Summer Cozies for July

July is one of my favorite months of the year! Summertime is in full swing, the
anticipation of vacations are exciting, and most importantly – it’s my birthday
month!

July also has a few drawbacks – it’s usually hot and sticky (at least in Texas
it is!) and the long hours of the days can tend to drag on. But if you have a
good book, a cool place to sit and relax and a glass of something cold, you can
make it through the heat in high style and be happy at the same time!

Here’s a look at the new cozy mysteries that come out in July. There is a
little something here for nearly every taste!

A GLIMPSE OF EVIL: A Psychic Eye Mystery by Victoria Laurie (Obsidian Mystery; $7.99) In Victoria Laurie’s new lively and thrilling mystery, the 8th book in the series, Abby Cooper and her boyfriend Dutch are moving to Texas to accept new positions with the FBI. Abby is to become the state bureau’s first intuitive civilian profiler and it’s a job she is both excited about and dreading. She knows that many do not accept her gift as legitimate.

So setting out to prove herself a valuable asset, Abby sets to trying to crack
a series of cold cases, ones that somehow seem connected to each other. After a
series of mishaps, Abby is suspended from her new job, but takes it upon
herself to try and solve the cases herself. But danger lurks around every
corner, and Abby soon finds she might be the next victim, if she’s not real
careful!

THE LONG QUICHE GOODBYE: A Cheese Shop Mystery by Avery Aames (Berkley Prime Crime; $7.99)

In this debut series, Charlotte Bessette and her cousin Matthew have inherited
their grandparent’s shop, the Fromagarie Bessette, or as the Providence, Ohio
locals like to call it – The Cheese Shop. But the grand opening day of the
renovated shop is spoiled when someone is murdered right outside her shop and
the weapon turns out to be one of Charlotte’s olive-wood handled knives, and
her grandmother is fingered as the likely suspect.

Turns out the victim is the husband of Charlotte’s grandmother’s opponent in
the upcoming mayoral election, and it soon turns out it will be up to Charlotte
to try and find who would commit such a dastardly deed in front of her beloved
store, and to save her grandmother from a life in prison.

This is a delightful beginning to what promises to be a lovely series of
mysteries. The delicious descriptions of food and the addition of some lovely
cheese recipes alone make this book worth checking out!

NINE LIVES LAST FOREVER: A Cats and Curios Mystery by Rebecca M. Hale (Berkley Prime Crime; $7.99) Rebecca Hale’s first book in her Cats and Curios Mystery, HOW TO WASH A CAT, was a New York Times bestseller. In her second book in the series, NINE LIVES LAST FOREVER, Hales reintroduces her readers to her feisty main character, Rebecca, and her cats Rupert and Isabelle, are still running the antique shop The Green Vase in San Francisco. When the shop is suddenly invaded by a herd of frogs, Rebecca does her best to get rid of them, with a little help from her feline companions.

But when she hears that City Hall is also infested with the slimy green pests,
and a mysterious note from her deceased Uncle Oscar tells her to follow the
frogs, Rebecca knows another mystery is about to hop up for her to solve.

Hale incorporates the tragic story of the Harvey Milk and George Moscone
murders to give her story an exciting twist to an already thrilling tale.
Written in first person, it is sometimes hard to tell if it’s the author
Rebecca telling the story or the character Rebecca, but the results are
satisfying nonetheless.

FELINE FATALE: A Kendra Ballantyne, Pet Sitter, Mystery by Linda O. Johnston (Berkley Prime Crime; $7.99)

Los Angeles attorney and pet sitter extraordinare Kendra Ballantyne is back and
up to her eyeballs in mystery in the 9th installment of this delightful series.

This time, Kendra must help her best friend and fellow pet-sitter Wanda escape
criminal charges in the death of an anti-pet lover, Margaret Shiler, who also
happened to be on the board of Wanda’s condo building. However, the only eye
witness to the murder is Lady Cuddles, a slippery escape artist of a cat. So
it’s up to Kendra to track down the real killer before Wanda finds herself in
the big people pound.

