What Are You Reading This Summer?

What are you reading this summer? Here are some of the books I’ve read recently.

You can’t go wrong with anything by Diane Kelly, Maria DiRico (Ellen Byron), and Tara Lush. Read all their series. They are fabulous, and I always read their latest.

Korina Moss and Linda Reilly are my favorite cheese-themed cozy writers. What is not to love? You can never have enough cheese, and when it’s mixed with a mystery, it’s perfect. You need to check out all the books in both of their series.

Daphne Silver, Annie McEwen, T.C. Herren, and Jennie Marts were all new-to-me cozy authors. Their books are terrific, and you need to check them out.

Paula Charles’s Hammers and Homicide is a fun cozy and a great start to a new series. I also had the pleasure of reading an early version of her second in her goat yoga series as Janna Rollins. It’s a hoot.

I had the pleasure of reading an ARC for Janna Rollins for the second in her Zen Goat Mysteries. It’s a hoot. This is a must-read series.

Annie McEwen’s Resort to Murder is another great start to a new series. What a sweet, fun mystery. She has a new one out in this series, too.

I read the first two of The Turner and Mosely Files by LynDee Walker and Bruce Robert Coffin. What a fun series of mysteries full of adventure, missing treasures, and all kinds of cool technology. Escape on a book vacation with this series!

What books or authors should I add to my summer reading list?

Happy National Smile Day (And Ways to Make an Author Grin)

Happy National Smile Day. Here are some quick, free things you can do to help authors and make them smile.

• If you like a book, leave a review on one of the many sites (e.g. Amazon, Barnes and Noble, BookBub, Goodreads, Audible…). It doesn’t have to be a book report. A couple of sentences will do.

• Tell your book club about the book and add it to the group’s reading list.

• Request that your library add the book to their collection.

• Post on social media that you like the book and tag the author.

Reviews and reader comments do make a difference.

Happy reading, y’all!

What Have You Been Reading Lately?

What are you reading and what’s up next for you? I’m reading Tara Lush’s A Bean to Die for, and I’m sad that this is the last in this series. I loved her new mystery, Gator Queen. Who knew alligator wrangling could be so much fun.

I also recently finished Diane Kelly’s Four-Alarm Homicide and Olivia Blacke’s Rhythm and Clues. Both cozy series are well worth the read.

There are so many books and so little time. I just love Ellen Byron/Maria DiRico and all of her series, Linda Reilly, Mindy Quigley, Tara Lush, Olivia Blacke, Diane Kelly, and Kallie E. Benjamin (V. M. Burns). You cannot go wrong with any of their books.

I really, really enjoyed Daphne Silver’s debut mystery, Crime and Parchment, and she recently won the Agatha Awar for Best First Novel at Malice Domestic. Congratulations! What a fun start to a new series set on the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland. Lots of quirky characters and a twisty plot.

Lee Goldberg’s traditional mysteries are always a hit. If you like police procedurals and twisty mysteries, you need to read Goldberg's Eve Ronin series. Hollywood, heists, reality TV, murder, and mayhem...

T. G. Herren/Greg Herren and Jennie Marts are new-to-me authors. I enjoyed both of these cozies, and I look forward to reading more of their books.

What have you been reading lately?

Happy Mermaid Day!

Happy Mermaid Day! I’ve added this to the list of my holidays since I write the Mermaid Bay Christmas Shoppe Mysteries.

Here’s a list of Mermaid Advice that I received from mystery author Jayne Ormerod. Enjoy your celebration!

• “Sea” life’s beauty.

• Avoid “pier” pressure.

• Take time to coast.

• Make waves.

• Be sure of yourself.

• Don’t be “shellfish.”

• Seize the day.
  

What Have You Been Reading This Fall?

