Book Review: APPLE DUMPLING MURDER (Paranormal Cozy Mystery - Christmas Catastrophe Mysteries Book 2) by Trixie Silvertale

About the Book

Santa’s daughter is settling into her life as a baker, but could a fresh murder burn her biscuits? 

Cindy Claus loves exploring the human world and baking amazing treats. So, she’s bubbling over when her aging landlord takes her under his wing and promises to leave her the bakery in his will. But before she can stir up a celebration, her patron collapses, dead, like a bad soufflé. 

With suspicion instantly falling on the budding baker, Cindy must rely on her fragile new friendships and her father’s trusted arctic fox. She’ll have to butt heads with local law enforcement as she gathers crumbs, and one wrong move could crush her dreams… 

Can Cindy find the proof she needs, or will this villain punch down her last hope? 

Apple Dumpling Murder is the second book in the festive paranormal cozy series, Christmas Catastrophe Mysteries. 

Review 

Cindy Claus convinced her papa to let her leave the North Pole and try her hand at opening a bakery. She landed in Silver Shoals as the baker in town, Connie, dies. Her husband not only lets Cindy take over the bakery but shares Connie's wonderful recipes. He announces that he's changing his will and giving the building to Cindy, and then he's killed.

Cindy is all sweetness and light, not enlightened to many earthy things like funerals and kissing, though she has a strong sense of who is naughty and who is nice. She's helped the local police in the past, and Kevin is more than interested in getting her insights. At the same time, her fur friend, Arti, is her protector and a fierce one at that. 

The characters are well developed and though Cindy keeps slipping up, no one seems the wiser, not even Kevin or Jasmine. Connie's ghost makes an appearance and of course the killer wants to stop Cindy's dreams. Lots of festive ongoings, this is a cute mystery for the holidays, even better if you like paranormal elements - good and bad - in your mysteries. 

FTC Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book in the hopes that I would post an honest review. This has not affected the content of my review in any way. 

Purchase Links 

Amazon US ~ Amazon UK ~ Amazon Canada ~ Amazon Australia 

About the Author 

USA TODAY Bestselling author Trixie Silvertale grew up reading an endless supply of Lilian Jackson Braun, Hardy Boys, and Nancy Drew novels. She loves the amateur sleuths in cozy mysteries and obsesses about all things paranormal. 

Those two passions unite in all her mystery stories, and she’s thrilled to write them and share them with you. 

Author Links 

Trixie’s Website ~ Trixie’s Patreon ~ Amazon Author Page ~ BookBub ~ Instagram ~ Facebook Author 

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Book Spotlight; THE WITLESS PROTECTION PROGRAM (A Catering Hall Mystery) by Maria DiRico

About the Book 

Mia Carina has steered her Italian-American family’s Astoria, Queens, catering hall, Belle View Banquet Manor, into becoming the borough’s premiere party site, and nothing could make her happier—except her boyfriend proposing. There’s just one presumed-dead obstacle in the way . . . 

A strong, independent woman and respected entrepreneur, Mia never imagined she’d pine for a marriage proposal. Yet lately, with her beloved Shane, she’s on tenterhooks. It’s especially surprising, considering Mia’s first husband, Adam, was a philandering grifter, assumed lost-at-sea after a boating disaster. But everyone knows what happens when you assume . . . 

While working a huge wedding expo in Manhattan, Mia is shocked to spot the man who nearly destroyed her life. The one who’s supposed to be sleeping with the fishes. But she loses him in the crowd. And when it happens again the next day, it’s time for an emergency meeting with the family—and the Family. Because if Adam is alive, Mia is still married . . . 

Everyone wants Adam dead. Everyone except Mia. She’s dealt with enough police for a lifetime. Mia needs to be a divorcée, not a widow. But someone out there disagrees, and if Mia doesn’t discover who, she may never be free to marry Shane—or anyone else . . . 

Italian recipes included! 

Purchase Links 

Amazon ~ B&N ~ Kobo ~ Bookshop.org ~ Kensington

The Catering Hall Mysteries

Here Comes the Body (Book 1)

Long Island Iced Tina (Book 2)

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Murder (Book 3)

Four Parties and a Funeral (Book 4)

The Witless Protection Program (Book 5)

About the Author 

Maria DiRico is the pseudonym for Ellen Byron, author of the award-winning, USA Today bestselling Cajun Country Mysteries. Born in Queens, New York, she is a first-generation Italian-American on her mother’s side and the granddaughter of a low-level Jewish mobster on her father’s side. She grew up visiting the Astoria Manor and Grand Bay Marina catering halls, which were run by her Italian mother’s family in Queens and have become the inspiration for her Catering Hall Mystery Series. 

DiRico has been a writer-producer for hit television series like Wings and Just Shoot Me, and her first play, Graceland, appears in the Best Short Plays collection. She’s a freelance journalist, with over 200 articles published in national magazines, and previously worked as a cater-waiter for Martha Stewart, a credit she never tires of sharing. 

A native New Yorker who attended Tulane University, Ellen lives in Los Angeles with her husband, daughter, and two rescue dogs. 

Author Links 

Website ~ Chicks on the Case ~ Facebook ~ Twitter 

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Book Review: GRAVE EXPECTATIONS ON DICKENS DUNE - A Seaview Cottages Cozy Mystery #3 by Anna Celeste Burke

Synopsis

Miriam, the Grand Old Lady Detectives, & Charly's Angels take on a cold case that will have you wondering what the dickens is going on until the very end! 

A cold case doesn't stay cold for long when Miriam and her Grand Old Lady Detective [G.O.L.D.] pals take on a new mystery to solve. Charly's old friend, Judith Rogow, asks for her help in locating her ex-husband's grave. 

A Vietnam War veteran, Allen Rogow survived the war and returned home only to disappear several years later. Although evidence pointed to foul play, the police never found his body and Allen Rogow's disappearance remained an unsolved mystery. That all changes when an ex-convict makes a deathbed confession claiming someone murdered Allen Rogow and buried his body on Dickens' Dune. 

As the cold case warms up, it becomes clear that Allen Rogow had lots of secrets. Was he killed to make sure he'd take them to his grave? What Miriam soon discovers is that it's the secrets you don't know you're keeping that can sometimes be the most dangerous.   

Recipes Included

Review

The GOLD women are back in business. Only this time, the cold case they’re working on his for a friend, . She needs to know what happened to her husband when he disappeared. There’s a death bed confession by a convict that Allen Rogow was murdered by one of his friends and is buried somewhere on Dickens Dune. A bookie who says he works for the mob tries to get money from Miriam and ends up dead. Now, she has a little better idea of all the things Pete was involved in, but she’s worried the mob may be after her to pay his debts. And when the well-known and handsome mob lawyer sends her flowers and chocolates, what does he have in mind. 

As with other books in this series, Burke creates older characters with energy and intellect. With all their connections it’s easy for Miriam, Neely, Midge, and Marty to get to the bottom of things. Especially with the help of Charly’s angels. The story is well-paced with subplots, twists and turns, and lots of secrets revealed. 

If you enjoy cozy mysteries and older, competent protagonists, this one is for you. Although it is the third in the Seaview Cottage series, Grave Expectations on Dickens Dune can be read as a stand-alone or out of order. I always suggest you start at the beginning to experience how relationships grow over time.

AMAZON