Review - Killer Crullers

Killer Crullers by Jessica Beck is the sixth book in the “Donut Shop” mystery series. Publisher: Minotaur Books, January 2012

As owner of April Springs’s one and only donut shop, Suzanne Hart is privy to the deliciously personal, downright eccentric tastes of her customers. One man is crazy for crullers—heavy on the icing. But when he doesn’t pick up his order, a tall dark stranger buys the whole box. Which he tosses, one drippy cruller at a time, at her friend Gabby’s storefront next door.  The man claims that stolen family valuables ended up in Gabby’s thrift shop. His wild, weird behavior has Suzanne wanting to call the cops. But when he turns up dead—outside of Donut Hearts, no less—the cops come calling for her and Gabby. Can Suzanne prove that their role in the cruller-vandal killing is a cruel, albeit sugar-coated, twist of fate?

When a customer starts throwing crullers at Gabby and is later found murdered, the police immediately suspects her friend Gabby. When it looks like bad for her, Gabby asks Suzanne to find the murderer before she’s rolled in dough. I love the easy and steady flow of this well-written story. The mystery kept me turning the pages but what I enjoyed the most is the relationships between Suzanne, her mother and her friends. That is what keeps me coming back to this series again and again. I look forward to more adventures and possibilities in the next book in this wonderfully charming series.

Dru

 Previously posted at dru's book musings

Mystery Writers Conventions

Blog:

There are a lot of mystery writers conventions etc....my question today is ...

If you were going to a Mystery Writers Convention what authors would you like to hear speak and what would you like their topic/topics to be?

This doesn't have to be just cozy authors but all mystery authors are included.

Hugs,

Pam

Presidents

With Presidents Day coming soon I thought I would ask..."Who is/was your favorite president?

Hugs,

Pam

Book Blog

Okay so it's February and all thoughts turn to romance. Howwever if you're like me you might like your romance with a twist. Such as a twist of the knife in someone's back, or you might like a dangerous man dark man.....maybe you like your romance with a dash of poison or a deadly encounter.

You see I am not exactly the hearts and flowers kind of woman I actually really enjoy Valentine's Day because it can show the many layers of a persons darkside.

So no matter what you read tell us some of your favorite authors who bring out the darkside of their characters? If you simply must talk about the sweet romance (which is fine) are there any that do it with humor? Maybe dark humor?

By way of Promo there are a lot of cozy authors whose book are being released this week and probably next week so be sure to visit your bookstore soon. Or your online bookstore soon.......

lastly has anything from the darkside of romance ever happened to you or anyone you know?

Hugs,

Pam

Review - Death by Killer Mop Doll

Death by Killer Mop Doll by Lois Winston is the second book in “Anastasia Pollack Crafting” mystery series. Publisher: Midnight Ink, January 2012

Overdue bills and constant mother vs. mother-in-law battles at home are bad enough. But crafts editor Anastasia Pollack’s stress level is maxed out when she and her fellow American Woman editors get roped into unpaid gigs for a revamped morning TV show. Before the glue is dry on Anastasia’s mop dolls, morning TV turns crime drama when the studio is trashed and the producer is murdered. Former co-hosts Vince and Monica—sleazy D-list celebrities—stand out among a lengthy lineup of suspects, all furious over the show’s new format. And Anastasia has no clue her snooping has landed her directly in the killer’s unforgiving spotlight.

What a fun read! This is a well-crafted and fast-paced story that kept me laughing as the book progresses to its dramatic conclusion. Once again, Anastasia find a dead body with one of her craft tools nearby and now must outwit a killer before she becomes a victim of her own tools. I like this story as Anastasia deals with the drama that is her dysfunction family and trying to find a killer in her roundabout way to the amusement of this reader. With quirky and eccentric but lovable characters and witty and amusing dialogue, this was very enjoyable and I look forward to more adventures in this entertaining series.

Dru

Previously posted at dru's book musings

Guest Blogger - Alice Duncan

When 2012 began, it didn’t do so happily for me. Blind in one eye (because of surgery to correct a detached retina) and unable to see out of the other one very well even with glasses (mega-myopia), I was face down with my head in a holey Styrofoam pillow for two weeks and fumbling blindly for many more weeks after that. While I was stumbling around, unable to see properly, I managed to trip over some doggie steps and fell, splat, on my bedroom floor, fracturing my right pinkie finger in the process. It was a rough beginning. I had one semi-good eye (the right) and one more-or-less good hand (the left). Not particularly well balanced.

However, things are improving (including my attitude) with gusto. The surgeon (did I mention it’s a 400-mile round trip from Roswell to the surgeon in Albuquerque? Well, it is) said the retina is now fully attached, and he lifted all restrictions. That means I can drive—please swerve if you see me coming—and, more important, I can WORK again! Yay. That means I can make money to buy kibble for the wiener dogs. I have one last appointment with the surgeon in Albuquerque at the end of February, and then the local eye doc can decide what to do about the resultant cataracts. Did I mention that detached retinas almost always result in cataracts in the affected eye? Well, they do, and I’ve got one. I just hope I don’t lose too many more days of work and sight!

Then, just last week, I sold another book to Five Star. PECOS VALLEY RAINBOW will be published some time in 2013, which makes me very happy. Annabelle Blue will be finding dead bodies by the score in Rosedale, New Mexico, in 1923. She doesn’t mean to; these things just happen to her.

And then, to top off the month, my friend Lauren Fiedler, whom I’ve known for donkeys’ years, sent me two genuine, authentic, honest-to-God, vintage beaded dresses from the 1920s! These dresses are absolutely fabulous. Daisy Gumm Majesty might well have conducted a séance in one of them. I couldn’t make them hang properly, but I did manage to take pictures of them. Aren’t they wonderful? I’m going to pack them away and try to keep them as pristine as possible, but they’re almost a hundred years old and fragile. I just LOVE them!

By the way—and this is kind of a public-service announcement—watch out for the following symptoms, which might mean you have a detached retina. I had no idea a detached retina was such a big deal, but it is. If you let it go for more than 72 or hours so, you’re more than likely to lose the vision in that eye. So, watch out for: a funny feeling in the eye; not pain, just funny; sudden floaters (I kept looking to see where the fly was I just saw float by); and what they call a “curtain,” which is a blob in your eye. Mine was near my nose, so when I looked toward my nose, all I saw was a rounded bronze-looking patch. Be very careful. You only get two eyes, you know? I thought I was being hysterical when I called the eye doctor about my symptoms, but when I described them, I got an appointment for first thing the next morning, and as soon as it was diagnosed as a detached retina, I was told to pack a bag and hie myself to Albuquerque as they made arrangements for the surgery before I even left the office! Oh, and be aware that you’re going to need someone with you. I had to stay in Albuquerque for two days, but that’s because I live in the Middle of Nowhere. Sigh.

Here’s hoping the gas bubble in my left eye will go away completely pretty soon, and the year continues as it seems to be going. Mind you, one never knows about these things, but one can always hope.

Pamela & Lady Mysteri