Southern Harm by Caroline Fardig

They are just doing some landscaping in the back yard of Tucker's aunt's house when Quinn digs up a skull.  This is really a cold case, going back thirty-three years.  The girl who said she was leaving never made it.  But when they jail Aunt Lela as murder suspect, the sisters go back into action as detectives.  They know she didn't do it, so who did?

Alibi and Net Galley let me read this book for review (thank you).  It has been published and you can grab a copy now.

Quinn and Delilah are running a bed and breakfast with the help of their grandfather but they have time in between things to question people about the new graduate buried in the back yard.  Some cooperate better than others.  They begin compiling suspects and arguing with each other over who should go on the list.  Tucker works with them and adds his thoughts, too.

Then the cops arrest Quinn and Delilah's mother and father as suspects.  They knew her but they hope they didn't kill her.  Now the investigation gets stepped up.

I was surprised by who the killer was.  The actual killer has no remorse for the murders...

Brew or Die: A Java Jive Mystery by Caroline Fardig

Juliet now has her private eye badge.  She's official and can't wait to get her first case.  Her partner sends her out to get pictures of a husband and his young girlfriend.  What she ends up taping is an encounter between the two lovers where the husband gets stabbed.  When the cops show up, he says she stabbed him!

Alibi and Net Galley allowed me to read this book for review (thank you).  It will be published April 25th.

Luckily she has the video she taped so she can prove she was not involved except in trying to save the man's life.

If Juliet doesn't have enough problems with her job, Pete, and her employees, her lost love shows up.  She refuses to even talk to him.  After all, she's dating a tame cop, she doesn't need him in her life.  He broke her heart.

Then one of her employee's fiance dies.  They say it was an overdose.  He says she's clean.  Pete and Juliet decide to go undercover to find out more.  Not only that, the tame case she was working on turns deadly and she hears her cop she dates being part of an illegal activity.

The mysteries are good, it's exciting and busy, and Juliet comes out OK despite herself.  Now if she could just settle her love life.  She broke up with the straight cop, decided she did love the one that has returned and now he's dating someone else.  I just want to shake her.  She's got life down but she doesn't have romance down.  The good news is that she's singing again.

A Whole Latte Murder: A Java Jive Mystery by Caroline Fardig

Juliet is messing around with murder again but if she's not real careful she might become one of the victims...

Alibi and Net Galley allowed me to read this book for review (thank you).  It will be published November 8th.  

Juliet's boyfriend, Ryder, has taken her to a fancy restaurant for dinner.  She's not sure why and she gets even more concerned when many of the couples around them are celebrating engagements.  He's not going to propose, is he?  No, he's telling of her of his promotion to Homicide.  She doesn't like that.  That kind of job is dangerous.  But he's determined and she lets it go.  How's she to know his first case will involve her?

It all starts when they find another renter in her building dead.  Juliet knows it wasn't suicide, so she backs Trevor out and calls the cops.  The last thing she wants to be involved in is another murder.  

When the women's roommate goes missing, Juliet is afraid she'll be another victim and mounts a search party for her.  After all, she works for her.  It's the least she can do.  But searching doesn't turn out well.  They find a body but it isn't her.  It was another young missing woman.  Is this a serial killer?

The story weaves through doctors, college kids, Java Jive employees, and more and it mostly just makes for more questions.  When Juliet decides to go undercover with Pete, it gets even more dangerous. Finding what the girls had in common and why they had to die means going to the source.  And the man running the company is very unsuspected and very evil.

It's not a bad mystery but Juliet frustrates me.  She had a good thing with Ryder and then she gets mad because he's working so much and it reminds him of his wife's murder so he's not talking.  So she leaves and moves in with Pete because her apartment isn't safe.  She almost ends up going to bed with Pete.  If that's not bad enough, now she has another cop asking her out.  Where's her moral fiber?  At the rate she's going, she's going to blow everybody off and end up with no one.  I sure hope she gets more sense in the next book...

Mug Shot: A Java Jive Mystery by Caroline Fardig

Things are calming down for Juliet.  Life is going well, the Java Jive is busy, and Pete's easy to work with.  Cecelia is still a pain, but that's what living on the snobby side of town will do for you.  Things don't stay calm for long...

Alibi and Net Galley allowed me to read this book for review (thank you).  It has been published, so you can grab a copy now.

They're getting ready for a big event which includes a 5K race and booths for the vendors.  When Juliet goes down to Java Jive's tent, she trips over Cecelia.  She's dead.

It all gets worse when they arrest Pete as the murderer.  Juliet has a cop friend and she's trying to get him to help Pete, but he can't.  The evidence is there; Pete did meet her in that tent the night before when she was killed.  She knows Pete didn't do it, so she's going to have to find a way to prove his innocence.  Juliet takes chances and she does learn some things but she's still not sure about who the killer is.

Pete's fiance was pregnant but not with Pete's baby.  She told him so that night.  The brother of the dead woman was a suspect for a while, then she decided he didn't do it.  What she finds out is disappointing and sad but she does ferret out the cause.

My favorite character in this series is Pete's grandmother.  Gertie is old, irascible, and outspoken.  You never have any doubt about her opinions.  She spices the story up with her observations.  Read it and see what you think.

Death Before Decaf: A Java Jive Mystery by Caroline Fardig

Juliet loves to sing but has debilitating stage fright.  She also loves to bake so she goes into the restaurant business.  That was going great until her fiance stole all the money, all the furnishings and ran away with the head waitress.  Now she's broke, lost her business, and is bummed on life.  She'll just stick her tail between her legs and go home, where she can run a small diner.  It's the best she can do now.

Alibi and Net Galley allowed me to read this book for review (thank you).  It will be published November 17th.  This is a new cozy series.

Juliet's best friend is Pete.  They've known each other for years.  Pete's Dad died and the diner needed a new manager.  He called and Julie answered.

The first thing Juliet notices is that things are not as clean as they should be.  The staff is not impressed by her.  Her instructions to them are not well received and she ends up in a fight with Dave.  When she comes back to apologize, he's already off work.  That should be the end of it until tomorrow but when she goes out after the diner is closed, she finds him stuffed in the garbage can dead.  Not a good start on a new job.

The mystery was OK but it was the romance that carried this story.  She's interested in this sexy professor that comes into the diner.  He appears to be interested in her, too.  She's getting close to him until she finds out he's not a professor nor is he who says he is.  Who is he?  And why is he snooping around the diner?

Her friend, Pete, is involved with a woman she doesn't like.  She loves Pete herself but tries to ignore it.  She's very fond of her mystery man but she can't act on that either.  I'm not sure where she's heading in love but I don't think it's going to be an easy choice for her.  I wonder what mystery she'll run across next...