A Review of In the Spirit of French Murder by E. B. Davis

  

After moving to France, Tabitha Knight has a new friend in fellow expat and Cordon Bleu student Julia Child, whose culinary tips can come in quite handy. But something’s cooking in postwar Paris, and it isn’t just cheese soufflé…

Tabitha has enjoyed an entertaining afternoon in Julia’s kitchen, but her return home is a bit jarring. As she arrives at her grandfather’s rue de l’Universitémansion, a woman bursts out the door babbling about messages from spirits and a warning Grand-père must heed. Oncle Rafe angrily sends the woman on her way, and neither man will answer Tabitha’s questions.

It’s not the last she sees of the mysterious visitor. While she’s on a date that evening, she’s accosted by her again—and learns that Madame Vierca is a medium who claims to have visions of a dark fate that awaits Grand-père and Oncle Rafe. The very next night, Tabitha’s messieurs host a soiree at their new restaurant, inviting fellow Resistance fighters from the war known as the Nine Bluets. To commemorate the work of the Resistance network, the vase on the dinner table sports nine of the pretty blue flowers.

But shortly after the revelers leave the restaurant, one of Grand-père’s old friends is found dead on the street . . . and one of the nine flowers is missing from the vase. When a second member of the Nine Bluets is found poisoned the next day, and a bluet flower is left with the body, Tabitha cannot ignore Madame Vierca’s frightening predictions about her dear messieurs. She has no choice but to share her suspicions and fears with the enigmatic and unruffled Inspecteur Merveille.

Tabitha soon finds herself caught up in an investigation that takes her and Merveille to the seediest, most dangerous parts of the Left Bank—home of strange, fantastical legends, disquieting events, and unusual people. As she and Merveille desperately try to find a killer, they know they don’t have much time before the rest of the Nine Bluets are targeted . . . including Grand-père and Oncle Rafe.

Amazon.com

 

In the Spirit of French Murder by Colleen Cambridge, the fourth book in the An American in Paris Mystery series, will be released by Kensington today. I’ve previously interviewed Colleen Cambridge, who writes two other mystery series. She’s a busy writer so I chose to review this book instead.

 

I loved In the Spirit of French Murder because the plot and backstory were tied together. By solving the mystery, main character Tabitha learns more about her grandfather and uncle, their trials and tribulations of working for the resistance during WWII and the often-sad consequences of their doing so. Julia Child, Tabitha’s neighbor and American cohort, doesn’t appear as often and isn’t a part of the solution, which I missed. Instead, Tabitha confides in Inspecteur Merveille, her heartthrob, who gives her subtle clues that he, too, feels attraction.  C’est si bon!    

 

A project left over from the last book in the series, Grandfather’s and Uncle Rafe’s restoration of a restaurant to pre-WWII conditions, wiping out the memories of Nazis who claimed it during the preoccupation, is now complete. The plot engages when they celebrate the restaurant’s opening by inviting their resistance working group, called the Nine Bluets (nine blue flowers). Tabitha connects the deaths of those attending as, one by one, they are murdered. She fears for her grandfather’s and uncle’s lives, motivating her to find the guilty party.

 

There is an element of mysticism due to a medium who predicts the deaths and the appearance of the Old Man Who Appears After Midnight, a Parisian legend, who makes his presence known to Tabitha. He tells her why evidence disappeared without a trace, just as he does. She is bewildered, and yet glad to have experienced his legend and explanation.

 

Colleen Cambridge’s books epitomize what Parisian mysteries should be. The tone of her books illustrates the style and charm inherent in the City of Lights, mysterious unto itself. When Tabitha solves the present crime and anticipates the budding future, the glory and horror of the past is revealed, set on top of a city that is much more than what is seems.  Santé!     

The Poisonous Pour by Maddie Day: A Review by E. B. Davis

  

Since moving from L.A. to California’s verdant wine country, widowed single mom Cece Barton has gone from Colinas wine bar manager to wine bar owner—with a chaser of sleuthing . . .

It’s Memorial Day weekend and Sonoma County’s Alexander Valley is buzzing with activity. For Cece, business at Vino y Vida is going great, as is her romance with new beau, Benjamin. Meanwhile, Cece’s neighbor, Richard Flora, is stirring up controversy with his newest article, an exposé of Regan Greene, power-hungry director of a valley district organization. Also in the mix is the town’s big classic car show, paired with wine tastings . . .

At the show, Cece spots Regan, who is displaying her restored green ’72 Thunderbird convertible. As Cece pours tastes, she witnesses several heated discussions with Regan—including an argument with wine afficionado and new Colinas hardware store owner Greg Jardis. Otherwise, all goes smoothly—until Sunday brings shocking news. Regan has been murdered . . .

