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Shadows of Doubt (A Crawford Mystery) by Merissa Racine – Review by Samantha Bassett

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Shadows of Doubt (A Crawford Mystery)Shadows of Doubt by Merissa Racine
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Shadows of Doubt: A Crawford Mystery by Merissa Racine is a very interesting story. I really like Lauren and her fun way of getting into the trouble she finds as a court reporter.

I was slowly pulled more and more into this story, wanting to see how things would turn out. I thought Lauren was such a good man character. For me, she brought the story to life and added so much to it. She was engaging throughout and just a likable character.
The book is full of twists and turns, which really keeps you involved in the book. This is a great story that I thoroughly enjoyed.

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Whisper Creek: A Logan McKenna Mystery Book 7 by Valerie Davisson – Review by Samantha Bassett

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Whisper Creek (A Logan McKenna Mystery Book 7)Whisper Creek by Valerie Davisson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Whisper Creek: A Logan McKenna Mystery Book 7 by Valerie Davisson – Review by Samantha Bassett
Here is another author where I didn’t start at the beginning of the series and I didn’t care. This book is definitely great as a stand-alone.
Logan is a great character and she has lots of very interesting friends. During a staff talent show to kick off the new school semester, Monica, the step-mother of one of the students, is found shot and killed in the school’s chicken coop.
Thanks to a wonderful Golden Retriever the murder weapon is found and that really starts the investigation moving forward. Monica is not a very nice person so there are many people, including her step-son and husband, who have reasons to want her gone. You have to read all the way through to the end to find out who really did it.
This was definitely a page turner for me and I will be getting all of the other books in this series.

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Stand Your Ground by A. J. Ullman – Review by Samantha Bassett

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Stand Your GroudStand Your Groud by A.J. Ullman
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Stand Your Ground is a suspense filled crime thriller by A.J Ullman. This is the first book I have read by this author. I like the way it was told, starting out with the main character Cady shooting someone. I didn’t really know the back story, and it slowly unwinds as the book progresses. I felt that was a good way to tell the story, because it gripped me from the beginning and kept me hooked. Then I was led through discovery and interviews wanting to know if Cady would be tried for murder or if it was justified self defense. My main complaint is the story seemed filled with a lot of rambling, there were a lot of analogies and tangents which seemed to take away from the action of the actual story. The book is very current, referencing BLM, George Floyd, #metoo, and being “woke.” It did not end as I expected in the beginning.

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Silent Gavel (A Crawford Mystery Book 1) by Merissa Racine – Review by Samantha Bassett

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Silent Gavel (Crawford Mystery #1)Silent Gavel by Merissa Racine
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is the first book I have read from this author and it was wonderful. I love mysteries and it is always fun to find a new author. This is the first book in the Crawford Mystery series and it was a perfect book to start an addictive series. I started to read this book and I could not stop reading.

Lauren Besoner is finally ready to go home and start a new life. Her marriage fell apart and now she wants to start off as a new woman. Lauren gets a job that she is so excited for. She is the new stenographer in her hometown in Wyoming. Lauren doesn’t want any more drama in her life so she concentrates on her job. One morning she goes to pick up a judge that she is starting to like only to find her murdered in the house. Lauren doesn’t know what to do because she has answered all the questions but they keep on blaming her for a murder she did not do.

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Notebook Mysteries ~ Decisions and Possibilities by Kimberly Mullins – Review by Samantha Bassett

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Decisions and Possibilities (Notebook Mysteries #2)Decisions and Possibilities by Kimberly Mullins
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Emma Evans is an eighteen-year-old who lives in Chicago in 1883. She gets into business school which is almost impossible for a woman at that time.
Emma and her brother-in-law work with the administrator at the business school to allow more women into the school. Emma also loves mysteries and always has her notebook with her to keep all of her notes.
She not only does she work with her business but she also works with Pinkerton Detective agency. with the help of an acquaintance. After graduation along with her brother-in-law’s help, Emma talks to the head of the business school to allow more women into the business school as men make more money in other jobs and new companies still need the administrative help. Along with her business mind, Emma likes solving mysteries. She is involved with the Pinkerton Detective agency, but she doesn’t work there full-time.
When a detective colleague investigates an old case Emma she becomes friends with a lady that she saved from a brutal beating a few years ago. With this lady’s connections, Emma and her family can take women away from the Chicago area where they have had abusive relationships and put them back in touch with family to begin their new chapters.
It really is a great read and I loved every moment.

