Quilted Mystery series

by Barbara Graham

Nice murder mystery involving the sheriff of a small town and his wife Theo who owns a quilt shop.
I quite enjoyed Murder by Music. A bit of humorous banter between characters. I liked the way the several deaths were woven together and the murderer was not revealed until the last few pages. As with most of the cosy mysteries there is no use trying to guess the killer from clues.
I will be looking for others in the series in my library.

Quilted Mystery
1. Murder By Serpents: The Mystery Quilt (2008)
2. Murder By Artifact: The Murder Quilt (2009)
3. Murder By Music: The Wedding Quilt (2011)
4. Murder By Vegetable: The Baby Quilt (2012)
5. Murder By Sunlight : The Charity Quilt (2013)

I have read:
Murder by Music - Nov 2013

Agatha Raisin

by M C Beaton

Agatha Raisin
1. Agatha Raisin and the Quiche of Death (1992)
2. Agatha Raisin and the Vicious Vet (1993)
3. Agatha Raisin and the Potted Gardener (1994)
4. Agatha Raisin and the Walkers of Dembley (1995)
5. Agatha Raisin and the Murderous Marriage (1996)
6. Agatha Raisin and the Terrible Tourist (1997)
7. Agatha Raisin and the Wellspring of Death (1998)
8. Agatha Raisin and the Wizard of Evesham (1999)
9. Agatha Raisin and the Witch of Wyckhadden (1999)
10. Agatha Raisin and the Fairies of Fryfam (2000)
11. Agatha Raisin and the Love from Hell (2001)
12. Agatha Raisin and the Day the Floods Came (2002)
13. Agatha Raisin and the Case of the Curious Curate (2003)
14. Agatha Raisin and the Haunted House (2003)
15. The Deadly Dance (2004)
16. Agatha Raisin and the Perfect Paragon (2005)
17. Love, Lies and Liquor (2006)
18. Kissing Christmas Goodbye (2007)
19. Agatha Raisin and a Spoonful of Poison (2008)
20. There Goes The Bride (2009)
21. Busy Body (2010)
22. As the Pig Turns (2011)
23. Hiss and Hers (2012)
24. Something Borrowed, Someone Dead (2013)

I just love these books.
Agatha is such an odd character. A bit crotchety but smart and tough. She is 50 something and runs a private detective agency. The plot is always funny and interesting. She gets into so much trouble.
Can't remember all the ones I have read :(

If you like Agatha you will also like Hamish MacBeth

Something Borrowed Something Dead  - Finished Oct 2013

Carolyn Hart - a new book

I have really enjoyed the light reading style of the Death on Demand series with Annie Darling book store owner so I thought I would try her latest novel about a lady who can look into the eyes of cats and get snippets of what they are thinking. As a cat lover I think she could have played up that side of things a lot more. It is really just an aside to the story somehow. It was also as though she hadn't thought the story through and just kept putting in updates of the clues and suspects so far. I am sure there were at least 10 two page suspect updates which got rather tedious because they seemed all the same to me.
I think this one is maybe a 2 out 5. get it from your library if you can rather than buy it.

Annie Darling, Death on Demand mysteries

by Carolyn Hart

Death On Demand
1. Death on Demand (1987)
2. Design for Murder (1988)
3. Something Wicked (1988)
4. Honeymoon With Murder (1988)
5. A Little Class on Murder (1989)
6. Deadly Valentine (1990)
7. The Christie Caper (1991)
8. Southern Ghost (1992)
9. Mint Julep Murder (1995)
10. Yankee Doodle Dead (1998)
11. White Elephant Dead (1999)
12. Sugarplum Dead (2000)
13. April Fool Dead (2002)
14. Engaged to Die (2003)
15. Murder Walks the Plank (2004)
16. Death of the Party (2005)
17. Dead Days of Summer (2006)
18. Death Walked in (2008)
19. Dare to Die (2009)
20. Laughed 'til He Died (2010)
21. Dead by Midnight (2011)
22. Death Comes Silently (2012)
23. Dead, White, and Blue (2013)

Definitely plenty to choose from. I have read a many of them and find them all a bit the same but they are good if you don't read them all at once. The characters are a bit fanciful and perfect for me.

Completed reading.
Death by Midnight October 2013
Laughed til He Died October 2013

Sloan and Crosby murder mysteries

by Catherine Aird

Fantastic Fiction Link

Sloan and Crosby Mystery
1. The Religious Body (1966)
2. Henrietta Who? (1968)
3. The Complete Steel (1969)
     aka The Stately Home Murder
4. A Late Phoenix (1970)
5. His Burial Too (1973)
6. Slight Mourning (1975)
7. Parting Breath (1977)
8. Some Die Eloquent (1979)
9. Passing Strange (1980)
10. Last Respects (1982)
11. Harm's Way (1984)
12. A Dead Liberty (1986)
13. The Body Politic (1990)
14. A Going Concern (1993)
15. Injury Time (1994)
16. After Effects (1996)
17. Stiff News (1998)
18. Little Knell (2000)
19. Amendment Of Life (2002)
20. A Hole in One (2005)
21. Losing Ground (2007)
22. Past Tense (2011)

I have enjoyed the latest two. Past Tense and Dead Heading (no. 23 got choppped off)

Her style is dry humour I suppose. The humdrum life of a village DI and his side kick. Similar to Midsomer Murders.

Now I have to try to find the older ones.

