Review (+ Tour GIVEAWAY): Highland Peril

Highland Peril
By Amy Reade
A Malice Novel #2
Lyrical Underground, 2017


Summary

Trading the urban pace of Edinburgh for a tiny village overlooking a breathtaking blue loch was a great move for budding photographer Sylvie Carmichael and her artist husband, Seamus—until a dangerous crime obscures the view . . .

Sylvie’s bucolic life along the heather-covered moors of the Highlands is a world away from the hectic energy of the city. But then a London buyer is killed after purchasing a long-lost Scottish masterpiece from Seamus’s gallery—and the painting vanishes.

As suspicion clouds their new life, and their relationship, Sylvie’s search for answers plunges her into an unsolved mystery dating back to Cromwellian Scotland through World War I and beyond. And as she moves closer to the truth, Sylvie is targeted by a murderer who’s after a treasure within a treasure that could rewrite history . . . and her own future.


My thoughts

I was intrigued by the description of Highland Peril, expecting to discover a cute cozy mystery set in the Scottish Highlands, but this seemed to be more of a traditional mystery or suspense novel. There were some elements that I enjoyed, but this wasn’t a great read for me overall.

I liked the backstory that we’re introduced to in the Prologue, which sets the stage for all that follows. It was interesting to learn of Scotland’s history during the Cromwell years, especially details involving the crown jewels, and the part that man’s greed played. It was so fitting that no one involved in the theft of the jewels led a happy life.

Sylvie and Seamus make a good team with their photography and artist skills, and the marital problems caused by his lack of communication added interest. I enjoyed being pulled into the setting of their studio in the Highlands and even searched for some pictures of the area to gain a deeper appreciation.

The main drawbacks were that the writing didn’t have a professional feel to it and there wasn’t enough character depth for me to know and care about the characters. However, I do think that Highland Peril is a story that fans of Scottish history and suspense might find interesting.

I was provided a free copy of this book through Great Escapes Tours. The opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.

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Amy M. Reade is a cook, chauffeur, household CEO, doctor, laundress, maid, psychiatrist, warden, seer, teacher, and pet whisperer. In other words, a wife, mother, and recovering attorney. But she also writes (how could she not write with that last name?) and is the author of The Malice Series (The House on Candlewick Lane, Highland Peril, and Murder in Thistlecross) and three standalone books, Secrets of Hallstead House, The Ghosts of Peppernell Manor, and House of the Hanging Jade.

She lives in southern New Jersey, but loves to travel. Her favorite places to visit are Scotland and Hawaii and when she can’t travel she loves to read books set in far-flung locations.

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Review (+ Tour GIVEAWAY): A Knit before Dying

A Knit before Dying
By Sadie Hartwell
A Tangled Web Mystery #2
Kensington, 2017


Summary

A new business might add some much-needed charm to downtown Dorset Falls—and draw tourists to Josie’s yarn shop. But when someone gets murdered, a close-knit community could come undone . . .

Shop owner Josie Blair is finally settling into the pace of living in Dorset Falls, Connecticut. Between running Miss Marple Knits, jumpstarting a blog, and handcrafting items with the help of her knitting pals, Josie’s too preoccupied to worry about her past in New York. And thanks to Lyndon and Harry, the owners of the brand-new antique shop next door, she has another project in her midst—repurposing a box of vintage crocheted doilies adorned with the most curious needlework . . .

But before Josie can formally welcome her neighbors, she discovers Lyndon on the floor of his shop stabbed to death by a rusty old pair of sheep shears. Police have pinned Harry as the killer, but Josie isn’t so sure. Now, she’s lacing up for another homicide investigation—and no eyelet or stitch can go unexamined, lest she herself becomes ensnared in the criminal’s deadly design . . .

Includes original knitting patterns!


My thoughts

I enjoyed A Knit before Dying so much and instantly became a fan of Sadie Hartwell’s Tangled Web series. It is well written, imaginative, and has that perfect blend of small-town setting, likeable characters that you want to spend time with, and a well-crafted mystery.