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Potager Plot (A Backyard Farming Series Book 5) by Vikki Walton – Review by Samantha Bassett

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Potager Plot (A Backyard Farming Series, #5)Potager Plot by Vikki Walton
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Potager Plot (A Backyard Farming Series Book 5) by Vikki Walton. This is a really fun book and it kept me reading until late in the night. I am new to cozy mysteries and this book will have me wanting to read more.
Anne Fremont loves gardening and is beginning to design gardens for members of the garden club. She is working on a special garden for a woman who is suffering from cancer. Anne believes that her death is not cancer but Murder.
Anne recruits other members of the garden club to find out what really happened. They start digging and so many secrets come out.
This book can be read as a standalone but, be prepared to want the first books of this series so you can enjoy more.

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BOY RELEASED (BOY SERIES BOOK 2) by JD Spero – Review by Samantha Bassett

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Boy ReleasedBoy Released by J.D. Spero
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

BOY RELEASED (BOY SERIES BOOK 2) by JD Spero – Review by Samantha Bassett

This is the second book in the series and JD Spero takes us 10 years after the first book. Tyler is released from the psychiatric facility and going to be living with his mom Marcella. This is a new neighborhood in a motel in a resort community.
The past is coming back when everyone is trying to adapt to their new lives. Add to that Hen is trying to figure things out with his impending inheritance and the burden it carries. An attack on Marcella leaves everyone believing the worst about Tyler. Could it really be him?
Another good book that kept me reading all the way through.

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Dangerous Curves Boxed Set #1 (Dangerous Curves Books 1-3) by K.L. Montgomery – Review by Samantha Bassett

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Dangerous Curves Boxed Set 1: 3 Cozy Christian MysteriesDangerous Curves Boxed Set 1: 3 Cozy Christian Mysteries by K.L. Montgomery
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Dangerous Curves Boxed Set #1 (Dangerous Curves Books 1-3) by K.L. Montgomery – Review by Samantha Bassett
I love this series and I had no idea I liked cozy mysteries but now I am hooked and can’t wait to read the next book. K.L. Montomery is a great writer and doesn’t feel the need to make the main character have a love interest, this is something I enjoy in a book. I love a story with a strong woman who doesn’t feel the need to have a significant other.
Sunshine Baker is working at the library in Bryce Beach, which is a small seaside town. She figures out that she is very good at solving mysteries with her friends. The police chief is not thrilled with this in the beginning but learns to live with it and knows that Sunshine and her friends can actually help him out. This leads to some very precarious positions and many twists and turns. There may be moments when you think you have it all figured out and then something else comes up.

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Hanging Softly in the Night: A Detective Nick Larson Novel by Maria Elena Alonso-Sierra – review by Samantha Bassett

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Hanging Softly in The Night: A Detective Nick Larson NovelHanging Softly in The Night: A Detective Nick Larson Novel by Maria Elena Alonso-Sierra

I have to first say thank you to my friends who introduce me to new authors. Without friends that love to read like I do there would be no new authors in my world.
Maria Elena Alonso-Sierra is an incredible writer. Throughout this book I felt like I was in the middle of all of the action.
Nick Larson and his partner Victor Sacco are detectives with the homicide unit. Their cases start with a suicide victim and then move on to homicides. Nick, and his infallible intuition, says that all of the cases are connected, even an old case could be part of this mess. Then add into this the love of Nick’s life, Laura and her sister who causes trauma whenever she can and you have to keep reading to see what is going to happen next.
Nick, Victor, and Laura are wonderful characters, and all of the supporting characters keep you turning pages with laughter, questions, and so much reality.

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Houses of Deception (The Madeline Dawkins Mystery Series Book 6) by Cynthia Hamilton – Review by Samantha Bassett

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Houses of Deception (The Madeline Dawkins Series Book 6)Houses of Deception by Cynthia Hamilton
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Madeline and her husband Mike own and run the MDPI as well as a party-planning company called Current Events. Madeline and Mike attend an event at the home of Troy and Tara Richardson for their fifth wedding anniversary. After escaping from the party early, the couple gets a call from their former rival in the PI business, Russell Barnett. Russell asks them to take the lead in finding his nephew, Dylan, who has been missing for six days. After a short night of sleep, Madeline receives a phone call from Troy Richardson. His wife, Tara, has disappeared, and he wants them to help him find her.