What have you been reading this fall? I’ve been in my editing cave a lot lately with the two books that are coming out early next year, so I haven’t been reading as much as I like to. And there are so many new books out there that look like a lot of fun. So far this fall, I’ve been reading Eve Calder, Catherine Bruns, Julie Anne Lindsey, Jenn McKinlay, Spencer Quinn, Vivien Chien, Lee Goldberg, Kristin Kisska, Libby Klein, Tina Kashian, Sarah Fox, and Paige Shelton. All are great reads. If you haven’t already, add them to your TBR list.

Recently I finished John Grisham’s THE EXCHANGE and Janet Evanovich’s DIRTY THIRTY. I recently found Eve Calder’s series on the Cookie House. What fun. I can’t wait to read more.

What has been your fall favorite?

What Happened to Summer?

I was so busy this summer with the day-gig thing and some upcoming book projects that the time and warm weather slipped away from me.

What did you do on your summer vacation? I wrote a lot of recommendations and proposals and did a boatload of end-of-year performance reviews. I also wrote two short stories for two anthology projects, and I completed two novels. They are the sixth book in the Jules Keene Glamping series and the second one in the Pearly Girls Mystery series. (And as of this morning, I’m almost at the half-way point for the third Pearly Girls one.)

I’m gearing up for some book launches, too. Christmas Lights and Catfights comes out in October. That’s the third in the Jules Keene series. The second in the Mermaid Bay Christmas Shoppe Mysteries, Twinkle Twinkle Au Revoir drops in January. And the brand new Pearly Girls Mystery launches in the spring. It’s called Murder Strikes a Chord.

What have you been up to? I’ve got a lot of fall events scheduled, and I think I may need to plan an autumn vacation.

What Have You Been Reading This Summer?

What were your favorite summer reads? I love all kinds of books, but I always gravitate to mysteries and thrillers. Lee Goldberg is one of my new favorites.

This summer, I went back and read all of the Michael Connelly books I had missed. I am such a fan of Bosch and the Lincoln Lawyer. And I like how his Renee Ballard character is evolving. Now, I am all caught up and can’t wait for the next one.

I am such a fan girl of S. A. Cosby. I love his stories, and I get so excited every time a new one comes out. He is a must read if you like southern suspense.

Some of my favorite cozy mysteries this summer were by Maddie Day, Vicki Delany, Barbara Ross, Mindy Quigley, and Maria DiRico.

What’s your next read?

Why Mysteries?

I have been a fan on mysteries since Scooby-Doo and Nancy Drew. I loved all the 70s Saturday morning cartoons where the amateur sleuths solved the crimes and capers…”The Funky Phantom,” “Josie and the Pussycats,” “Speed Buggy,” “The Pink Panther.” The list is long. These were definitely my gateway mysteries to my current habit.

I read lots of genres, but I always gravitate n to the mystery. It has so many interesting subgenres and has been a reading staple for so many for generations.

Here are my Top 10 reasons…

1. I love a good puzzle and the opportunity to solve it before the end of the book.

2. I want to see justice served in the end.

3. Mysteries are an escape from the craziness of normal life.

4. Cozy mystery sleuths always have interesting jobs and hobbies. I like to learn new things.

5. The locations are intriguing. I love take book vacations to all kinds of interesting places.

6. The amateur sleuths are fun. They prove that every-day people can solve crimes. (As a kid, I loved that Nancy Drew was a teenager with a car who could solve crimes before the adults did.)

7. The mystery genre has so many subgenres that there is something for every taste. I bounce around from sweet and cozy (but deadly) to dark thrillers that keep me up at night.

8. I love puns, double entendre, and other kinds of wordplay. Mystery writers are masters at multiple meanings, clues, and red herrings.

9. I am fascinated with technology, pop culture, and science, and they all appear everywhere in this genre.

10. The community of mystery writers is so amazingly kind and generous with their time and advice. It is such a fabulous group to be a part of. I just came back from the Malice Domestic Conference in Bethesda, MD, and it was a whirlwind weekend full of so many mystery writers and readers.

And that’s why I love mysteries. What would you add to my list?