Mayhem and Magic

On Tuesday, November 29th stopped in at the library to return library books. 
I happily discovered that there were a plethora of titles to choose from and here is the book I brought home to read.
1. The NIGHT AWAKENS (A MYSTERY WRITERS OF AMERICA ANTHOLOGY) EDITED AND WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY MARK HIGGINS CLARK. Paperback ISBN: 0-671-51918-6, 302 pages.
2. THIRTEEN GUESTS by J. JEFFERSON FARJEON (Historical Mystery Series) Price 12.95 A British Crime Classic. ISBN: 9 781464 204890 Poisoned Pen Press 286 pages.
3. Pushing Up Daisies by M.C. Beaton (An Agatha Raisin Mystery) Village Mystery Series. Hardcover Library Edition. ISBN: 978-1-250-05744-0 Price 25.99
4. ROCK - A-BYE BONES by CAROLYN HAINES (A SARAH BOOTH DELANEY) COZY SERIES MYSTERY. Large Print ISBN: 978-1-68324-178-2 Price 35.95
5. THE RACKETEER by JOHN GRISHAM (LEGAL THRILLER) HARDCOVER LEGAL THRILLER ISBN: 978-0-385-53514-4 Price 28.95
6. THE MISTLETOE MURDER by P. D. JAMES (HISTORICAL MYSTERY ANTOLOGy) With a forward by Val McDermid (LARGE Print) RANDOM HOUSE ISBN: 978-1-5247-0892-4
I am thrilled with these picks of books to read in December. My kindle is also loaded with some good short stories and mysteries.

Are there some books you think we should read this month?

Pam

I have most of my summer wishlist jotted down. This means I will have to get it from the library or buy them because almost all of them are new books this year.
I will pick an author to reread their books this summer.
Below is my list of wishes to read.

The Black Cat Knocks On Wood by Kay Finch.
Law and Author by Erika Chase.
Tea Cups And Carnage by Lynn Cahoon.
The Skeleton Haunts A House by Leigh Perry
A Premonition of Murder by Mary Kennedy.
A Shattering Crime by Jennifer McAndrews.
The Calamity Cafe by Gayle Leeson.
Now for October I already know that I want the Hammett Hex by Victoria Abbott.
I still have July and August to go before I know the rest of my summer reading but this is a start on the books I do know I want to read.
Probably my summer reread will be Nancy Atherton or maybe Agatha Christie. 
I also will add that I will read whatever Rhys Bowen will have out this year that I haven't read. The same for some other authors such as Sherry Harris, Monica Ferris, Ellery Adams ( I love the book retreat series), Melissa Bourbon (her magical dressmaking mystery series is to die for), Janet Bolin has a great Threadville Mystery Series, Ellen Byron Series, Cindy Blackburn, Elaine Viets and Lorraine Barrett and Bartlett Series. Laura Levine's newest one.
There are more series to list but I will do it as each month releases a new one of my favorite authors.
The good news about listing my books on here is when I need to find which ones I want at the bookstore or at the library I can print this out and take it with me.
Hugs,
Pamela

My books that I am reading will be listed below. First I have to say that at our library this week we have "Diana Mott Davidson's Books on display." This very nice for our local culinary mystery lovers. 

I want preface this mystery series review with a few words. If you have ever stayed in a bed and Breakfast in the south, or visited Louisiana, lived in Louisiana then you know that colorful characters are as common as sweet tea. That hospitality is right up there with gumbo and you probably in one form or another have met characters like the ones in Plantation Shudders (A Cajun County Mystery), in other words you will enjoy every word and every character in this wonderful series.

The Crozat Plantation Bed and Breakfast was once just a plantation but it cost a lot of money for upkeep of any southern mansion. Hence why it is now a bed and breakfast with charm, sweet tea and wonderful rooms.

Maggie Crozat returns home to help her family with the bed and breakfast. This week will be a busy one as the food festival is one of many events that are happening of course this means everyone is booked to the hilt.

The guest checking in are Georgia frat boys to which Maggie named them  one two and three, the Cajun Cuties a fan club of sorts who usually stayed at another bed and breakfast but that mansion had flooded so the Crozarts were happy to help,  plus a stranger to die for who was from Texas his name is Kyle, if this isn't colorful character enough then a family arrives complete with children in tow and the couple are celebrating their fifth anniversary.
An elderly honeymoon couple is supposed to arrive and eventually do arrive late.

