Jane Reads: 2016

Monday, December 12, 2016

Feliz Navidead by Ann Myers | Blog Tour with Excerpt, Review, Guest Post, and Giveaway

Ann Myers, **the author of Bread of the Dead and Cinco de Mayhem, is back!**

The Blurb

Holly, jolly, and downright deadly — the third Santa Fe Café mystery
unwraps surprises both naughty and nice...

It’s the most picturesque time of the year in Santa Fe, and Chef Rita Lafitte of Tres Amigas Café hopes the twinkling lights and tasty holiday treats will charm her visiting mom. Rita is also planning fun activities, such as watching her teenage daughter, Celia, perform in an outdoor Christmas play.

What she doesn’t plan for is murder.

Rita discovers a dead actor during the premier performance but vows to keep clear of the case. Sleuthing would upset her mom. Besides, there’s already a prime suspect, caught red-handed in his bloodied Santa suit. However, when the accused Santa’s wife begs for assistance — and points out that Celia and other performers could be in danger — Rita can’t say no. With the help of her elderly boss, Flori, and her coterie of rogue knitters, Rita strives to salvage her mother’s vacation, unmask a murderer, and stop this festive season from turning even more fatal.

Feliz Navidead by Ann Myers
Series: A Santa Fe Café Mystery, #3

Genre: Cozy Mystery, Culinary Mystery, Christmas

Publication Date: October 25, 2016
Publisher: William Morrow / HarperCollins
Mass Market Paperback: 352 pages
ISBN-10: 0062382314
ISBN-13: 978-0062382313
e-Book File Size: 969 KB
ASIN: B01BBPRU32
Publisher: Avon
Amazon | B & N | Kobo | Google Play | BAM! | iBooks | HarperCollins | Goodreads

The Excerpt

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Thursday, December 1, 2016

The Seven-Course Christmas Killer: A Holiday Novella from the Italian Kitchen | Review

Rosie Genova, author of the Italian Kitchen Mysteries, serves up a new dish this week with the release of her e-book holiday novella, The Seven Course Christmas Killer: A Holiday Novella from the Italian Kitchen. Priced at 99¢, the e-book is available on Amazon and most other retailers.

The story takes place on Christmas Eve, as Vic and the gang prepare the traditional Feast of the Seven Fishes for their annual holiday party. But before you can say “shrimp scampi,” Mayor Anne McCrae takes a nasty fall that may not be an accident. Add a nosy reporter, guests with grudges, and a missing kitchen knife — and Vic suddenly has all the ingredients for murder!

The Blurb

On Christmas Eve, someone might be sleeping with the fishes. . .

It’s December at the Casa Lido, which means only one thing: the Rienzi family’s traditional Christmas Eve celebration, including wine, song, and seven Italian seafood courses. As Victoria and Tim prep scungilli and calamari, Nonna directs the cooking until all is in readiness for the big night.

But the holiday cheer is interrupted by the attempted murder of Mayor Anne McCrae, who asks Vic to investigate. Trouble is, there are as many suspects as there are fishes on the Christmas Eve menu . . .

The Seven-Course Christmas Killer by Rosie Genova
Series: An Italian Kitchen Mystery, #3.5

Genre: Cozy Mystery, Culinary Mystery, Holiday

Publisher: Beyond the Page

Publication Date: November 27, 2016
Print Length: 77 pages

e-Book File Size: 421 KB

The Review

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Tuesday, November 29, 2016

Taste of Christmas by Chelsea Field | Short Story | Review

I just read the best short story, y'all — Taste of Christmas, by Chelsea Field. Let me tell you a little about it.

Synopsis, from Goodreads:

Mistletoe seems a whole lot less romantic once you’ve been poisoned by it. Isobel Avery would know—it’s one of the perks of being an undercover poison taster for the rich and famous. Still, with the weather as cold as it gets in Los Angeles and a hot new date, Izzy has a few ideas on how to keep herself warm this Christmas. They just don’t start under mistletoe.

However, before her cozy plans can come to fruition, she needs to survive meeting her date’s family over Christmas lunch. With a long, awkward road trip that has her wondering whether she’s fallen for the Grinch, a mysterious poisoner intent on killing the holiday spirit, and a Santa’s sackful of secrets she’s not allowed to spill, Izzy will need a Christmas miracle to avoid disaster.

The real question is, will her evening be naughty… or not?