A story can succeed or fail based on the main character’s appeal, and Josie is an endearing leading lady. Having previously worked in the New York fashion industry, she returns to her hometown of Dorset Falls and takes over a knitting shop in the business-challenged town. Josie is delightful as she finds herself “living on a farm in rural Connecticut – and actually doing chores on that farm.” And honestly, could there be a more appropriate name for Josie’s shop than “Miss Marple Knits”? This is book #2 in the Tangled Web series and can stand alone, but I’m eager to read the previous book, Yarned and Dangerous.

There’s several things I like about Josie. Although she manages a knitting shop, she hasn’t yet conquered the art of knitting. She’s surrounded by a wonderful circle of friends. And I loved her for the way she cares for her great uncle Eb, cantankerous though he may be.

A box of vintage doilies draws Josie into an old mystery as she is also drawn into the murder of the man who was renting the shop next door to her. Both storylines blend seamlessly into a plot that kept me eagerly turning the pages. The solution is not obvious or one that is easily solved. There’s a sweet hint of romance between Josie and Mitch, but it takes second place to the main theme.

I loved that A Knit before Dying is a clean read and am eager to spend more time in Dorset Falls with these characters.

Highly recommended to fans of cozy mysteries.

I was provided a free copy of this book through Great Escapes Tours. The opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.

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Sadie Hartwell grew up near the Canadian border in northern New York State, where it’s cold, dark, and snowy almost half the year—a perfect environment for nurturing a simultaneous love of mystery fiction and needlework.

She attended St. Lawrence University, graduating with a degree in history, and has worked as a waitress, handbag designer/manufacturer, paralegal, and copy editor before turning to writing full time. Now she gets to play with yarn and make up stories whenever she wants, and wishes everyone had a job as much fun as hers.

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Review (+ Tour GIVEAWAY): Death Distilled

Death Distilled
By Melinda Mullet
A Whiskey Business Mystery #2
Alibi, 2017


Summary

Photojournalist by trade, distillery owner by blood, and amateur sleuth by necessity, Abigail Logan learns that murder can’t stay bottled up forever in this charming Whisky Business Mystery.

It’s been three months since Abi Logan last checked in on Abbey Glen, the celebrated whisky distillery she inherited. With her oversize wheaten terrier, Liam, by her side, Abi returns to the quaint Scottish village of Balfour. But her relaxing Highland homecoming takes a stressful turn when she unearths an unseemly bit of village history, welcomes a group of Japanese whisky enthusiasts, and becomes shepherdess to an unexpected flock of sheep—all within the first twenty-four hours. Still, nothing’s more stressful than murder …

Local celebrity Rory Hendricks is the hotheaded, hard-rocking former frontman of the Rebels—and Abi’s girlhood crush. After meeting him in person, Abi can’t say no to anything he asks, like photographing his upcoming show … or figuring out who’s trying to kill him. Turns out someone’s been bumping off his old bandmates, with the drummer dead under mysterious circumstances and the keyboardist in a coma following a hit-and-run. Now a series of threatening messages leads Rory to think he’s next on the chopping block. And the band has a devil’s share of broken hearts and bitter disputes in their past, leaving Abi a huge batch of suspects to sift through—all before the killer takes another shot.


My thoughts

What an engaging story! Atmospheric, intelligent, and just plain entertaining (to borrow from Abi’s three-word descriptions of people she met). I was pleasantly surprised to find such richness and depth in a cozy mystery.

I love stories set in the United Kingdom, and it was the Scottish setting that initially drew me to Death Distilled. The rural community of Balfour, a village filled with engaging, sometimes quirky, characters, felt so real that I imagined myself walking along its paths. I was hesitant to pick up a book with a “whiskey business” theme, but plot, characterization and setting were so strong that whiskey became secondary.

