This week I’ve started a class on writing cozies by Melissa Bourbon so I may be featuring cozies this month. 😉 In case you don’t know, I plan to write a cozy murder mystery set on a modern day paddle wheeler on the Mississippi.
And what is a cozy, you ask? It’s a Murder, She Wrote type of story, usually set in a closed community like a small town, but not always, with an amateur sleuth. My story may end up being more of a plain mystery…that’s why I’m taking the course–to see if it fits a cozy definition and if not, how to make it.
Anywho, this week’s book, Murder is No Accident written by A. H. Gabhart, is not exactly a cozy since the hero is a deputy sheriff. But it fits all the other qualifications, so I’ll leave it up to you to decide. Here’s the back cover blurb:
Youn
g Maggie Greene may be trespassing in the old, empty Victorian mansion on a quiet street in Hidden Springs, but all she wants is some private time in the magnificent tower room to write her stories. Certain she’ll be in trouble if caught, she hides when a realtor shows up. But someone else is in the house too, someone even more worried about getting caught. When Maggie finds the realtor’s body at the bottom of a flight of stairs and the other person gone, Deputy Sheriff Michael Keane is called in. He assumes the realtor’s death is a tragic accident–until a second person is found dead in the house. When Maggie is threatened, Michael must catch the murderer before anyone else dies.
Cozy mystery fans will love this third installment in The Hidden Springs Mysteries series from an author who knows how to make small-town America sweet, sentimental–and a little sinister.
Hidden Springs is a town I would love to live in. Oh, wait. I do live in a town similar to it. I think that’s one of the reasons I enjoyed this book so much. Micheal Keane was the perfect hero and I really wanted him and Alex to get together. But the romance didn’t get in the way of the mystery. Two bodies, the first maybe an accident, but the second definitely murder. And a teenage girl who is at the wrong place hears something she shouldn’t have.
The story was full of twists and turns with rich characters and a great setting. It’s a story you won’t be able to put down! And I like it so much, I’m not sure I can give it away. lol But I will if the winner of August’s drawing wants it. Or one of the other books reviewed in July and August. Just leave a comment, answering this question:
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Comments 22
Near Seville, Spain in a friend’s home, I read the only book she had in English, an old classic by Daphne De Maurier, The King’s General. It is a well-done historical about the upheaval between Royalists and Cromwell’s Parliamentarians, and nicely filled in some blanks for me.
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Delores, I love Daphne Du Maurier’s books!! And I’m sure I read The King’s General in my 20s, but I think it’s time I reacquainted myself with her work. So glad you made your flight the other day!
I’m about halfway through The Promise of Breeze Hill by Pam Hillman & have several others on my r
TBR shelf. I read the first 2 books in Gabhart’s series & loved them. It would be great to win a copy of the final one.
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I love Pam Hillman! We did a book tour together with Beth White around Christmas 2015 and stayed at a lovely B&B between Meridian and Jackson, MS.
I’m looking forward to reading Ann’s other two books in the series.
I’m reading two at the same time: The Mark of the King Jocelyn Green and A Name Unknown by Roseanna White. Love Daphne Du Maurier. Rebecca is my all time favorite! You are in good company with Ann. She’s a fabulous writer and a very sweet person. I’ve gotten to know her through her blogs and emails! You, too Pat! I count you both as friends, albeit long distance ones!
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Paula, I am just blown away at how close I feel to all the ones I connect with on my blog and FB. I love these long distance friendships! Thanks so much for dropping in for a chat! And is a fabulous writer!
I have been enjoying the books by Sandra Orchard and Ann Gabhart for the past two or three years, having been fortunate enough to be on their influencer teams. I look forward to more of their books in the months and years ahead.
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Ann is new to me, but I’m really enjoying her books! Thanks for stopping by, Edward.
I just finished A Rose So Fair by Myra Johnson. It was book#3; I read and loved all the books in that series. I am about to start Kim Vogel Sawyer’s “Grace & the Preacher”. Kim is another fave of mine.
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Jackie, more books to go on my TBR table! Thanks for stopping by!
Fun to see all the comments about what you are reading. I appreciate that some of you have been reading some of my books too. Sometimes I think of that t-shirt saying I’ve seen. “So many books, so little time.” I’ve got a stack of books a mile high I want to get to. I need to take a vaction to do nothing but read. Thanks, Edward, Pamela and Paula, for the kind words about my Hidden Springs mysteries.
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Vacation to read? So agree, Ann! Thanks for stopping by. Did I tell you in the course we’re to pick a cozy book to use as an example and I’m using your book.
Reading this month? I just got back from the beach so I took along Christina Lorenzen’s Rapunzel’s Lighthouse, PamHillman’s The Promise of Breeze Hill, Dana R Lynn’s Plain Retribution, Dana Mentink’s Dangerous Testimony, and Jennifer Slattery’s Healing Love. All were awesome reads! Thank you so much for a copy of Over Maya Dead Body! I look forward to reading it!
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I’m going to the beach in the near future! My family and I are spending five days together! And I’ve sent you an email requesting your address. 🙂 Thanks so much for stopping by.
I have many review books on my schedule so it will keep me occupied for a while…lol! I just got done reading “Just Look Up” by Courtney Walsh (new release), because I watched her book trailer for this and it drew me in. Luckily, my Overdrive library had an ecopy of it and I was the first to borrow it! I love that. It was also my “for fun” book, in other words, I didn’t have to review it.
Books on my pile (in order): Homefront Defenders by Lisa Phillips, The Return by Suzanne Woods Fisher, The Promise of Breeze Hill by Pam Hillman, and five ebooks for judging in the International Digital Awards sponsored by the OKRWA. I’m looking forward to those 🙂 As you can see, I have plenty of reading to keep me busy for a while!
I have a copy of “Murder at the Courthouse” on my Kindle, a paperback of “Murder Comes by Mail” and I definitely want to add “Murder is No Accident” to my collection! I don’t read very many cozies, but I think I like them a lot better than straight mysteries because of their quirkiness. And I also like that A.H. is a Christian author, even though these aren’t labled as such. Makes them much more appealing to me 🙂
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Hi Trixi! I’m so sorry you’re having trouble leaving comments. I have some of the books you mention on my TBR pile, but not all. Will have to add them!
That’s my fault this time Patricia! I forgot to leave my name and email in the boxes. The second comment had come through just fine because I filled out my information. Sorry about that!!
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That’s okay, Trixi! Always love hearing from you.
I just read Murder at the Courthouse and absolutely loved it! Ann may break a few “cozy” rules, but she does so with style. It’s so fun to see another of her stories featured here.
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Johnnie, I have yet to read that one, but I plan to! Thanks for stopping by.
Hi. I just found your web page and am so glad I saw it on your Twitter account. Can you tell me how you found the cozy mystery writing class? I too would be interested in possibly taking it if it fits in the budget. I am looking forward to your cozy books!
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Hi Lisa! I’m so glad you found me, too! The class I’m taking is with RWA’s Kiss of Death chapter. I don’t know if you can still join in or not, but I do know you have to be a member of RWA. I’ll post more about the course in the coming weeks.