CLOSET CONFIDENTIAL: A Charlotte Adams Mystery by Mary Jane Malfini (Berkley Prime Crime; $6.99)

Small-town organizer Charlotte Adams once again has her hands full of
disorganized people and chaos in the fourth installment of this series.

Charlotte takes a job working with her old friend, Lorelei Beauchamp, the face
and head of Face It cosmetics. Lorelei is mourning the death of her model
daughter, Anabel, and convinces Charlotte to help her find out what really
happened to her child. As Charlotte begins to look into the investigation, she
soon finds out that it is as disorganized and messy as one of Lorelei’s
closets. But will her nosing around lead to Charlotte becoming the next victim?

Canadian author Mary Jane Malfini includes helpful organizing tips at the beginning of each chapter, which aid in the movement of the story – a clever use of an inventive story device that will keep readers enthralled. DIVA LAS VEGAS: A Soap Opera Mystery by Eileen Davidson (Obsidian Mystery; $6.99) Soap opera star turned author Eileen Davidson takes an insider look at the daytime drama industry in her third book, DIVA LAS VEGAS: A Soap Opera Mystery.

Alexis Peterson has a new gig on a new soap opera, The Bare and The Brazen, and
life is looking pretty good for a change. She is excited when her friend, ex-
Playboy Playmate Shana Stern, invites her to a party at the famous Hugh
Hefner’s mansion. But when Shana is found dead, the party is most definitely
over, and it falls upon Alexis, a task which leads her to a soap opera
convention in Las Vegas, where it seems everyone is a critic, and the body
count is quickly rising.

Eileen Davidson, who appeared on Days of Our Lives, and Santa Barbara, and currently plays Ashley Abbott on The Young and The Restless, really captures the lively lifestyle of the soap opera star in this series, and they are very funny, and very entertaining to read. ( I’m so envious of Eileen – she’s married to one of my teen crushes, Vince Van Patten!) DEATH BY DIAMONDS: A VINTAGE MAGIC MYSTERY by Annette Blair (Berkley Prime Crime; $7.99) I adored Annette Blair’s previous two novels in her Vintage Magic Series, VEILED BY DECEPTION and LARCENY AND LACE, so I was thrilled to learn she had a new installment in this exciting series coming out this summer.

Vintage clothing expert Maddie Cutler loves her Vintage Magic boutique, but
sometimes her gift of receiving visions from the garments she handles is a
little tough, but never tougher than when she receives a package from her
friend Dominique Delong after the actresses’ death. Dominique seems to be
trying to tell Maddie her death wasn’t an accident and she needs her to help
find her killer, and the diamonds that she was to wearing to her off-Broadway
show’s premiere.

Annette Blair’s flair for giving her readers the thrilling intrigue and well- crafted story stands in full stead in her latest book. She also includes a short lesson on how to recognize a fake designer handbag. If you enjoy a ghostly, otherworldish type of mystery, DEATH BY DIAMONDS will be right up your alley.

And last, but certainly not least –

DELICIOUS AND SUSPICIOUS: A Memphis BBQ Mystery by Riley Adams (Berkley Prime Crime; $6.99) Pull out the grill and be prepared to be inspired by the debut novel, DELCIOUS AND SUSPICIOUS by Riley Adams.

Rebecca Adrian is in Memphis to scout out the best local BBQ restaurant for the
Cooking Channel. And she is delighted to find Aunt Pat’s, an establishment run
by Lulu Turner and her family, that fits all the requirements of a great BBQ
joint – great food and lots of it. But when Rebecca dies after eating at Aunt
Pat’s after rubbing the Turner’s and their customers the wrong way, the entire
Turner family comes under suspicion of murder. It’s up to Lulu to find the real
killer in order to clear the family name and get the restaurant back up and
running and the crowds coming back in again.

Riley Adams had penned a mouthwatering mystery that includes a whole rack of delicious sounding recipes that will have the reader’s taste buds a’tingling. The Memphis BBQ Mysteries promises to be a decadent, fully-satisfying series to look forward to in the future. That’s it for this month! Be sure to stop back by on July 15 for my July author interview. In the meantime, have a great summer, stay safe, and cozy reading, ya’ll!