Good Cozy Reads

Have you read all the books you wanted to this year? Has your TBR stack lost some of its height yet?

For me, the answer would be no and no way. I never seem to have enough time to read everything I want to. And I continue to add more books to the pile, planning on getting to each and everyone of them in time.

As December and 2010 draws to a close, new January releases will soon be out. Before that happens I want to feature four great cozy mystery books that were released this month by Berkley Prime Crime.

The first one is from a series that I thoroughly enjoy. The protagonist is one you can’t help but like and wish you lived down the street from. Even though this book has a Christmas theme, it’s a great read anytime.

THE DIVA COOKS A GOOSE by Krista Davis

It promises to be a jolly holiday for Sophie Winston until a Scrooge steals the Christmas gifts from her family and neighbors. The evil elf even pinches their Christmas dinners! Sophie quickly ends the neighbors’ finger-pointing by organizing a toy swap for the kids, restoring the spirit of Christmas. But not for long...

When her sister-in-law’s father shows up to the Christmas celebration with a diva girlfriend just a month after his separation, more than one person is thinking of murder. With relatives and friends under suspicion for the deadly deed, and Sophie’s detective boyfriend Wolf out of town, it’s up to Sophie to chase this goose and cook it. Nobody ruins her Christmas!

This is the four installment in the Domestic Diva Mystery series, but it’s a stand alone book. It includes entertaining tips throughout the book, as well as delicious recipes.

Author Krista Davis blogs at Mystery Lovers' Kitchen and her website is http://www.divamysteries.com/Domestic_Diva_Mysteries/Goose.html

The Diva Cooks A Goose by Krista Davis, A Domestic Diva Mystery, Berkley Prime Crime, @ 2010, ISBN: 9780425238257, Paperback, 304 pages

Next up is a new Orchard mystery set in the fall.

A KILLER CROP by Sheila Connolly

When Meg Corey’s mother arrives unannounced in Granford, Massachusetts, Meg’s sure it’s not just to pay a surprise visit to the apple of her eye. The timing is terrible—it’s harvest season and Meg is understaffed in the orchard. Plus Elizabeth Corey is clearly hiding the real purpose of her trip from her daughter.

After an English professor from Amherst—and an old friend of her mother—is found dead on the floor of a cider house, Elizabeth is interrogated by the police, and then grilled by her daughter. She is indeed keeping a secret—but could Meg’s own mother really have committed murder? One thing is clear: someone decided to teach the prof a lesson. And the key to unlocking the mystery may lie with a poet who could not stop for Death...

This is a stand alone book even though it is the fourth installment in the Orchard Mystery series. The book offers several yummy recipes.

Author Shelia Connolly’s website is http://www.sheilaconnolly.com/

A Killer Crop by Sheila Connolly, An Orchard Mystery, Berkley Prime Crime, @ 2010, ISBN: 9780425238264, Paperback, 304 pages

The third book will not only challenge you to find a killer, but you can also sharpen your pencils to try and solve number puzzles.

CELEBRITY SUDOKU by Kaye Morgan

Maiden’s Bay is a small, scenic town on the Oregon Coast where citizens get their number fix thanks to Liza Kelly—Sudoku Maven with the Oregon Daily. Her challenging puzzles sharpen the mind, and her deductive skills unravel even the most enigmatic clues...

Liza finds herself in the spotlight as she’s hired for celebrity week on a hit show, D-Kodas. She’s their celebrity Sudoku expert creating puzzles for the celebrities to decode. But jetting to L.A. for more televised exposure is not her idea of fun...

When the B-listers’ supersized egos gather on set, Liza has more problems than any Sudoku puzzle. Then an earthquake rocks the studio—and the cattiest of the celebs goes missing. But when she’s found dead—and not because of the quake—they realize there’s a killer among them. Now it’s up to Liza to catch the killer before he strikes again...

This is the sixth installment in the Sudoku Mystery series, but it is a stand alone book. There are also a number of Sudoku puzzles to solve (with the answers in the back), along with fun solving techniques.

Celebrity Sudoku by Kaye Morgan, A Sudoku Mystery, Berkley Prime Crime, @ 2010, ISBN: 9780425238271, Paperback, 224 pages

The last book is the first in a new series.

IF WALLS COULD TALK by Juliet Blackwell

Melanie Turner’s plan to move to Paris to get over a painful divorce was derailed when her mother passed away and Mel stepped in to take over Turner Construction from her distraught father “for a few weeks.” Weeks turned into two years, and Mel is still running the business in San Francisco, specializing in remodeling historic homes.

But after Mel finds a man fatally injured on a worksite, her business is threatened, a friend is a suspect in the death...and Mel is being followed around the Bay Area by none other than the ghost of the dead man himself.

Was the deceased trying to pull off a scam that led to his death? Could an old box Mel found in the walls hold deadly secrets? Mel had better find out before she’s the next to experience a construction site “accident.”

This is the first installment in the Haunted Home Renovation Mystery series. The book also includes a sneak peak at the next Haunted Home Renovation Mystery coming next year.

Author Juliet Blackwell’s website is http://www.julietblackwell.net/

If Walls Could Talk by Juliet Blackwell, A Haunted Home Renovation Mystery, Obsidian, @ 2010, ISBN: 9780451231819, Paperback, 336 pages

FTC Full Disclosure - These books were sent to me by the publisher in hopes I would review them. However, receiving these complimentary copies did not influence my reviews.