Taste of Christmas by Chelsea Field

Series: An Eat, Pray, Die Humorous Mystery short story, #2.5

Genre: Cozy Mystery

Publication Date: November 24, 2016

Publisher: JFP Trust

Print Length: 38 pages

e-Book File Size: 2481 KB

ASIN: B01N468RZO

Author's Website | Facebook | Amazon | Goodreads

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Sunday, November 20, 2016

The Invasive Species by Frankie Bow | Blog Tour with Review, Guest Post, and Giveaway

Frankie Bow is back, with another book in the Molly Barda Mystery series!

The Blurb

Professor Molly Barda is thrilled to be included in a grant to investigate attitudes toward biotechnology. But she immediately finds herself embroiled in the deadly fight between big biotech and anti-GMO activists. When Molly and her best friend Emma Nakamura stumble onto the scene of a brutal murder, they realize that everyone has something to hide — and there are some questions you don’t ask.

The Professor Molly mysteries are the first campus murder mysteries set in Hawaii.

The Invasive Species: In Which Molly Deals With

GMOs, the Paleo Diet, the Big Box Church, Veganism, Yoga, and Marriage

by Frankie Bow

Series: A Professor Molly Mystery, #4
Genre: Cozy Mystery

Publisher: Hawaiian Heritage Press
Publication Date: April 30, 2016
Hardcover: 350 pages
ISBN-10: 1943476217
ISBN-13: 978-1943476213
Paperback: 346 pages
ISBN-10: 1943476209
ISBN-13: 978-1943476206
Kindle: 807 KB File Size
ASIN: B01E6WR8RK
Amazon | B&N | BAM! | IndieBound | Goodreads

The Review

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Friday, November 11, 2016

The Devil’s Flood by Pearl R. Meaker | Blog Tour with Excerpt, Review, Guest Post and Giveaway

The author of The Devil's Hook is back, with another Emory Crawford Mystery!

The Blurb

Sometimes the past won't stay in the past.

Twombly and Golden County’s past and present are bound together by the legend of Sutton House, which vanished during a record flood in 1844. Twombly College has sponsored an archeological team to find the lost house, but therein they discover two mummified men, both with gunshot wounds, and a pistol lying between them.

Add moonshine to the mix when it’s discovered that the old illegal liquor trade is alive and well in Golden County. Teens are the ones drinking it — until there is a murder.

Will Emory and Madison be able to sort myths and rumors from the facts to solve both mysteries?

The Devil’s Flood by Pearl R. Meaker
Series: An Emory Crawford Mystery, #3

Genre: Cozy Mystery

The Excerpt

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Monday, October 31, 2016

Doggone It by Maggie Toussaint | Blog Tour with Review and Giveaway

The Blurb

Dreamwalker Baxley Powell can’t remember the last time she had such a crappy weekend. A twilight encounter with a ghost dog left her numb and disoriented, her dreamwalker abilities are wiped out, and the sheriff just summoned her to a double homicide.

With no access to the spirit world, Baxley bluffs her way through the crime scene where a movie star’s assistant and a charter boat captain were strung up and bled dry. In a haunted house, no less. Figuring out who killed these people will be a real challenge without her ability to speak to the dead.

Just when Baxley thinks her powers are returning, her dreamwalks malfunction. With the sheriff pushing her to solve the case quickly, Baxley teams up with a dognapping medium to boost her powers.

Suspects include the captain’s good-for-nothing brother, the assistant’s replacement, and, of course, his stalker. All of Sinclair County is on edge, and the media circus isn’t helping. At stake are the movie’s funding, the sheriff’s job, and Baxley’s senses.

Can Baxley safeguard her abilities and solve the case before the killer strikes again?

Haunted houses, lost pirate treasure, conniving in-laws, supernatural baddies, and a determined ghost dog test amateur sleuth Baxley Powell’s mettle in Book Three of Toussaint’s Dreamwalker Series.

Doggone It by Maggie Toussaint
Series: A Dreamwalker Mystery, #3

Genre: Paranormal Mystery

Publisher: Five Star

Publication Date: October 19, 2016
Hardcover: 292 pages
ISBN-10: 143283231X
ISBN-13: 978-1432832315
eBook File Size: 1104 KB
ASIN: B01M4HICXJ

The Review

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Thursday, October 27, 2016

An Act of Murder by Mary Angela | Blog Tour with Review and Giveaway

The Blurb

In the sleepy college town of Copper Bluff, South Dakota, English professor Emmeline Prather is enjoying the start of a new semester. But when one of her students dies working on the fall musical, it disrupts life on the small, quiet campus. Although the police rule the death accidental, Prof. Prather has good reason to suspect foul play.