Abi Logan, owner of the whiskey distillery Abbey Glen, is an appealing protagonist who I liked from the very beginning. And when she rescued eight sheep that were headed for slaughter, even giving them literary names, she had my heart. “Think of this as a retirement home for aging wool-bearers,” Abi told the local vet. There’s one particular laugh-out-loud scene that I loved, and the bonding between her dog and a sheep with pneumonia is precious.

The mystery is well crafted, with a few hints that I could see upon reflecting back, but I only realized the murder’s identity through Abi’s reasoning toward the end. I loved the historical detail and folklore elements, as well as the potential romance between Abi and Grant, head distiller at Abbey Glen.

The only negative for me was the use of mild profanity throughout, which detracted from an otherwise excellent story. I appreciated that there were no graphic scenes. I enjoyed Death Distilled overall and want to read more of this series.

Recommended.

I was provided a free copy of this book through Great Escapes Tours. The opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.

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Melinda Mullet was born in Dallas and attended school in Texas, Washington D.C., England, and Austria. She spent many years as a practicing attorney before pursuing a career as a writer.

Author of the Whisky Business Mystery series, Mullet is a passionate supporter of childhood literacy. She works with numerous domestic and international charities striving to promote functional literacy for all children. She lives in Washington, D.C., with her family.

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Review: The Child Safeguarding Policy for Churches and Ministries

The Child Safeguarding Policy Guide for Churches and Ministries
By Basyle Tchividjian & Shira M. Berkovits
New Growth Press, 2017


Summary

Churches have always sought to be a safe haven for children and families, but many today are dealing with the tragic reality of child sexual abuse.

This handbook, authored and edited by a multidisciplinary team of child abuse experts, is designed for use by a group that will be formulating policies and procedures to protect children and deal with possible child abuse in their ministry, school, and/or church. Working through this book will assist churches and ministries to assess their current child abuse polices and then guide them through each step they need to take to address the safety of children under their care. It will cover vitally important topics including:

-Protecting the children in a Christian environment from child abuse
-The warning signs of child abuse
-Crafting and implement a child protection policy
-Responding to abuse allegations
-Caring for victims of child abuse
-The legal implications and requirements for churches and Christian ministries

Written by a GRACE team with multi-disciplinary knowledge, headed by Boz Tchividjian, a lawyer and former child abuse prosecutor, this handbook will be an invaluable resource to Christians who are seeking to educate themselves and others about child abuse and how to best protect the little ones under their care.

Learn more and purchase a copy.


My thoughts

Sexual abuse of children isn’t something we want to think about, but it is certainly something that churches and ministry organizations need to be prepared for and have a policy in place. In fact, it is essential. I never realized how important this is until reading an outstanding resource called The Child Safeguarding Policy Guide for Churches and Ministries. There were things that I knew a little about, but so much that I wasn’t aware of.

This manual offers advice from experts and is comprehensive, thorough, and easy to follow. Just a few of the topics covered are defining abuse, indicators, screening, routine protective measures, policy violations, and reporting abuse. One of my favorite sections is that of survivor support.

In the back are three helpful appendixes: 1) Forming a Child Safeguarding Committee; 2) Forms, such as volunteer applications, evaluation, etc.; and 3) Empowering children.

The introduction mentions a woman who, when looking for a church home, asked the churches she visited about their sexual abuse policy – and if they didn’t have one, she moved on. I hate to admit that this is something I would never have thought of – and, while I suspect my church has some type of policy, I don’t know for sure. I will be giving my copy of this book to our elders and recommending it to other churches.

For church elders, ministers, teachers, volunteer staff, and parents - highly recommended.

I was provided a free copy of this book through Litfuse Publicity. The opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.

http://litfusegroup.com/author/GRACE

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G.R.A.C.E (Godly Response to Abuse in the Christian Environment) is a nonprofit organization made up of highly trained, experienced multidisciplinary professionals who seek to educate and empower the Christian community to identify, confront, and respond to the sin of child abuse.

Find out more about GRACE at http://netgrace.org.