I have

Quilting cosies on Kindle

TIE DIED: A Quilting Cozy (Quilting Cozy Series) [Kindle Edition]

Carol Dean Jones (Author)

4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (26 customer reviews)

RUNNING STITCHES: A Quilting Cozy [Kindle Edition]

Carol Dean Jones (Author)

4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)

I loved both these books. The heroine is 68, a widow and just moved into a retirement village. Quilts pop up through the story. I liked the style and they were satisfyingly long for a $2.99 eBook.

I read them on my iPad with the Kindle app.

The Tea Shop Mysteries

By Laura Childs

FantasticFiction link

Tea Shop Mysteries
1. Death by Darjeeling (2001)
2. Gunpowder Green (2002)
3. Shades of Earl Grey (2003)
4. English Breakfast Murder (2003)
5. The Jasmine Moon Murder (2004)
6. Chamomile Mourning (2005)
7. Blood Orange Brewing (2006)
8. Dragonwell Dead (2007)
9. The Silver Needle Murder (2008)
10. Oolong Dead (2009)
11. The Teaberry Strangler (2010)
12. Scones & Bones (2011)
13. Agony of the Leaves (2012)
14. Sweet Tea Revenge (2013)
15. Steeped in Evil (2014)

The Tea Shop mysteries is one of my favourite series. She writes a good story compared to some of the churned out cosy mysteries. I own the first seven, borrowed some from the library and now I have bought numbers 12 and 13.
I love all the tea snippets and she puts in some nice recipes too.

Posted with Blogsy

201 Crochet Motifs, Blocks, Projects and Ideas

by Melody Griffiths

I was attracted to this book because the motifs were very cute and the block designs looked like they would make nice dish cloths and I just love the paisley and interlinked blocks. The flower blocks and motifs look really pretty and simple to make.

Southern Sewing Circle murder mysteries

By Elizabeth Lynn Casey

Fantastic Fiction link

Death Threads 2012
Pinned for Murder July 2013

I have only read these two. The sewing circle is a bit unconvincing and I don't particularly like the 'Southern' flavour. I do like the heroine and the mystery in each book was interesting. I won't be rushing to read the rest but I may one day.

Playful Patchwork

by Suzuko Koseki
2007

Fairly difficult pieced curves but lovely designs. There is a pattern sheet with the book.

Peggy Lee Garden Mysteries

by Joyce and Jim Levene

Fantastic Fiction link

1. Pretty Poison (2005)
2. Fruit of the Poisoned Tree (2006)
3. Poisoned Petals (2007)
4. Perfect Poison (2008)
5. A Corpse for Yew (2009)
6. Buried By Buttercups (2012)

Perfect Poison - June 2013
A corpse for Yew - June 2013

I liked the characters in these ones. The story also had some interesting twists. A little better than most formula cosy mysteries. I will be looking for the others at the library.

Chocoholic Mysteries

by JoAnna Carl

Fantastic Fiction link

1. The Chocolate Cat Caper (2002)
2. The Chocolate Bear Burglary (2002)
3. The Chocolate Frog Frame-Up (2003)
4. The Chocolate Puppy Puzzle (2004)
5. The Chocolate Mouse Trap (2005)
6. The Chocolate Bridal Bash (2006)
7. The Chocolate Jewel Case (2007)
8. The Chocolate Snowman Murders (2008)
9. The Chocolate Cupid Killings (2009)
10. The Chocolate Pirate Plot (2010)
11. The Chocolate Castle Clue (2011)
12. The Chocolate Moose Motive (2012)
13. The Chocolate Book Bandit (2013)

The Chocolate Pirate Plot - June 2013

The Chocolate Moose Motive - June 2013

A fun light story. Not much to do with chocolate except the heroine works in a chocolate shop. I will probably read the rest at some time but I am not desperate.

John Corey series - intrigue, conspiracy

by Nelson Demille

Fantastic Fiction link

1. Plum Island (1997)
2. The Lion's Game (2000)
3. Night Fall (2004)
4. Wild Fire (2006)
5. The Lion (2010)
6. The Panther (2012)

Night Fall - May 2013

Part of the John Corey collection. I found it good reading and wanted to know the ending. I had no clue how it would finish. It was a CIA/FBI type of intrigue story. I will be trying to get the others in the series from the library.

Maxie and Stretch cosy mysteries

by Sue Henry

Fantastic Fiction link

The End of the Road - May 3013
The Refuge - May 2013

Love these two books and will definitely look up the others. I liked the different locations and found the details about Alaska interesting.

Black Sheep Knitting Mysteries

by Anne Canadeo

Fantastic Fiction link

1. While My Pretty One Knits (2009)
2. Knit, Purl, Die (2009)
3. A Stitch Before Dying (2010)
4. Till Death Do Us Purl (2012)
5. Silence of the Llamas (2013)
6. A Dark and Stormy Knit (2014)

A Stitch Before Dying - May 2013
Till Death Do Us Purl - May 2013
While my Pretty One Knits - June 2013
Knit, Purl, Die - June 2013

I enjoyed these books but they seemed to be almost copies of the characters from the series by Maggie Sefton. I will try to get the others from the library but I will try to buy the rest of the Maggie Sefton books. I already have several.
It is a bit frustrating how the characters refuse to enlist the help of the police in dangerous situations.   At least the murderer is not too obvious. There are quite a few red herrings.

Dirty Business cosy mysteries

by Rosemary Harris

Fantastic Fiction link

1. Pushing Up Daisies (2008)
2. The Big Dirt Nap (2009)
3. Dead Head (2010)
4. Slugfest (2011)


The Big Dirt Nap - May 2013
Slugfest - May 2013

I enjoyed these books and will look for the other two. It was difficult to imagine the characters being in their mid thirties, or at least I think they were. They seemed much older. The stories follow the usual formula but were entertaining.