Getting Ready for Holiday Relaxing, with "Cozy" Mysteries from Bree Baker, Lucy Burdette, Denise Swanson

Lists, guests, expectations ... the big year-end holidays can be overwhelming. Even the moments of loving kindness, grace, and appreciation for the holy (especially one's neighbors) can wear a person a bit thin on energy or social pleasure.

Which must be why "cozy" mysteries fit so perfectly for so many in this time of year! Relax, chuckle, ride a small wave of suspense, have confidence that almost everything will come out right -- and even, with some in this genre, pick up an extra delicious recipe to add to your festive kitchen.

Amateur sleuth Hayley Snow is always good for a new recipe, from seafood to dessert. The protagonist of Lucy Burdette's very popular Key West Food Critic Mysteries, Hayley writes a regular column for a community newspaper on the south Florida island famous for Hemingway, festivals, parties, and restaurants. Although she's technically not a "hard news" reporter, her editor often assigns her to take a broad view of a food or restaurant or vacation trend -- and Hayley's ongoing romance with police officer Nathan Bransford helps her justify her urge to climb into risky situations for the sake of justice, or a good friend.

As A DEADLY FEAST (number 9 in the series) opens, Hayley's struggling to get a final assignment done for Key Zest magazine before leaping into the family-complicated celebration of her long-planned wedding to Nathan. Of course there's still the question of whether their home will be ready in time, not to mention a family-and-friends Thanksgiving feast to pull off. But murder, alas, intervenes, and the suspense swings back and forth between who's done the deed, who might be next, and surviving to walk down the aisle!

I couldn't keep my mind from circling back to Nathan's mysterious case. I felt intensely curious. Why wouldn't he tell me more? The answer wasn't obvious like the time last winter when he'd been in charge of security for the Havana/Key West event and its major celebrities ... The more secretive he acted, the more curious I got.

This is one of Burdette's best yet, with steady tension, some quick grins at the turns that friendships take, and well-plotted clues and investigation. The recipes at the end of the book, for Key lime pie, smoked fish dip, and more, are the icing on a terrific cake. For good entertainment that will let you kick back and breathe, no matter how much snow does or doesn't fall, pick up a copy. (And an extra for the gift stack, maybe? From Crooked Lane Books.)

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Bree Baker's Seaside Café Mysteries, set in the seaside town of Charm, North Carolina, provide consistent delights: light sweet romance, deftly twisted mysteries that pit members of the close community against each other, and protagonist Everly Swan's warm-hearted life as owner of a tea shop next to the beach, within easy reach of her two endearing great aunts who mentor her and help out in the kitchen.


Two titles in the series arrived in 2019: NO GOOD TEA GOES UNPUNISHED opens with Everly catering a beach wedding and providing a new tea blend for the occasion: "Hibiscus tea, cinnamon sticks, a dash of sugar to taste, lemon for garnish. I call it the Blushing Bride. It's a signature creation for your special day." That's Everly, enjoying every moment -- until there's blood on the cake knife and death in the sands.

By the time the friction explodes into the community (politics! great aunts!) and Everly's barely-started love life, the triangle of motive-means-opportunity is ringing nonstop. Hang on for the ride, ignore any to-do lists (pizza is best when delivered, right?), and read to the end to get the reward of a pair of tea recipes and another for "signature pineapple chicken wraps." Why not stage a beach party for the New Year? (I'm thinking.)

Then Baker also brought out TIDE AND PUNISHMENT this fall, and since the first words of the book are Merry Christmas, it's a perfect fit for this season. In this third in the series (the review for book 1, Live and Let Chai, is here), Baker puts Everly's great-aunt Fran onto the suspect list right away -- which in turn means both Everly and Fran are at increasing risk, as evidence about the mayor's murder piles up. It's easy to lose track of the "cozy" aspect of this mystery, since the tension never lets up. But of course the ending is faithful and just, and there's a recipe for (yumm!) gingerbread bars as a reward. [These are both from Sourcebooks, with the latter coming under this publisher's Poisoned Pen Press imprint.]

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Denise Swanson's Scumble River, Illinois, mysteries got a reboot a couple of years back, so COME HOMICIDE OR HIGH WATER clocks in as the third in the "Welcome Back to Scumble River" group. Protagonist Skye Denison-Boyd has just six weeks left of her maternity leave as a school psychologist, and she's already working part time because her fill-in person is a bit scared of the tough cases ... but Skye also has twin babies, a police chief husband, a pushy mom and a controlling father-in-law (they both mean well and are usually sweet, but totally overwhelming too!), and a not-yet-finished house, with Christmas around the corner. (Feel better about your own situation for the holidays now? I do!)

Murder strikes all too soon, and Skye herself discovers the body -- of a woman who'd just filed suit against her school:

Skye knew she wasn't being logical. She knew that the murderer would have attacked Earl or her rather than wait for an armed police officer. But now that she and Wally had kids, some protective instinct had kicked into high gear, and she worried about everyone even more than she had before becoming a mother.

The plot twists are intense and unusually surprising; this is still a great book to unwind with, because Skye has such amazing support people in her life and enough insight to head the investigation toward a good solution. But COME HOMICIDE OR HIGH WATER whips so much suspense that it calls for an occasional break to grab some hot chocolate with a candy cane or a couple of holiday cookies (sugar? almond? rugelach?) for extra comfort. Of all the ones on this page, this is the one to grab for energy! Oh, it won't come out until December 31, but can be pre-ordered of course, from a local bookseller or online. Consider it recovery fuel, for yourself and a best friend or book club.

No need to read the others before this one, but for a taste of Denise Swanson's other titles, check out the reviews here.