Review: Just Look Up

Just Look Up
By Courtney Walsh
Tyndale, 2017


Summary

After tirelessly climbing the ranks of her Chicago-based interior design firm, Lane Kelley is about to land her dream promotion when devastating news about her brother draws her back home—a quaint tourist town full of memories she’d just as soon forget. With her cell phone and laptop always within reach, Lane aims to check on her brother while staying focused on work—something her eclectic family doesn’t understand.

Ryan Brooks never expected to settle down in Harbor Pointe, Michigan, but after his final tour of duty, it was the only place that felt like home. Now knee-deep in a renovation project that could boost tourism for the struggling town, he is thrilled to see Lane, the girl he secretly once loved, even if the circumstances of her homecoming aren’t ideal.

Their reunion gets off to a rocky start, however, when Ryan can’t find a trace of the girl he once knew in the woman she is today. As he slowly chips away at the walls Lane has built, secrets from his past collide with a terrible truth even he is reluctant to believe. Facing a crossroads that could define his future with Lane and jeopardize his relationship with the surrogate family he’s found in the Kelleys, Ryan hopes Lane can see that maybe what really matters has been right in front of her all along—if only she’d just look up.


My thoughts

Just Look Up by Courtney Walsh is everything that a contemporary romance should be … beautifully conveyed setting on the shores of Lake Michigan, well-drawn lead characters who are appealing and relatable, descriptive narrative that flows easily across the page, and spiritual insight that touches lives.

I love Hallmark movies and couldn’t help but think how perfectly Just Look Up fits their theme, as Lane leaves the high-pressure business world of Chicago when her brother is injured and returns to the small community of Harbor Pointe, Michigan. I was quickly drawn into the story and enjoyed its emotional build as more backstory was revealed. There’s a few moving scenes that even had me tearing up. A great supporting cast of characters adds depth and I really hope this is the beginning of a series.

Lane and Ryan (“Brooks”) are memorable characters, so easy to connect with. With a mom who tried to put a positive spin on her pain, Lane carried emotional scars from her growing up years. “She’d done everything she could to eliminate every trace of the girl she’d been, to transform herself into a businesswoman with an incredible career.” But the result was a sacrificing of personal relationships at the altar of a buried past.

Ryan, whose charm masked deep pain, has the characteristics I look for in a hero – tender, patient, sacrificial, and with a sense of humor. Renovating old cottages was more than a business opportunity to him; rather, “therapy without the stuffy doctor peering at him over horn-rimmed glasses.”

Just Look Up is so relevant in its spiritual insights … Forgiveness and grace. That God’s love is not contingent on our works or worthiness. The need to surrender everything in our lives to God. Spending time on what really matters.  Both Lane and Ryan had faith in God, but took on the responsibility for dealing with pain themselves. Maybe, like me, that’s something you can identify with.

Just Look Up has a personal meaning for Courtney Walsh, and I believe it has a message every reader will take to heart.

Look up … from the electronic devices.
Look up … from project deadlines.
Look up … from stress-filled and worrisome situations.
Look up … from whatever is drawing your attention away from all that is around you.

Just Look Up.

Highly recommended.



I was provided a free copy of this book from the author. The opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.

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Courtney Walsh is the author of Paper Hearts, Change of Heart, and the Sweethaven series. Her debut novel, A Sweethaven Summer, was a New York Times and USA Today e-book bestseller and a Carol Award finalist in the debut author category. In addition, she has written two craft books and several full-length musicals.

Courtney lives with her husband and three children in Illinois, where she is also an artist, theater director, and playwright.

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Review (+ Tour GIVEAWAY): Murder Wears Mittens

Murder Wears Mittens
By Sally Goldenbaum
Seaside Knitters Society
Kensington, 2017


Summary

As autumn washes over coastal Sea Harbor, Massachusetts, the Seaside Knitters anticipate a relaxing off-season. But when murder shatters the peace, the craftiest bunch in town must unravel a killer’s deadly scheme . . .