Rumors fly that Richard may have orchestrated the homicide—or even committed it. But Cece knows that’s absurd. And others in Cece’s orbit seem to have discomfiting connections to Regan, from Cece’s employee, Dane, to her winemaking teacher’s sister, Yolanda, to Colinas Mayor Guittierez. And after Yolanda visits the wine bar, Benjamin says he recognizes her from a road race.

Determined to clear Richard’s name, and failing to extract any clues from detectives, Cece once again enlists her twin, Allie, as her partner-in-sleuthing. But they’ll have to act quickly, before the trail goes sour . . .

Amazon.com

 

A Poisonous Pour is the third book in Maddie Day’s (Edith Maxwell) Cece Barton mystery series. Kensington will release it on April 28^th.

 

I am at a disadvantage because I missed reading the first two books. From the current book, the reader derives that Cece Barton has moved to Colinas, CA, in wine country, after her divorce to be with her twin sister, Allie, a real estate agent. Although Cece is described as a single mother, her daughter is an adult, studying in Japan, so we don’t see much of that aspect in Cece’s character. Cece now owns a wine bar in the center of the historic district housed in an adobe building. Most of the wines she serves are from local wine makers. A big question I have is how Cece managed to own the bar, which was formerly owned by the town, for free—an arrangement somehow orchestrated by Allie. But then, that question may have been answered in a previous book.

 

  

At a town car show where Cece is displaying her 1966 Ford Mustang, she witnesses Regan Greene, the director of a regional organization, have arguments with three people, including one of her two servers at the wine bar, the town’s mayor, and the new owner of the hardware store. Regan is
murdered the following night. When Cece investigates Regan’s office, she discovers that her assistant hated her and doesn’t mind a bit that she’s dead. Eventually, the instrument of the murder is discovered to be poisonous wine, but anyone could have injected poison through the cork so that clue doesn’t eliminate suspects.

 

One character I loved is Cece’s ninety-two-year-old neighbor, Richard Flora, a former journalist who still writes the occasional feature. Cece and he find friendship in their backyard gardens where Cece’s two cats wander. One of Richard’s recent articles focused on Regan because of her clashes with the town government. Richard is at first considered a suspect because of his article, in which a sharp perspective on Regan’s management is apparent, but town detective Kelly Daniell gives him only a brief glance.

 

Henry and Ed are a married couple and friends of Cece’s. Henry owns an art gallery. Ed owns a local diner. Both host venues for Cece to investigate and trade informational tips.

 

Another character I loved is Ouro, a golden retriever, who is owned by JJ, a female friend of Cece’s and a vintage car mechanic. He hangs out at the shop with JJ and protects her at her yurt, where they live. Ouro helps Cece when the villain threatens her.

 

The book was a cozy likeable read with a rich backstory and enough twists that it kept me captivated until the last page. The question that remains, which will motivate me to pick up the next book in the series, is what Cece’s beau Benjamin does for a living. His job is a secret!   

E. B. Davis

The Most Mysterious Bookshop in Paris by Mark Pryor: A Review by E. B. Davis

   

 

Cover blurb from Amazon:

Hugo Marston, former head of security at the U.S. embassy in Paris, has retired and is ready to realize his lifelong dream of owning a mystery and antiquarian bookshop. But when a blackmail scheme targeting a chocolatier leads to murder, Hugo is again called to investigate in the first Paris Bookshop Mystery for readers of Charles Finch, Tasha Alexander, and Lev AC Rosen.

Hugo has led an exciting life as an FBI profiler and the US embassy’s head of security, but now he’s ready to embrace a quieter existence as a bookseller in the Marais district of Paris. His former employer, however, has other plans for him. A prominent American citizen is the COO of a boutique chocolate emporium in Paris, where they’ve received a mysterious and threatening note. A blackmailer who goes by the name The Shadow wants half a million euros or else their “darkest secret will be revealed.”

Eclat de Chocolat is housed in a chateau dating back to the 1700s. The building, which served as a convent in the first half of the twentieth century, where the angelic Sister Evangeline and her order of nuns helped countless orphans during World War II, has been beautifully converted into a chocolate factory. So what dark secrets could a chocolatier be hiding? The COO has no idea.

Involving his friend, Lieutenant Camille Lerens, Hugo begins to investigate. But soon a second note appears on the premises, canceling the blackmail threat. The same day, the body of an employee is found in an old graveyard behind the chocolatier. Now Hugo and Lerens have a murder on their hands, but is it connected to the blackmail attempt? As they dig for secrets and motives, it becomes clear The Shadow’s grave work has just begun . . .