The elderly couple has everyone's attention because the husband is a tad more than grouchy but the wife has a smile on her face. I mean this smile is kinda scary, a little grotesque and much like a train wreck you want to look away but cannot not look at this face.

The first thing that happens the elderly honeymooners Bud and Beverly Clabber arrive late he complaints and the room access and stated they were supposed to be on the first floor. Maggie corrects Bud as they had not booked the first floor.
The rose room is beautiful but Bud went into the bathroom came out and had Maggie follow him into the bathroom. He told her the toilet paper roll was put on all wrong and this would not do that it should unrolled from the top not the bottom. There are some days nothing but the middle finger comes in handy. But Maggie never gives the middle finger that would not show a proper upbringing, or good manners, instead she just fixes the toilet paper role while keeping her middle finger out of sight.
Anyway this is just one example of colorful characters. 

Maggie's own family has gran whose accent becomes even more thick when she doesn't like someone and has to be nice and sweet as sliced pie to them. Her father Tug is a wonderful delightful man who is a hard worker and loves his life more than the south. Her mother will not be found idle, sprinkle in here and there a few cousins and you have a rich and wonderful family history, one of their history is that when you shudder it means something and not always in a good way.
Long story short this is a book full of mystery, just like it's southern setting it has something for everyone.  Murder is also on the menu and so is secrets.
Everyone has a secret or two the trick is to figure what secrets are worth killing for and of course finding in order to find this out Maggie must get her hands dirty.
In other words she has to clean to find the dirty secrets, she also has a little help along the way from a new Deputy who is the Sheriff's cousin.

I have never laughed, loved and wanted to solve a crime more than I did in this mystery.
I think Plantation Shudders should be in every creative writing class as a study of character, humor, plot and setting. I can see this series one day becoming a made for television movie or a Hallmark Movies and Mystery Series.
It might just become a classic series.

With every turn of the page the you will lose track of time and be transported to a southern bed and breakfast you won't soon forget...

Angie Curtis has moved back to her hometown and to her grandmother's home. This home will soon be Angie's as her grandmother is getting married. Normally this would keep Angie busy enough but then the famous actress Skye West buys the Gardener Estate.

The Gardener Estate comes with history. In 1970 Jasmine Gardener dies at the yearly Labor Day Party. The worst of it is that her death is shrouded in mystery and her mother never knew if Jasmine was murdered or if her death was an accident.
Jasmine's father returns to the New York scene but her mother stays in Haven Harbor searching for answers. She does her needlepoint and stitches nine panels of the local scene and Haven Harbor. Before he death she hardly ever left her home. Early in investigation she learned that the local police department were not going out of their way to find the truth behind Jasmine's  death.

Skye West has decided to have a sale of everything she doesn't want and she asks Angie Curtis and Sarah Byrne to handle the sale, this after they have helped inventory, evaluate the antiques and needlepoint pieces.

Patrick West is Skye's son who is an artist. He wants to turn the carriage house into his art studio. Skye wants her mansion and estate done in a hurry. She hires locals and people from New York to work many hours. Overtime Haven Harbor Maine residents can use.

Exhausting as all of this is it's when Skye falls victim to someone trying to murder that really makes Angie wonder if the death of Jasmine Gardener is related to the fact someone wants Skye West dead. There is a connection with Skye and the past and who can Angie trust to help her find the answers she needs?
Mainely Needlepointers, of course and she turns to members for help restoring those nine panels, help with the investigation and there is that pesky wedding show her grandmother wants which fills Angie with anxiety in more ways than one.

Threads of Evidence by Lea Wait has something for everyone. If you love cold cases you are in for a treat, if you love history you are in for a treat, if you want to know the history of needlepoint you will find this mystery more than interesting. It is a great addition the series.

This is one mystery you won't want to miss. The whole series is to die for and see if you can figure out who did what, when where and how before the all is revealed. There are many suspects and tracking down people who were at the party in 1970 is also a great host of clues, suspects and characters.

This is a hardback large print edition that I checked out from our local library.