There are 3 people that need to be found, Dylan and his girlfriend, Paige, and Tara Richardson. Trying to put the puzzle pieces together for both of these cases can really stress a couple out. It is not easy to handle one missing person’s case, but two at the same time is near impossible. Madeline’s curious attitude has her frantically trying to make sense of the disappearance of Dylan and his girlfriend while trying to bring her client’s wife home safely.

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Boy On Hold by JD Spero – Review by Samantha Bassett

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Boy on HoldBoy on Hold by J.D. Spero
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book was my first by J. D. Spero and I look forward to more. It is a story about a 7 year old boy who just wants to catch a hedgehog to keep as a pet. Henry, or Hen as everyone calls him, sees a serious attack on his friend and neighbor Miss Sally, and then tries to figure out what is going on in his little world.

This begins a scary time for the whole family, Tyler, the big brother with some mental health issues, and his mom Marcella.

Marcella Trout doesn’t know what to do, her seventeen-year-old son has been arrested and she can’t help but worry that his recent mood swings are something more serious.
I love Hen, and the relationship he has with his brother is very heartwarming. This story really moves along nicely and becomes more than you thought it would with every turn of a page.

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Death of a Coupon Queen by Jenna Harte – Review by Samantha Bassett

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Death of a Coupon QueenDeath of a Coupon Queen by Jenna Harte
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was an absolutely fun read.
I was laughing throughout the book just imagining what was happening and how someone could get themselves involved in trouble at every turn. No matter how hard she tried Sophie could not keep her nose out of this crime and it seemed that she was proving that curiosity is not always a good thing.
Sophie’s character, and all of the others as well, was so fun and easy to associate with as normal everyday person and someone that I would love to hang out with, can’t wait for the next book.

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Death of a Coupon Queen (Sophie Parker Mystery Series) by Jenna Harte – Review by Samantha Bassett

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Mann in the Crossfire: A Jarvis Mann Hardboiled Detective Mystery NovelMann in the Crossfire: A Jarvis Mann Hardboiled Detective Mystery Novel by R. Weir
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Wow, this was my first book by R. Weir and the first book I have read from the Jarvis Mann Detective series and now I want to get all of them. I did not realize this was book number 8 in the series but it really didn’t matter, there was enough backstory when it was needed that I was not missing anything I needed to know.

Jarvis is a PI he keeps unfolding this mystery right before your eyes. Every twist and turn in this book has another lead to follow, along with a bunch of really unsavory people.

Mann in the Crossfire is a page turner that kept me reading until the very end.

I love when you can find a book by an author you haven’t read before and then want to read more because of their writing. R. Weir will be an author I watch from now on to make sure I don’t miss a new book.

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Death of a Coupon Queen (Sophie Parker Mystery Series) by Jenna Harte – Review by Samantha Bassett

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Death of a Coupon QueenDeath of a Coupon Queen by Jenna Harte
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was an absolutely fun read.
I was laughing throughout the book just imagining what was happening and how someone could get themselves involved in trouble at every turn. No matter how hard she tried Sophie could not keep her nose out of this crime and it seemed that she was proving that curiosity is not always a good thing.
Sophie’s character, and all of the others as well, was so fun and easy to associate with as normal everyday person and someone that I would love to hang out with, can’t wait for the next book.

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House in the Woods by Jessica Aiken-Hall – Review by Samantha Bassett

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House in the WoodsHouse in the Woods by Jessica Aiken-Hall
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

There are so many books that I would have passed up if I judged them by their covers. That didn’t happen with this book, I saw the cover and immediately decided to give an author I had never read before a chance to hook me. Well, I was hooked, and this is one of those books where you have no clue until you dive in and start reading.
The book is about Molly who is a college student at home to take care of her mom because she has dementia. She finds a flyer about a missing girl who has been missing for 20 years and realizes the girl looks just like her. The world turns upside down for Molly and every page brings more mystery. The moment I thought I had it all figured out there was another question to answer!
Jessica Aiken-Hall did a great job with the characters of this book and gave them each a personality and that is easily relatable. If you like a good mystery you will want to read this book, and be prepared to not want to put it down.

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