Amazon.com

 

This is the first book in the Paris Bookshop Mystery series by Mark Pryor, which will be released on March 31st. As a new reader of Mark Pryor’s, I felt the title was a bit deceptive after reading the book. The cover looks cozy enough, and it is a cozy in that there is no violence or death directly shown in the book. But the main character, Hugo Marston, is not cozy. He is retired and he does buy a bookshop in Paris, but he spends very little time there. He is not the typical shopkeeper found in most cozy mysteries. As a former FBI behavioral analyst (profiler) and then head of the American Embassy’s security, he’s too knowledgeable and hard-core to be a cozy main character. Even when the story takes place in a boutique chocolate factory, the story still isn’t cozy. The book was not what I expected. Not to say that I was disappointed, but more of that later.

 

After reading the book and researching author Mark Pryor, I found that Hugo Marston is not a new character, but a main character returning in a new mystery series. In 2012, Mark Pryor’s first book in the Hugo Marston Novel Series (comprised of nine books), The Bookseller was released. In this series, Hugo is not retired. He is the head of the American Embassy’s security and the cases he solves are directly related to his job. The last book in this series was released in 2020.

 

Six years have passed. In the current Paris Bookshop Mysteries, Hugo is older and now retired from the embassy, but due to his relationship with the Ambassador, he works on problems that cross the Ambassador’s public and private helm. Such is the case in The Most Mysterious Bookshop in Paris, in which an acquaintance of the Ambassador and English owner of a chocolate factory is being blackmailed. Most blackmail notes are pointed; the guarded secret is obvious. That isn’t the case here. The chocolate is a new and upcoming brand that has just been granted a Royal Warrant by King Charles of England. It’s an important kudos that will help launch the business. What I didn’t know is that most chocolate makers buy premade chocolate, called couverture, and use it to make or coat different filling flavors. When the English owner reveals that she buys her coverture from a German company and that might be the “secret” referred to in the blackmail note, Hugo doesn’t think that is a big enough secret to be a source of blackmail. The owner disagrees because even in present-day Paris, there is animosity dating back to WWII against Germany.

 

Hugo works with a transexual friend who is a midlevel Paris detective and a junior detective to solve the blackmail. Then, when a chocolate employee’s body is found on the factory grounds, they solve the murder case. Since Hugo doesn’t have the limitations the police have, they use his autonomy to further the case. Hugo relies on the policemen to get search warrants that he has no legal right to get. The dialogue among Hugo and the two detectives is humorous and honest. Hugo also has a journalist/sometimes girlfriend who gets information on cases, which turn into her stories. But he uses her position and case exposure to gain power with principal suspects via the pressure of the press.

 

Yes, I had no problem reading the book as a first-time reader, but I also think the author and publisher should announce the new series as a continuation of the old series at a later stage of the main character’s life. It felt a bit of a cheat when I realized that the character was already developed in nine previous titles. The author has established more than enough background/relationship details to write a strong mystery. It wasn’t what I expected, but it was a page-turner.

A Book Review of Gary Gerlacker's Last Patient Of The Night by E. B. Davis

 

The death of a nameless young woman in his emergency room spurs physician AJ Docker to seek answers. Together with his policeman friend and a police dog, he sets out on a quest for justice for his lost patient, but he discovers more questions than answers as he delves into the criminal world.

 

Last Patient of the Night is an action-packed thriller interspersed with lighthearted stories from the emergency room, featuring a cast of interesting characters.

 

Gary Gerlacher's experience as an emergency physician lends authenticity to the ER culture. His debut novel is the first in the AJ Docker series, and will leave you turning pages late into the night.

                                                                                                                                    Amazon.com

 

The truth—I downloaded this book (on Kindle Unlimited) because of the police dog. I’d read an article about the addition of a K9 unit on a local police force—Sailor—a female Lab, which got me in the mood to read a K9 story.

 

But the story is really about the main character, Doc, who is an ER doctor. While on a ski vacation, an inexperienced skier runs into a tree crushing his windpipe. Readers quickly understand that author Gary Gerlacker is an experience ER physician because he describes the detailed procedures for a tracheostomy Doc performs on the trail using a kit from his backpack. It’s an action-packed start, which doesn’t end until the last page.

 

The ER is filled with staff who are good at their jobs and have a great respect for Doc, even if they constantly take bets on the actions Doc will take. Doc’s adversary is a hospital administrator named VP Lou, who is concerned that the ER isn’t profitable and they need to increase their admissions rates. Sarcasm among the staff is unavoidable.

 

Doc’s best friends are police officer, Tom Nocal, and his K9, Banshee, a sixty-pound Belgian Malinois, who leaves wounds on criminals that Doc is used to stitching up. 

