Gluten-Free Murder By: P.D. Workman

What started out as a great novel about an outsider coming home to a small town, turned into a great little mystery!  Written with a languidness that matches the small town setting, this is a lovely beginning to what promises to be a great series.

The Girls of Murder City: Fame, Lust, and the Beautiful Killers who inspired "Chicago" By: Douglas Perry

How could I not love a book that combines, history, true crime, and theatre...COME ON!!!!  A brilliantly researched look at Maurine Watkins' work as a crime beat reporter during the 20's in Chicago, covering the spate of murderesses awaiting trial and their trials.  All of this against the back drop of the history of crime on Chicago at the time.  Leading up to Ms. Watkins leaving Chicago and writing the play "Chicago".  In looking at Watkins' work the reader is also treated to other amazing women who were ahead of their time (and no I'm not referring to the women on murder row).  Other female reports are featured as well a particularly brilliant female lawyer.  Having read Ugly Prey (regarding the Sabella Niti case), I was especially interested in this book and I was not disappointed.  I can't rave enough about this book!!!!!

Makeup & Murder. By: Stephanie Damore

I have to admit that I was concerned that this one would be very "girlie" because of the makeup theme-color me surprised and thrilled with this book!  Our heroine, Ziva is not as girlie as I assumed she would be, she was fabulously tough and girlie and a no BS kind of person.  Another great item of note in this book is the set of multi-cultural characters.  A well structured mystery, and colorful characters help propel Ziva through the start of this wonderful series.

Green with Envy By: N.L. Cameron

 

I was disappointed with this.  I didn't find the characters well developed, and they were all over the place in terms of how they behaved.  The story lines were convoluted and over all it just couldn't decide what kind of story it wanted to be.  It felt more like a draft that needed go over a few more times.

The Case of the Screaming Beauty. By: Alison Golden

This prequel sets up the Inspector David Graham series, brilliantly.  It reads like a Masterpiece Mystery series on PBS-and has a Christie type ending that I just loved.

Dying for Dinner Rolls. By: Lois Lavrisa

The Chubby Chicks Club reminds me a lot of my friends, so it was really easy to get sucked into their world.  When one of their own is found dead of an apparent suicide, the rest of the Club springs into action, often with hilarious results!  An intriguing start to a great series.

Murder at the Mansion. By: Alison Golden

I adore the Vicar!  Annabelle and her cohorts are a fun bunch of people to spend time with, even if there is a murder involved.  When a newcomer ends up dead, rumors fly and Annabelle flies into action, dodging conjecture and claims of kleptomania!  Annabelle's fondness for baked goods is a hoot and the recipes included read like a transcript form the Great British Baking Show.  Great fun!

Death at the Cafe. By: Alison Golden

Reverend Annabelle is ADORABLE!!!  This is a great little mystery and sets up, what I hope to be, a lovely series!

The Versatiles: Supporting Character Players in the Cinema 1930-1955 By: Alfred E. Twomey & Arthur F. McClure

As someone who's been performing as a character actor for 40+ years, I couldn't wait to dig in to this one.  What a joy it was to see character actors getting their due in this delightful encyclopedia.  Not only that, it was great fun to learn little tidbits about people I've been watching for years; like how Zasu Pitts got her first name; the irony of Margaret Hamilton-the woman who will forever be remembered as the Wicked Witch of the West and scaring the wits out of children for almost 80 year, was a trained Kindergarten teacher and spent her post movie life working with children and for children's charities!  This book was written in the late 60's so a great deal of the people featured where actually born prior to 1900, and by reading their bios you get a sense of how the world was back then, what kinds of jobs folks gave up to work as an actor (conversely what jobs they went into when they left acting), and how they put their individual quirks and characteristics to work for them!  Loved reading this book!

Blues Poems Ed: Kevin Young

I'm not a fan of the musical genre The Blues, but the poems in this collection are stunning.  They are evocative of time, place, social position and brilliant artistry.  Perfect for poetry, music, and/or Blues lovers. So glad I read this!