ten years there.

But then a series of sinister events lead Nancy to realise someone is trying to sabotage their fete, so she, along with Jane and their journalist friend Jonathan, must turn detective to discover who isn’t at all thrilled about the return of Thomas Green.

When a body is discovered at the summer fete, the death scene mirroring that in Thomas’ latest bestseller, they realise that there’s another killer in Dedley End, but can they outsmart someone who appears to have pulled off the perfect crime?

The clues are right under Nancy and Jane’s noses, if only they can find them. Because the answers to life’s questions can always be found in a book…!

A twisty, unputdownable cozy mystery that fans of Richard Osman, S.J. Bennett and The Marlow Murder Club will love.

Review

A touch of murder in the summer makes this great for a crime fiction book for the summer. Beneath the lightness of summer and the climax of the summer fete in the Cotswolds, just around the corner, it lulls you into that fun summer carefree vibe. Not all is well though and a cosy murder ensues, with humour, nothing too gruesome, but sabotage and murder follows in this Dedley End mystery. It’s second in this series but reads perfectly well as a standalone too.

The bookshop owner and bookish events will pull readers in further and then the mystery itself as the death seems sinisterly famliar, which adds a twist to the plot, which has amateur detectives and a DCI in the form of DCI Brown who also has to join the dots to find the murderer.

It is overall an entertaining read with life mimicing art.