 

A young woman comes to the Houston ER, where Doc works, with a fractured wrist. Doc thinks she is an abuse victim. But she leaves the ER without saying anything and is later found dead in the ER parking lot. Doc attends the autopsy and takes a picture of her unusual tattoo, through which he tracks her and finds her real identity. Without family, she is a dancer in a warehouse club owned by Ukrainian mobsters. Tom and Doc go to the club. After Doc pays for a woman’s “service,” to get her alone, she tells him that they may as well be slaves. Later, away from the club, she tells him of a club spinoff of call-girl services, which was another duty the victim filled. From there, Doc traces a blackmailing scheme paid to the Ukrainian mobsters through Bitcoin accounts, making them billions. Of course, in the end, Doc, Tom, and Banshee get the bad guys and also take care of sending VP Lou to jail.

 

This is the first of six books in the series. If you want a fast, action-packed read with interesting medical detail, this series is for you. 

 

Walter Mosley's Gray Dawn: A Review by E. B. Davis

 

That’s the way Joe talked. He wanted you

to feel the nuance of what he meant.

                                                            Walter Mosley, Gray Dawn, Page 179

In this thrilling mystery from "master of craft and narrative" Walter Mosley (National Book Foundation), Detective Easy Rawlins has settled into the happy rhythm of his new life when a dark siren from his past returns and threatens to destroy the peace he's fought for.

The name Easy Rawlins stirs excitement in the hearts of readers and fear in the hearts of his foes. His success has bought him a thriving detective agency, with its first female detective; a remote home, shared with children and pets and lovers, high atop the hills overlooking gritty Los Angeles; and more trouble, more problems, and more threat to those whom he loves. In other words, he’s still beset on all sides.
 
A number of below-the-law powerbrokers plead with Easy to locate a mysterious, dangerous woman—Lutisha James, though she’s gone by another name that Easy will immediately recognize. 1970s Los Angeles is a transient city of delicate, violent balances, and Lutisha has disturbed that. She also has a secret that will upend Easy’s own life, painfully closer to home.

Amazon.com

 

Walter Mosley is a great storyteller. I highlighted the above quote because after reading it, I thought Mosley must be talking about himself. He has a way of getting his meaning across, sometimes with dialogue, but we get the true measure of Easy Rawlins, the main character, through his internal dialogue—those conversations he has with himself. He thinks things through, then evaluates his possible actions based on his current condition and takes into consideration how they might affect those around him. He’s a nice, deadly guy.

 

Easy Rawlins is a black PI located in L.A. Mosley started the Easy Rawlins mystery series in 1990, thirty-five years ago. It was set in the 1950s. Easy was a young man at the time. It’s now the 1970s. He’s in his early 50s and has two young adult children he’s made his own without blood bonds. In Gray Dawn, Easy has three problems.

 

A strange client wants him to track down a woman for a reason that Easy doesn’t believe, but he accepts the assignment. Little does he know that when he finds her, it will bring him full circle with bonds made in his youth.

 

His adopted son, Jesus, is hiding out from two agents of the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs (BNDD), predecessor of the DEA. He started out as a fisherman, but friends tell Easy that fishing has been off along this coast, and Jesus is bringing in tons of marijuana on his boat. Jesus tells him the agents are bent and forcing him to mule marijuana for them to sell. He wants to stop even if it is only pot.

 

Easy is training a young woman, Niska, in the PI art. He used to think there was a divide between men’s and women’s work, but he’s recognizing the world is changing. But she’s young, naïve, and needs his oversight more than she understands.

 

The Easy Rawlins mystery series has been his longest running. Gray Dawn is the seventeenth book —so he’s written approximately one book every two years. That’s just in this series. He’s a prolific writer having four other series, which he’s kept to mostly trilogies. He also has written YA and Sci-Fi. It was interesting that Mosley starts the book with a Note from the Author. In it he tries to explain to younger readers what discrimination was like for blacks in the 1950s. Since then, so much has changed for the better in our culture that he understands that younger readers can’t fathom the past nor will they accept Easy’s underlying anger, defensiveness, and hatred for those who still hold onto prejudice. 

 

When I started reading Mosley, I read books from the library. When Mosley branched out with other series in the late 1990s/early 2000s, I thought he had abandoned Easy. I tried to read another series, but I couldn’t get into the characters like I could with Easy. It was then I lost track of Mosley—until now. I was thrilled to see this book on Amazon with a Kindle format. After downloading it, I got lost in tales of my old friend. I must go back and find where I left the series, then again, after thirty-five years, starting at the beginning is probably my best option.  