Unmasking the murderer proves much more challenging than finding dangling participles, so Em recruits fellow English professor Lenny Jenkins for assistance. Together, they comb the campus and vicinity for clues, risking their reputations and possibly their jobs. After an intruder breaks into Em’s house, Lenny advises caution — and perhaps a change of address. Em, on the other hand, is all the more determined to forge ahead, convinced they’re on the brink of an important breakthrough.

An Act of Murder by Mary Angela
Series: A Professor Prather Mystery, #1
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Publisher: Camel Press
Publication Date: October 15, 2016
Paperback: 236 pages
ISBN-10: 1603813756
ISBN-13: 978-1603813754

e-Book File Size: 4713 KB
ASIN: B01M622C3B

The Review

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Thursday, October 6, 2016

Masking for Trouble by Diane Vallere | Blog Tour with Review and Giveaway

The author of A Disguise to Die For is back with another Costume Shop Mystery!

The Blurb

SOMEONE'S GETTING DRESSED UP... TO KILL.

Halloween brings more tricks than treats for costume shop owner Margo Tamblyn in the second in a new cozy series from the national bestselling author of the Material Witness Mysteries.

Halloween conjures up big business for Margo Tamblyn’s costume shop, Disguise DeLimit, but this year, the holiday comes knocking with serious trouble. Venture capitalist Paul Haverford plans to rezone historic downtown into a glitzy commercial area which would push out local business. Margo is set on saving her family’s store, especially after a nasty run-in with the chain-store tycoon, but after Haverford’s body is discovered during a spooky party at the derelict Alexandria Hotel, Margo finds herself dressed as the police’s prime suspect.

Anxious to clear her name, Margo begins hunting down anyone who might have wanted Haverford dead. Between all of his malicious maneuverings, the murdered mogul had buckets of people anxious to see him gone. Now, Margo will have to use every trick in the book to find a cloaked killer — before someone else winds up wearing a death shroud…

_______________________________________

INCLUDES RECIPES AND COSTUME IDEAS!

Masking for Trouble by Diane Vallere
Series: A Costume Shop Mystery, #2
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Publisher: Berkley Prime Crime / Penguin
Publication Date: October 4, 2016
Paperback: 304 pages
ISBN-10: 0425278298
ISBN-13: 978-0425278291

e-Book File Size: 2635 KB
ASIN: B01AHKXIHY

The Review

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Wednesday, September 28, 2016

Temporarily Insane by Vicki Batman | Blog Tour with Excerpt, Review, and Giveaway

The Blurb

No man. Bad job. And Murder. Hattie Cooks is still searching for her dream job and one might be available... in the Big Apple, far from friends, family, and Allan Wellborn, the man who still makes her heart race. In the meantime, she finds temporary employment at an accounting firm where two auditor friends turn up dead.

Detective Allan Wellborn dropped Hattie for Blonde Bimbo who, coincidentally, is employed at NLB where fishy things are taking place. When Allan interviews Hattie, he must determine why all signs point to her as a suspect.

Can Hattie discover why Allan dumped her and who is murdering auditors before death strikes again?

Temporarily Insane by Vicki Batman
Series: Hattie Cooks Mystery, #2
Genre: Romantic Comedy / Romantic Suspense / Mystery
Release Date: September 16, 2016
Publisher: The Wild Rose Press, Inc. (Crimson Rose)
Paperback: 344 pages
ISBN-10: 1509209158
ISBN-13: 978-1509209156
eBook File Size: 737 KB
ASIN: B01JBSHE0K
Amazon | Nook | Kobo | Google Play | The Wild Rose Press | Goodreads

The Excerpt

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Wednesday, September 21, 2016

Det Madison Knight Series by Carolyn Arnold | Blog Tour Review, Excerpt, Guest Post, Giveaway

In the Line of Duty

A hero has fallen, and hard-edged detective Madison Knight will stop at nothing

short of finding justice — even if it means risking her own life.

Releasing 9.26.16

For more information, visit Author Carolyn Arnold's website.

In the Line of Duty by Carolyn Arnold

Series: A Detective Madison Knight Mystery, #7

Genre: Police Procedural, Mystery/Suspense

Publication Date: September 29, 2016

Publisher: Hibbert & Stiles Publishing Inc.

Hardcover: 254 pages

ISBN-10: 1988353254
ISBN-13: 978-1988353258

Paperback: 352 pages

ISBN-10: 1988353246

ISBN-13: 978-1988353241

eBook File Size: 4730 KB

ASIN: B01HZVSQPW

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Thursday, September 1, 2016

The Hunger Pains by Chelsea Field | Review

I just read an amazing book, y'all — The Hunger Pains, by Chelsea Field. Let me tell you a little about it.

