Tiaras & Texans By Laina Turner Narrated By Lee Ann Howlett

Tiaras & Texans

A Presley Thurman Mystery

By Laina Turner

Narrated By: Lee Ann Howlett

Presley wins a bet against her boyfriend allowing her to finally work for his security company. Though she starts the assignment especially excited knowing she will be good at this job she ends up annoyed when she finds out that the job in question is to protect beauty queens at a Texas pageant. Soon after beginning the job she and Cooper, her boyfriend and now boss, find that this will be more than just protecting the girls against childish pranks now they will have to find out who murdered one of the girls before it happens again.

I absolutely loved Lee Ann Howlett’s narration of this book. First off her characters where each distinct from the low timber of cooper to the high pitched whine of some of the beauty pageant contestants making the story come to life. What really made this an excellent performance though weren’t just the different voices of her characters but also the accents. I am a native Texan and so many times I come across audio books or even on television where an actor or narrator will butcher the accent but Lee Ann Howlett was spot on, I didn’t even cringe once. The story itself is a great cozy mystery, which is a subgenre of crime fiction where the sex and violence are downplayed or even portrayed humorously. (Thanks Wikipedia!)  Laina Turner did a wonderful job with the mystery aspect of the book not once did I suspect who had done it until the very end which is great! You can tell this is not the first book in the series but the fun of a cozy mystery is you don’t really have to start at the beginning this book is no exception Laina Turner makes sure you can keep up with the story from the very beginning. If you are a fan of cozy mysteries or even a beginner I definitely recommend this book, and be sure to check out the great audio book the narration makes it so much better.

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Murder Most Frothy by Cleo Coyle Review

Murder Most Frothy

Coffeehouse Mystery Series Book Two

By Cleo Coyle

Clare Cosi lives for coffee, ever since she was a child, so it is no surprise that she is a highly successful New York barista. Her millionaire friend David has asked her down to the Hamptons for the summer to train his staff at his new restaurant with all expenses paid for her and her daughter it is an offer she cannot refuse, but during a Fourth of July party she is catering she stumbles upon the dead body of one of her employees she takes it upon herself to find out who killed this man and if their attempts weren’t actually meant for someone else.

This was a great cozy, the first book I have read from the Coffeehouse Mystery Series and I thoroughly enjoyed it. This book is witty and humorous fulfilling much of what I expect when I read a cozy mystery. The Author did a wonderful job in describing the coffee that even for someone like me, who doesn’t particularly like it; I wanted to taste the delectable creations that Cleo Coyle describes. The coffee isn’t the only thing that the author was able to create brilliantly; her scenes were able to draw you in so that you were able to fully take in what was happening, also the relationships that the author has created make you curious as to what has taken place in the past and what will become of the menagerie of characters. The mystery itself, though not intense since it is a cozy, will keep you guessing until the very last minute and the author does a remarkable job of tying up any “loose ends” that some mystery authors tend to overlook.

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Love Lies and Liqour by M.C. Beaton

Love, Lies and Liquor

Agatha Raisin Mystery Series Book Seventeen

By M.C. Beaton

Agatha Raisin decides to go on a holiday with her ex-husband but when he takes her to his favorite childhood retreat and finds the town has become dilapidated and crude they soon decide to venture elsewhere. Until a woman is found strangled on the beach by Agatha’s scarf and Agatha becomes determined to find out who killed this woman.

I have recently fallen in love with Cozy Mysteries, a subgenre of crime fiction where sex and violence are presented in a more light hearted way, and this one has proven that when you supply witty context a bit of humor and an intriguing murder mystery it makes for a fantastic read. This is my first Agatha Raisin novel and it managed to pull me in and make me eager to find out more of her story. Agatha runs a successful detective agency and has a few interesting characters that are her employees and then you add in her strange love life you have a wonderful cast of characters that come to life through the pages of this book.

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Before the Daisies Grow by Micki Street Review

Before the Daisies Grow

Capers of the Glamour Grans Book One

By Micki Street

Three women in their sixties decide it is time to go on Holiday, after much debate and consideration taking into account the message from Dotty’s deceased husband through the make shift Ouija Board, they all decide to travel to Zanzibar. But when Dotty meets a handsome stranger in a bar who tells her all about the fun she can have in Brazzina the plan soon changes and they are off to this West African Island for some fun in the sun. What they don’t realize is that the island is not quite what it was made out to be and they are soon pulled into the middle of an investigation and subsequent drug bust.

With one mishap after another Micki Street comes up with one hilarious novel revolving around three women who are eccentric and fascinating to follow along as you keep wondering how in the world they find so much trouble. I wasn’t sure what to expect when I started this novel, I am by far a “Glamour Gran” so I was worried I wouldn’t be able to relate with the characters but as soon as they boarded the small plane I couldn’t help laughing as I myself had clutched to my husband’s hand for dear life in a similar situation, thinking the plain would surely crash just because I was on it. This isn’t the only part I could relate to but it was the funniest though I did catch myself laughing out loud at many of the antics these women find themselves in. It was all very well written and the comedy was flawless.

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