 

Julie Mulhern's Bad Blood: A Review by E. B. Davis

 

Prudence Davies is one of Ellison Jones' least favorite people on earth. She's vindictive. She's mean. And the two share a twisted history. Or, they did.

When Prudence is murdered after a very public spat, Ellison finds herself a murder suspect. Worse, the investigating officer has it in for Ellison's homicide detective husband.

Old secrets. Old lies. New drama.

Can Ellison find the killer or will the bad blood between her and Prudence mean the end to all she holds dear?

Amazon.com

 

In Bad Blood, main character Ellison Jones is arrested for the murder of Prudence Davies by a homicide detective, who doesn’t like her husband Anarchy, who is also a homicide detective working out of the same station. Ellison has been targeted to take the blame. Someone close, who knew she kept her gun in a nightstand, stole it and used it as the murder weapon. It was common knowledge that she disliked Prudence, who dallied with her late husband. Prudence drew Ellison into a loud argument by the country club swimming pool the day before. Ellison must save herself without Anarchy’s help. He’s been warned not to interfere in the case.      

I hope I’m wrong. But I fear I’m not. Bad Blood is Julie Mulhern’s twentieth novel in the Country Club Murder mystery series, and I think it is the last book. Prudence, the victim, is Ellison Jones’s nemesis, stemming from the first book in the series, The Deep End. Julie has brought the series around full circle. Ellison started out a married woman with low self-esteem in a loveless, conventional marriage. She was henpecked by her domineering mother. After her lousy husband Henry was murdered, Ellison stood firm as a single mother and a financially successful artist. When she was forced to solve murders, her self-esteem grew, as did her ability to stand up to her mother. But she found true love in police detective Anarchy Jones, married him against her mother’s wishes, and solved murders.

 

Ellison Jones’s dilemmas and conflicts have been solved. Even her mother is now a softer, gentler person, treating Ellison with the respect she deserves. Another reason I think this is the last book is that Julie introduces a new historical mystery series at the end of Bad Blood. Although I can understand Julie wanting a new series, I will hate to see this one go. It’s humor and irony made for great reading.

My Father Always Finds Corpses by Lee Hollis: A Review by E. B. Davis

 

With a wryly witty and assured voice and a vastly entertaining cast of characters, Lee Hollis puts a modern slant on the classic murder mystery as a father-daughter sleuthing duo are drawn into a case close to home . . .

You never forget your first corpse. For former child star Jarrod Jarvis, that discovery was twenty-plus years ago, and a lot has happened since he solved a string of real-life Hollywood murders. Now Jarrod lives in Palm Springs where he writes and directs local theatre, while quietly grieving the loss of his partner, police detective Charlie.

Jarrod hasn’t disclosed much about his sleuthing past to his daughter, Liv, who just earned a degree in criminal justice. There’s been distance between them since Charlie’s death, and Jarrod’s unsure how to bridge the gap. Liv, meanwhile, has put her career on hold in order to help her filmmaker boyfriend, Zel. His new documentary idea is to track down the surrogate who gave birth to Liv. Skeptical and annoyed by Zel’s pressure tactics, Liv goes to confront him at his apartment. But there’s no need to break things off—because someone has bludgeoned Zel to death.

Jarrod rushes to Liv’s aid, surprising his daughter with his ease around a crime scene, firing off questions like a modern-day Columbo with better hair and wardrobe. Another shock is quite how many people had motive to finish Zel off—including a Russian film professor, a former First Lady, and a sexy Secret Service agent. Together, Liv and Jarrod comb for clues across the sun-drenched Coachella valley, growing close again. But while there’s nothing like murder to bring a family together, this father-daughter reunion may be short-lived as long as a killer is on the loose . . .                                                                                                                                              Amazon.com

 

Lee Hollis is a pseudonym for the brother and sister writing team of Rick Copp and Holly Simason. Rick started writing for TV in the 80s and has an extensive resume of shows that he wrote for, created, produced, and sometimes acted in, which I will not enumerate here since he started at age twenty-four fresh out of New York University. His sister, Holly, wrote a cooking column in their hometown paper, which won awards. Together, they compounded their wins. My Father Always Finds Corpses was released on May 27. It is their fourth mystery series.