Synopsis, from Goodreads:

Isobel Avery is on her second assignment as an undercover poison taster for Los Angeles's rich and famous. And she’s actually enjoying herself. Until her sweet, agoraphobic client mysteriously leaves the safety of his apartment and winds up dead.

When crucial evidence goes missing, investigator Connor Stiles will need Izzy's inside knowledge to help track down the killer. But despite three months of absence to make Connor’s heart grow fonder, he doesn't seem pleased to be working with her again. The LAPD commander is even less pleased to have Izzy on the case since he considers her a suspect and, even worse, a mere civilian. To top it all off, her least favorite relative in the whole wide world drops by for an unexpected visit.

Meanwhile, the killer is destroying anything that might link back to them. Including Izzy if she's not careful.

In this fun-packed romantic sequel to Eat, Pray, Die, join Izzy as she learns where she stands with the enigmatic Connor and tries to put another bad guy behind bars.

The Hunger Pains by Chelsea Field
Series: An Eat, Pray, Die Humorous Mystery, #2

Genre: Cozy Mystery

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Friday, August 26, 2016

The Black Thumb by Frankie Bow | Blog Tour with Review, Guest Post, and Giveaway

Frankie Bow is back, with a new book in the Molly Barda Mystery series!

The Blurb

When a violent death disrupts the monthly meeting of the Pua Kala Garden society, Professor Molly Barda has no intention of playing amateur detective. But Molly’s not just a witness — the victim is Molly’s house guest and grad-school frenemy. And Molly quickly finds to her dismay that her interest in the murder of the stylish and self-centered Melanie Polewski is more than just… academic.

The Black Thumb: In Which Molly Takes on Tropical Gardening, a Toxic Frenemy,
a Rocky Engagement, Her Albanian Heritage, and Murder by Frankie Bow

Series: A Professor Molly Mystery, #3
Genre: Cozy Mystery

Publisher: Hawaiian Heritage Press
Publication Date: April 30, 2016
Hardcover: 344 pages
ISBN-10: 1943476195
ISBN-13: 978-1943476190
Paperback: 342 pages
ISBN-10: 1943476187
ISBN-13: 978-1943476183
Kindle: 915 KB File Size
ASIN: B01E3JRMC2
Amazon | B&N | BAM! | IndieBound | Goodreads

The Review

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Wednesday, August 24, 2016

Murder on the Aloha Express by Smith & Steffens | Blog Tour with Excerpt, Review, and Giveaway

The Blurb

Travel agent Gabby LeClair, a divorced big-city transplant trying to find some aloha spirit in her soul, prides herself on working hard to give the Aloha Lagoon Resort guests a once-in-a-lifetime experience. But that turns out to be more than anyone bargained for when the body of a client is found dead during one of Gabby's island tours. The victim is a lawyer who’s escorted a small group to Aloha Lagoon for distribution of a deceased billionaire’s estate... but it looks like someone believes the only good lawyer is a dead lawyer. Between the bad press causing her phone to go silent and the police working on "island time," it's up to Gabby it find the killer before her business goes belly up. With the help of her good friends, and a hot helicopter pilot with a flirtatious streak, Gabby turns sleuth to figure out just which member of the lawyer's party had it in for him. But before long it’s clear there’s way more at stake than her livelihood, and if Gabby isn’t careful, she and her friends may find themselves on an island getaway to death.

The Aloha Lagoon Mysteries:

Ukulele Murder (book #1)

Murder on the Aloha Express (book #2)

Deadly Wipeout (book #3) coming in Sept

Photo Finished (book #4) coming in Oct

Deadly Bubbles in the Wine (book #5) coming in Nov

Mele Kalikimaka Murder (book #6) coming in Dec

Death of the Big Kahuna (book #7) coming in Jan 2017

There's trouble in paradise... the multi-author Aloha Lagoon Mysteries series dishes the dirt on all the murder, mystery, and madcap mayhem in Aloha Lagoon. Told from the points of view of several different women who live and work in Aloha Lagoon, there is never a dull moment. Enjoy their laughter, love, and intriguing investigations — island style!

Murder on the Aloha Express by Sally J. Smith & Jean Steffens
Series: Aloha Lagoon Mystery, #2
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Release Date: August 10, 2016
Publisher: Gemma Halliday Publishing
File Size: 3454 KB
Print Length: 194 pages
ASIN: B01K8SCAHE
ISBN: 978-1943587544
Kindle | Nook | Kobo | iBook | Smashwords | Print
Aloha Lagoon Resort | Goodreads

Murder on the Aloha Express e-books are $0.99 during the tour.

