Sunday, June 16, 2013

Plum Deadly by Ellie Grant

First she was accused of embezzlement.  Now she's accused of murder!

Gallery Books and Edelweiss gave me the opportunity to read this ebook for review (thank you).  It will be published in September and is the start of a new cozy mystery series, so make a note to pick it up at your local bookstore.

Maggie lost her apartment, all her belongings and most of her life when she got accused of embezzlement.  She was innocent, but no one believed her.  So she heads home to North Carolina and her aunt's pie shop.  Her aunt raised her and she worked in the pie shop in her youth, but she loved her new life.  "Loved" being the right tense for that life because it was over.  Now she just wants to calm down, think about who might have framed her, and to get back into the game again.

It looks like she might have a chance at that when her ex-boss shows up and says he's having a news conference the next morning and will disclose the name of the real embezzler.  He won't tell her who it is because he like grandstanding and taking all the credit.  It gets even worse when she finds him dead at shop's back door when they get ready to close in the evening.  The local police think she poisoned him!

This is a pretty good mystery and with a bit romance thrown in.  The story flows well and the killer was surprise to me.  I especially like the last few lines in the book that set up the premise for the next story.  She presents it well and hooks your interest.  I'll be watching for it.

Happy reading.

Nonna Marie and the Case of the Lost Treasure by Lorenzo Carcaterra

As Nonna Maria's longtime friend and sometimes colleague, Captain Murino of the Ischian caribineri never wanted to see harm brought to t...