 

Jarrod Jarvis, a former child star, is now near sixty. His late husband, Charlie, a LA homicide detective, died ten years ago. They had paid a surrogate to have a child. Their daughter, Liv, is now in her 20s, and both have relocated to Palm Springs, CA from LA. Jarrod is still in mourning for Charlie and hasn’t dated, a situation his friends want to change. He is also at a loss as to how to improve his relationship with Liv, who was closer with Charlie. The murder of Liv’s boyfriend provides this opportunity. His experience and professionalism make him shine in his daughter’s eyes. Some first books allude to the MC having solved murders in the past, giving them an instant reputation and precedent, which I find unnecessary and a bit annoying. In this book, it’s sort of like that as readers aren’t enlightened about this previous experience, but… 

 

There are caveats and clues in the book that glimpse back to a before, starting with the title. Jarrod can’t always find corpses if this is the first one. And in fact, it isn’t. After researching Rick, I found that he had delved into mystery writing before collaborating with his sister. In 2001, he wrote the first Jarrod Jarvis mystery, The Actor’s Guide to Murder, followed by, The Actor’s Guide to Adultery, and finally, The Actor’s Guide to Greed, the latter winning a LAMBDA Literary Award for Best Mystery. These early books are set before Jarrod and Charlie marry and have Liv, and are living together in LA. It is wonderful to find that the harkening back to previous murder solving is actually substantiated by these books. Unfortunately, the illustrious prequels haven’t been digitalized and are quite expensive to buy. So, although they would be interesting to read, I probably won’t unless someone reissues them. Hint! Hint!

 

As you can imagine, the writing is stellar. However, unlike the other series written by Lee Hollis, these books have no cooking component and are without recipes. That’s the only negative! The secondary characters are memorable and include a gay couple and a former First Lady of the US, now a widow living in Palm Springs and a friend of Jarrod’s. Seeing Jarrod and Liv’s relationship blossom while investigating murder shows that future books may turn this sequel into the start of a new series. We can only hope so.     

 

A Book Review by E. B. Davis: The Retired Assassin's Guide To Country Gardening by Naomi Kuttner

 

Dante has come to the small coastal town of Te Kohe, New Zealand, for a fresh start in life. But he doesn't want to open a BnB, or save a charming bookshop, or start a romance with a single mother in need of rescuing.

He just wants to forget about his past career (which involved a lot of dead bodies) and have everyone leave him the heck alone. Unfortunately for Dante, life has other plans...

Amazon.com

 

 

Naomi Kuttner is a new, young author from New Zealand. Previously, she wrote a three-book urban-fantasy series. The Retired Assassin’s Guide To Country Gardening is her first cozy mystery.

 

I admit to debating if I wanted to read it, but due to it being on Kindle Unlimited and I found the title intriguing, I downloaded it. When I started reading, I did not understand that it had a paranormal element, which I now realize was due to my downloading the book on my iPhone rather than from my computer on the Amazon website. I guess the narrow format forced a reduction of description. As that is the case, the author needs to put a few more sentences into her jacket copy revealing that Te Kohe, the town in New Zealand where the action takes place, is haunted by past residents’ ghosts. I see paranormal as a plus, but I recognize others may not.

 

We soon learn that the main character, appropriately named Dante, has retired from being an assassin, and he is only in his early forties. This information doesn’t endear Dante to readers, but we do find that he is trying to reform. He is a member of an online group of AA (Assassins Anonymous), is a man of few words, and through his associations, is trying to lose the assassin’s mindset or at least redirect it in a positive way. The house he bought belonged to an old woman (now deceased) that has a greenhouse containing rare plants. When a young gardener, Charlie, knocks on his door, Dante learns that there is no avoiding the gardener or the town’s Garden Society because his greenhouse contains the rare Corpse Plant. The symbolism isn’t lost on Dante.

 

Enter a local hotel owner, who threatens to out Dante to the townspeople unless he serves as a bodyguard at an event. Dante agrees but only because he goes by the adage of “know thy enemy.” But it soon becomes apparent that Dante and Charlie are in the frame for a woman’s murder at the event, and Charlie is the only one who has motive. A townswoman in the know and about town in all the lady’s societies approaches Dante enlisting him to help her find the real murderer because she knows Charlie couldn’t have done such a deed. Having grown fond of Charlie and knowing he was set up to be in the frame, Dante agrees. But he observes that the woman, Eleanor, often pretends to be a frivolous airhead when she is anything but. It is she, their leader, who determines how they will get the truth to find the real murderer.

 

The rest of the plot is up to you to discover, but there is a lot of backstory affecting the plot and the outcome of the investigation. But I will say that about mid-way through the book, it is revealed that Dante was an assassin for (we assume) England, perhaps M16. That information helps the reader cope with Dante’s immorality since he didn’t kill to make a fortune, but he is more akin to a soldier. Knowing that  doesn’t sit well on Dante’s shoulders. He retired early for a reason. I included that tidbit to allay fears of those not wanting to champion an evil main character.

 

I recommend reading this book. It was unexpected and enjoyable. Ms. Kuttner provides a descriptive sentence summarizing each chapter heading tempting us to read further. I found them amusing and accurate.