After retrieving fresh lobster nets from a local Laundromat, Cass Halloran rushes to attend a last-minute gathering with her knitting circle. But Cass can’t stop worrying about the lonely boy seen hanging around the dryers, and the school uniform he left behind in a hurry. When the ladies return the lost clothing the next day, they find the child and his younger sister alone, seemingly abandoned by their mother . . .

The knitters intend to facilitate a family reunion, not investigate a crime. But the death of Dolores Cardozo, a recluse from the edge of town, throws the group for a loop. Especially when the missing mother and one of their own become tied to the victim’s hidden fortune—and her murder . . .

Before scandalous secrets break bonds and rumors tear Sea Harbor apart, the Seaside Knitters need to string together the truth about Dolores—while preventing a greedy murderer from making another move!

* Includes a knitting pattern *


My thoughts

Heartwarming … poignant … entertaining … a story to savor. Atmospheric and evocative, this is a story of family, friendship and community, caring people who work together to solve a murder. Murder Wears Mittens is all that I could ask for in a cozy mystery, and more.

Although Murder Wears Mittens is the first mystery in the Seaside Knitters Society series, it actually continues a long-running series put out by another publisher; you can see how the novels lay out here. There’s wonderful character development throughout these stories, but background is provided so that each book can stand alone.

I discovered Sally Goldenbaum’s writing several years ago in a kind of unique way. Fueled by an addiction to stories set in New England, I was thrilled to discover the website Stop You're Killing Me, where you can search for mystery books by several different categories, geographical location being one of them. I highly recommend this website to mystery lovers, by the way. Anyway, I found the Seaside Knitters series, tried the first one, and was hooked. Sea Harbor is fictional, but patterned after Gloucester, MA. I’m delighted that Ms. Goldenbaum has a new publisher in Kensington and is continuing the series.

When it comes to cozy mysteries, Murder Wears Mittens is a cut above. While it perfectly fits the cozy genre, there’s also elements of women’s fiction. At its heart is the friendship between four women of various ages – Cass, Izzy, Nell and Birdie – united by a love for knitting and a desire to help the community. Their current goal is the HMS project, “a community effort that would result in enough hats, mittens, scarves and socks to warm anyone in need for the long winter ahead.”

Izzy’s brother, Charlie, is one of my favorite characters – a man filled with gratitude for those who had helped him during a time when personal mistakes almost ruined his life. “He’d fixed up the well-traveled Bimmer and traveled from one side of the country to the other. Putting a period to some sentences, a thank-you to others.” Now he’s returned home and I look forward to more from this character.

I’m more comfortable when the murder victim is someone I can dislike, but that’s not the case here – and it makes for rich storytelling. Dolores Cardozo is a woman the Seaside Knitters were coming to know better in death than life – and I would have loved this lady. The mystery plot is well crafted, with hints that will be obvious once the murderer’s identity is revealed.

Murder Wears Mittens doesn’t move at a fast pace; rather, it’s a sweet, character-driven story to be read leisurely and savored. I adore this whole series and hope we get to spend a lot more time with the Seaside Knitters. “Best of the best” for me. Highly recommended.

I was provided a free copy of this book through Great Escapes Tours. The opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.

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Sally Goldenbaum was born on the shores of Lake Michigan, in Manitowoc, WI, to a homemaker mother and a ship-building father. Although she now lives in landlocked Prairie Village, KS, her longing for lakes and the sea is satisfied in part by writing the USA Today bestselling Seaside Knitters Mystery series , set on Cape Ann, MA.

She is a sometime philosophy teacher, a knitter, and an editor, and the author of more than thirty novels. Her fictional knitting friends are teaching her the intricacies of women’s friendship, the mysteries of small-town living, and the very best way to pick up dropped stitches on a lacy knit shawl.

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To enter the drawing for a print copy of Murder Wears Mittens, please click on this link and share my Facebook post, then leave a comment here.

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