The Excerpt

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Thursday, August 18, 2016

Clementina by Simon Cann | Blog Tour with Excerpt, Review, Guest Post, and Giveaway

The Blurb

Leathan Wilkey has been hired to babysit Clementina, a seventeen-year-old whose rich daddy is going through a messy divorce and is over-compensating.

Leathan soon tires of her spending habits, her selfie obsession, and her social media preoccupation as his ward drags him from shop to boutique to jeweler, approaching each with the self-possession that comes from a lifetime of getting her own way and never once having to worry about money.

But when Clementina snaps her fingers and her boyfriend doesn’t come running, something is up. He doesn’t appear because he’s been murdered.

When Leathan investigates, he finds that the boyfriend has no background and met Clementina through a connection made by daddy’s business partner.

Daddy’s business partner who has been slowly and progressively putting daddy in a vice, grabbing more of the business, and who is now menacing Clementina directly to manipulate daddy.

Clementina by Simon Cann
Series: A Leathan Wilkey Novel, #1

Genre: Crime Thriller

Publication Date: June 8, 2016

Publisher: Coombe Hill Publishing

Paperback: 248 pages

ISBN-10: 1910398128
ISBN-13: 978-1910398128

eBook File Size: 1969 KB

ASIN: B01FZJEDW6

Amazon | B&N | Goodreads

The Excerpt

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Thursday, August 4, 2016

Silk Stalkings by Diane Vallere | Blog Tour with Review and Giveaway

The author of Crushed Velvet is back with another Material Witness Mystery!

The Blurb

Fabric shop owner Polyester Monroe

can get tangled up in textiles, but it’s murder

that really throws her for a loop...

The time has come for San Ladrón, California’s annual Miss Tangorli beauty pageant, and Poly has agreed to use Material Girl’s inventory of shimmery silks to create embellished gowns fit for a crown. But when millionaire Harvey Halliwell — the man who revived the city’s citrus trade with his imported tangorli tree — is found dead days before the pageant contestants are announced, something sour takes over the town.

To make matters worse, her friend, mechanic Charlie Brooks, is soon caught up in the crime, having been seen in the company of the case’s prime suspect. Now Poly’s on a mission to squeeze out the truth. But as she searches for a pattern, the killer seems intent on cutting up the evidence…

_______________________________________

PRAISE FOR THE MATERIAL WITNESS MYSTERIES

“An engaging new series with

an intelligent, resourceful heroine.”

—SOFIE KELLY, New York Times bestselling author

of the Magical Cats Mysteries

“Vallere weaves a tapestry of finely knit

characters, luxurious fabrics, and…murder.”

—JANET BOLIN, national bestselling author

of the Threadville Mysteries

_______________________________________

INCLUDES A CRAFT PROJECT

Silk Stalkings by Diane Vallere
Series: A Material Witness Mystery, #3
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Publisher: Berkley Prime Crime / Penguin
Publication Date: August 2, 2016
Paperback: 304 pages
ISBN-10: 0425270599
ISBN-13: 978-0425270592

e-Book File Size: 2279 KB
ASIN: B01839Q47C

The Review

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Tuesday, July 19, 2016

Show Time by Suzanne Trauth | Blog Tour with Review and Giveaway

The Blurb

The tide has turned for Dodie O’Dell since a hurricane upended her life on the Jersey Shore. Now she’s further up the coast in sleepy Etonville, managing a restaurant that dishes dinners themed around the community theater’s latest productions. But Dodie just never imagined she’d land the starring role in a case of bloody homicide . . .

Intrigued by rumors of vanishing box office money, Dodie has agreed to help oversee the casting of Romeo and Juliet at the modest Etonville Little Theater. If nothing else, it’s a welcome escape from the thirty-something’s usual going-to-bed-with-a-mystery-novel routine. But when Jerome Angleton, a well-respected member of the theater company, is inexplicably found murdered on the loading dock, deadly drama transcends the stage — and the page. As a crime wave crashes over the small town, the spotlight is on Dodie to orchestrate her own investigation behind the scenes . . . before someone has a chance at a killer encore.

Show Time by Suzanne Trauth

Series: A Dodie O'Dell Mystery, #1

Genre: Cozy Mystery
Publisher: Lyrical Underground, Kensington

Publication Date: July 19, 2016
Paperback: 228 pages

ISBN-10: 1601837208
ISBN-13: 978-1601837202

E-Book File Size: 711 KB

For a sneak peek, click "Look inside this book" to read Chapters 1 and 2 of Show Time.
You can also read an "Author Post, Behind the Scenes…" on Kensington's website.