 

A second in the series, The Assassin’s Guide To Orchid Hunting is due out in December of 2025.    

Colleen Cambridge's A Fashionably French Murder Review by E. B. Davis

 

A Fashionably French Murder is the third book in An American in Paris mystery series by Colleen Cambridge. The series splices real life events in Julia Child’s life with the fiction of the author’s mystery solving main character, Tabitha Knight. I’ve interviewed Collen before, and because I love this series, I had to review her book. I learn so much from Colleen.

 

This book focuses on the fashion industry in Paris. I had no idea it was actually regulated by the French government’s Chambre Syndicale, who, much like in the country’s wine industry, sets regulations and standards for defining haute couture. Which means that an atelier, designer’s workshop, must have sufficient financial backing to meet the standards set by the Chambre Syndicale. 

 

The book takes place a few years after WWII has ended. Julia Child and her husband lived in Paris during this time. Julia has just started her culinary career by taking cooking classes, which she practices on her younger American friend, Tabitha, who is new to Paris and new to cooking. Tabitha lives in a mansion across the street from Julia’s apartment building with her grandfather and her “uncle,” who is not relative, but a close friend of her grandfather’s. She cooks for the elderly gentlemen, but she’s a novice cook. Tabitha is Julia’s first student.

 

We learn more about Tabitha’s grandfather’s and “uncle’s” curious relationship in this book, and find out why her grandmother emigrated to Michigan during Tabitha’s youth. She grew up in a bilingual home. After working in a Michigan war factory, Tabitha is laid off and decides to visit her grandfather and find her way in life. She earns her living in Paris teaching French to other Americans and Brits who want to speak the language, which brings her to an atelier.

 

Juia knows an American woman who needs a Mother-of-the-Bride dress, but has not learned enough French to buy from an atelier. Tabitha volunteers to translate with the promise of a future student. As it turns out, Tabitha’s skills with the language are very much needed. After the woman chooses a dress modeled by a “mannequin,” or live model, it is denied to her when the designer finds out that the wedding will be held in Paris. Because she was an American, they assumed that the wedding would be held in the USA. “When haute couture pieces are sold, they’re exclusive to the buyer. So no one else can buy the same piece and potentially be seen in it. Each designer has their own rules, but here is a definite exclusivity to all of them.” (Kindle Loc. 297) The chosen dress had already been sold to a Parisian woman.

 

Later in the day, Tabitha returns to the establishment to find her lost glove only to discover the designer murdered.

 

One weird fact: Property taxes in Paris were then calculated not by size or location but by how well or expensively furnished the building was appointed. Because of that, only the “company” rooms were well furnished while the private rooms were austere to cut down on taxes.  

 

Another weird fact: After WWII, the police were held with suspicion because some had cooperated with the Nazis while they occupied the city, which is one reason people go to Tabitha requesting she solve crimes committed against them. Her crime-solving reputation has spread, and she is trusted.

 

If you haven’t tried this series and you are a cozy culinary mystery/Julia Child fan, it’s a must. I love hearing about what Julia is cooking and following Tabitha, with American eyes, seeing Paris in its return to glory. Here’s the jacket copy.

 

American expat Tabitha Knight has found a new life in postwar Paris, along with a delightful friend in aspiring chef Julia Child. Yet there are perils in peacetime too, as a killer infiltrates one of the city’s most famous fashion houses.

If there’s one art the French have mastered as well as fine cuisine, it’s haute couture. Tabitha and Julia are already accustomed to sampling the delights of the former. Now fashion is returning to the forefront in Paris, as the somber hues of wartime are replaced by vibrant colors and ultra-feminine silhouettes, influenced by Christian Dior’s “New Look.”

Tabitha and Julia join a friend for a private showing at an exclusive fashion atelier, Maison Lannet. The event goes well, but when Tabitha returns later that evening to search for a lost glove, she finds the lights still on—and the couturier dead, strangled by a length of lace. The shop manager suspects that a jealous rival—perhaps Dior himself—committed the crime. Tabitha dismisses that idea, but when another body is found, it’s apparent that someone is targeting employees of Maison Lannet.

Meanwhile, Tabitha’s Grand-père and Oncle Rafe are in the midst of their own design-related fracas, as they squabble over how to decorate their new restaurant. And there are strange break-ins at a nearby shoe store—but are the crimes related? It’s up to Tabitha to don her investigative hat and find answers before someone commits another fatal fashion faux pas.