Here's wishing you a "cozy" set of holidays ahead!

PS:  Looking for more mystery reviews, from cozy to very dark? Browse the Kingdom Books mysteries review blog here.

New Mystery Series from Denise Swanson Starts with DEAD IN THE WATER

After 19 mysteries set in the fictional Illinois town of Scumble River, author Denise Swanson has started a new series (her third! and that's not counting her romances), "Welcome Back to Scumble River." A short author note to the first book in this new series, DEAD IN THE WATER, explains Swanson's reboot, in which she's moved her timeline to "now" and updated her protagonists, school psychologist Skye Denison-Boyd and her husband Wally Boyd, police chief of the bustling little town.

DEAD IN THE WATER opens with Skye very, very pregnant, and a storm arriving -- one that includes enough tornadoes to affect one-third of the state and, in its up close and personal form, to smash Skye and Wally's house (oh no, the nursery that's never even been used yet!). That's a lot of pressure for the couple. But Swanson is a pro at ramping up the stress and suspense, and soon there's much more to cope with beyond power outages and a vanished home: a Big Issue in Skye's pregnancy, a dead town councilman in the midst of tornado damage and flooding, and -- gulp -- a kidnapping.

I won't say more than that, for fear of giving away some of the twists that Swanson uses so cleverly. But one of the niftiest aspects of this "traditional" mystery (it's not really a cozy!) is who's doing the sleuthing: not Wally, but Skye herself. Swanson's deft storytelling includes plenty of complications from the couple's close relatives and extended family, as well as some humorous portraits of the less likeable characters in town. (Skye is not feeling very pacifistic as her pregnancy speeds along, so they'd better stay out of her way!)

Brace for a wild ride, a lot of fun, and adventures that are risky and intense (but not at that scary disturbed sort of level that makes you double-check that the front door's locked -- thank goodness!).

Long-time fans of Swanson's books will feel the love in every chapter, and their past experience with Scumble River will add to the details -- but for newcomers, there's plenty of detail to invite you in and have you feeling at home. This is a warm and entertaining mystery, lively and colorful, and perfect for weekend relaxing, but of course, not a very appropriate gift for friends going through hurricanes this season. Sigh. Stay safe, y'all. (Published by Sourcebooks Landmark.)

PS:  Looking for more mystery reviews, from cozy to very dark? Browse the Kingdom Books mysteries review blog here.

Professor Turns Sleuth: DEATH IN EDEN, Paul J. Heald

If you "google" the name of Paul Heald, with the word "author" pegged onto it, you'll come up with copyright law, and economics, and connections to the University of Illinois, as well as Oxford, Vanderbilt, and the University of Chicago.

So, what's the professor doing in a mysteries review? Simple. He's taken the maxim "write what you know" and written a mystery of a professor who turns sleuth, under the multiple pressures of the race for tenure, a wife who wants to be pregnant, and an old fraternity buddy in trouble.

Now, I'm not suggesting that Professor Heald has old friends in the "adult film" industry the way his sleuth, Stanley Hopkins, has! (Although I couldn't help noticing the absence of the usual list of thanks to those working in the field ... perhaps to protect the privacy of the guilty?) But Heald certainly knows the forces that operate in university culture, and he's crafted a perfect storm of reasons to press an academic into investigation.

DEATH IN EDEN begins with Prof. Stanley Hopkins's urgent need to find a group of working women who'll provide employment data as a balance for the final chapter of his highly researched book. And when it occurs to him to use his connection with porn producer Donald Johansson -- who wants to craft fine films out of what used to be just sex scenes -- Hopkins realizes he's got not just the right topic to fill out the book, but a hot one that will bring him attention. And oh yes, boost him over the wall into being tenured. It just so happens he has a law degree in his background, so when his buddy Donald is accused of murdering a sex star (and Hopkins is pretty sure the charge can't be right), he goes beyond his original plan for interviews, and digs more deeply into the California porn scene than his wife appreciates.

Soon Hopkins adds a motive of saving his marriage to the others pushing him along. There's really no choice: He's even getting grilled by the police:

"Do you have any idea why Mr. Johansson has been so insistent on seeing you today?"

"No, sire." [Hopkins] normally never called anyone 'sir,' but the detective's demeanor seemed to demand some kind of honorific. "Don's an old friend from college. We just renewed our acquaintance when my wife and I came out to Los Angeles to do an academic study of adult film stars."

Obviously the police aren't quite convinced by that one. Even Hopkins has trouble believing what he's stepped into. It's pretty far from the university office, after all!

This is a first mystery, with plenty of extra scenes and description that can be skimmed -- the pace isn't yet expert in terms of suspense and tension, although I had a lot of fun in several of the scenes. Hopkins is in some ways terribly naive! His wife, not so much ... There are quite a few moments when Heald turns the point of view to one of the women on hand, whether the academic wife or the "adult film" stars, and those are lively and entertaining. Plot twists make good sense, even when they take a while to unfold, and the final actions Hopkins takes to get to the crime's solution spin into a lively finale.

I appreciate the author sending the book for review, and I hope he'll keep writing -- mysteries, that is. If you're collecting Illinois-based mysteries, California film scenarios, or academic action, grab a copy of DEATH IN EDEN. It's fun, it raises great topics to argue (are porn stars really mostly that nice?), and I'm delighted to see the lure of suspense and intrigue, at work on an author of copyright documents and other legal chapters. Go for it, Professor Hopkins -- err, I mean, Professor Heald!

[Published by Yucca Publishing, an imprint of Skyhorse Publishing; here's a link to the book, but it's also available through the usual other channels, including independent bookstores.]