Amazon.com

 

Love, Die, Neighbor Review by E. B. Davis

 

A prequel to the [Kiki Lowenstein] Mystery Series that has won the hearts of fans all over the world! As the mother of an active toddler and the wife of an often absent husband, Kiki Lowenstein already has both hands full. But when the Lowensteins move into their new house on the same day the construction crew leaves, Kiki must learn to juggle boxes, baby, and big expectations. Her determination to be a good neighbor hits a serious roadblock when she angers the Nordstroms, the couple who live next door. Then Sven Nordstrom dies under mysterious circumstances, and Kiki is forced into the one role she never planned on playing: amateur sleuth.

 

Love, Die, Neighbor is a prequel in the Kiki Lowenstein series, one of many series written by Joanna Campbell Slan, whose specialty is cozy mysteries. But by far, this series must be the most popular because there are now twenty books. Additionally, there are twenty-four short stories/novellas having Kiki Lowenstein as the main character.

 

The first book, Paper, Scissors, Death was published in 2008. Love Die, Neighbor was published in 2017, and I read it first. I’m glad I did. It gave such depth to Kiki, the main character, that I can’t imagine it not being the first book.

 

Writers try not to include too much backstory and historical data so as not to bog down the plot, especially in what must be a first impact book. But as the series progresses successfully, there comes a certain point in the series arc when writers understand their main character is what draws readers. Murders and sleuthing aside, readers want to know more about how the main character got to where she is in life. And thus, prequels are created. As I understand it, there is also a second prequel, Bad Memory Album, written in 2023. I’m not sure what aspect of the series spring boarded this book, but I will find out!

 

In Love, Die, Neighbor, Kiki reveals a sexual encounter at a college frat party resulted in her marriage to the honorable father and subsequent daughter. At first, I thought her daughter was a newborn, but she is nearly two when this book takes place. Trying to clear away construction debris in her new house and dealing with a mobile toddler are bad enough, but she also has to deal with a condescending mother-in-law. And then, she finds the neighbors to be strange and unfriendly. When one of them is murdered, she and her husband come under suspicion, ensuring that Kiki, who needs an intellectual pursuit, is on the case.

 

Kiki is an honorable character who bites her tongue perhaps more than she should. Readers start to champion her when she is belittled by her mother-in-law and ignored by her husband. Kiki doubts his fidelity, a question that remains unanswered at the end of the book. Still, she honors her marriage and takes the higher road with mommy dearest and her unfriendly neighbors.  

 

Who are your favorite main characters? Have you ever written a prequel?  

Haunting License Review By E. B. Davis

 

It’s June in Haven, Florida, a “between seasons” time in the tourism business, and Maureen’s Haven House Inn is feeling the pinch. There are plenty of ghosts in residence, but Maureen needs living guests to pay the bills…
 

While walking on the beach with her golden retriever Finn, Maureen discovers a body. When Officer Frank Hubbard arrives, he recognizes local charter boat fisherman Eddie Manuel.
 
Now it’s up to Maureen and her spirited sleuths to sort through the red herrings and bait a hook for a killer before someone else ends up sleeping with the fishes . . .

Amazon.com

 

Haunting License is the third book in Carol J. Perry’s the Haunted Haven mystery series. I interviewed her on the first two books and was delighted by the ghosts frequenting the old inn. But I wanted the ghosts to be part of the sleuthing process. In this book, one ghost overhears a conversation and relays it to main character, Maureen. The ghost provides a key clue in discovering the identity of the murderer. For me, this was the element making the book special.

 

Local detective Frank Hubbard continues to be passive aggressive, which adds tension. It’s a wonder Maureen doesn’t get in his face because he can be annoying. He acknowledges that Maureen has a talent for solving mysteries, but all he wants are clues from her. When she actually sleuths, he scolds her about amateur detectives and danger. However, in this case he is right, which doesn’t make Maureen back off. Perhaps because she has found a friend and partner in one of the inn’s guests.  

 

The looting and selling of artifacts from Native American Mounds is the crime involved, a violation of the Archaeological Resources Protection Act. The mounds can be found throughout the country wherever there are/were Native lands. These formations can be found outside of the fictional town of Haven, FL ostensibly via the Seminoles. When Maureen and one of the inn’s guests, an archeologist and mound expert, witness a man confiscate stolen treasures from a mound, they are threatened and set themselves up as bait to trap the killer.

 

One subplot: Before inheriting the inn, Maureen was a buyer for a department store. In creating a gift store in the inn, Maureen gets to employ her old skills while practicing her new sleuthing skills. Another—reviving a fishing tournament to increase inn/town business during the slack season.

 

This book is an enjoyable read filled with nonthreatening ghosts, Finn, Maureen’s pet Golden Retriever, feral cats, delectable inn dining room menus, a bit of romance, and fun characters. Buy this one before heading out to the beach this summer.