Spiked Punch

Maddie Sparks Mystery, #1

by

Lesley A. Diehl

Intriguing debut of a new cozy mystery series!

Spiked Punch is the first book in author Lesley A. Diehl’s new cozy mystery series featuring amateur sleuth and former librarian turned mystery writer, Maddie Sparks. With its sassy heroine “of a certain age” and an intriguing mystery of a murder to solve, this series’ debut is sure to please cozy mystery fans of all ages. 

Maddie Sparks feels restless and ready for a change when the story begins. Since her retirement from the library, she’s had a fair amount of success as a cozy mystery writer, but after a decade of the same old thing, she’s feeling as stale as the tea cookies she found in her cupboard. When she discovers the body of one of her son’s property management clients, life suddenly gets a bit more interesting. Enter investigating officer and interim county sheriff Zack Montgomery and her jerk of an ex-husband, Dan Sparks, and things get a whole lot more interesting. While Dan is a real piece of work, Zack is a work of art. Maddie is as spunky as they come and even gets into a physical altercation or two with the heinous ex-husband. She’s also a pit bull on the trail of the killer, asking tough, pushy questions of those who cross her path. 

With the plot focusing on her eldest son, Geoffrey, the mother in Maddie leaps into action to prove his innocence. She follows each bit of information that comes her way to find the client’s murderer as well as the owner of the strangely omniscient cat found at the crime scene. 

I recommend SPIKED PUNCH to cozy mystery readers, especially those who enjoy more mature amateur female sleuths, sexy law enforcement officers, and stories featuring cats. 

I voluntarily reviewed this after receiving an Advance Review Copy from the author through Great Escapes Virtual Book Tours.

Pillars of Creation: A Quest for the Great Name in a Nietzschean World

by

Carlos Nicolás Flores

Absorbing, eye-opening, and unique storytelling.

Pillars of Creation: A Quest for the Great Name in a Nietzschean World by Carlos Nicolás Flores is one of the most unique storytelling experiences I’ve had in a while and one that I wish I could have over and over again. Told through the little-used second-person narration (using “you” and addressing the reader directly), the author crafts the mesmerizing story of young Yoltic Cortez and his life on the Texas-Mexico border in the colonia of Cuatro Vientos. It is an unputdownable tale of poverty, dual identities, but also hope. 

At the beginning of the story, Yoltic is living an aimless life, in a holding pattern since his father, whom he lived with, was placed in a nursing facility in Nuevo Escandón on the Mexican side of the border, after suffering a stroke. While he continues to work at his job at the local Walmart and visits his father regularly, he longs to be a writer, but a growing addiction to Tezca has opened his mind to surreal visions and buried his initiative to write and handle the day-to-day necessities of life, such as maintaining the home his parents built with their own hands. However, a chance meeting with a young woman escaping the cartel danger at her grandfather’s ranch in Mexico slowly expands his world. 

The story prominently presents the border setting, lifestyle, and living conditions as a character in itself; the residents are so completely a part of where they live. Each word, each descriptive phrase is meticulously chosen to create unforgettably vivid images and an evocative atmosphere of this distinct location and its circumstances. I was completely drawn into the narrative and struck by how the characters were simultaneously a part of, or torn between, two worlds: the American and the Mexican. I know will be continuing to think about this book for quite a while to come. 

I recommend PILLARS OF CREATION to readers of literary fiction and coming-of-age stories, especially those interested in Texas border settings. 

I voluntarily reviewed this after receiving an Advance Review Copy from the author through Lone Star Literary Life Book Campaigns.

Deadly Secrets at Ballyford Castle

Ariadne Winter Mystery, #2

by

Ellen Butler

Family secrets lead to tragedy.

Deadly Secrets at Ballyford Castle is the second book in author Ellen Butler’s historical cozy Ariadne Winter Mystery series, and brings a great change of venue for the young newswoman’s burgeoning investigative skills. This new adventure takes Ariadne to Ireland to attend a weekend house party at the ancestral home of her cousin Julia Brennan’s soon-to-be fiancé, Cormac O’Connell. But rather than an engagement party, the hosts find themselves planning a wake. 

Set in the late 1950s, Ariadne Winter is still breaking ground as a journalist, but this story is all about family. When a convenient accidental death occurs, she is suspicious, especially when several members of the O’Connell family have good motives for wanting the victim out of the way. Ariadne is down-to-earth but naturally sophisticated, which serves her in good stead among this family of Irish aristocrats who are barely keeping their estate viable. 

Also at the manor for the weekend are Julia’s parents, Ariadne’s Aunt Maggie and Uncle Gerald. Julia is head over heels for Cormac, and even though her mother likes him well enough, she’s not overly impressed by the title he will one day wear. She is a force to reckon with and proves more than equal to the task of handling his supercilious mother, Lady Aisling, with the always helpful Uncle Gerald a good partner. I enjoyed the normal teenage Imogene, Cormac’s much younger sister, and his troubled brother, Shane, provides a ready-made suspect. 

The plot is fast-paced, and the setting is full of atmosphere and tension as the two families get to know one another, and tragedy strikes. I had my suspicions all along and was pleased to find out that I had guessed correctly about a couple of things. However, there were some interesting and exciting twists and turns along the way to the final resolution. I was glad for the epilogue, which lets the story end on hopeful notes. 

While this is the second book in the series, it stands well on its own, and new readers will be able to easily read and enjoy it without needing to read the previous book first. However, it was great and not to be missed either! I recommend DEADLY SECRETS AT BALLYFORD CASTLE to cozy mystery readers. 

I voluntarily reviewed this after receiving an Advance Review Copy from the author through Great Escapes Virtual Book Tours.

The Last Woman

by

John Willingham

The last resident of a bypassed Texas town reflects on her tumultuous and tragic 80 years of life.

The Last Woman by John Willingham is the well-told story of Catherine “Frenchy” McCain/McCormick, the last woman, and eventually, the last resident of Tascosa, a small Texas town bypassed by the railroad and doomed to die in obscurity. Catherine, the daughter of an Irish father and Cajun French mother, left her hometown of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, at a young age after being falsely accused of making advances toward the pedophilic priest at her Catholic school. She makes her way to a small Arkansas town where she is hired as a schoolteacher, but when she is forced to mortally defend herself from the vicious attack of a man with connections, she and a friend end up on the run, with the man’s evil older brother hot on their trail and out for revenge. 

Catherine is a different sort of heroine from those usually found in similar melodramas; she’s plain and even more plain-spoken, and quite capable of taking care of herself. Besides never seeming to catch a break in her life –her mother was cold-hearted and a drunk, and she’s repeatedly targeted by men in a position of esteem for mistreatment—she is living in a time in history when women were viewed as property rather than individuals with rights. She is joined in her adventures by Mamie Jackson, who saves her from a certain hanging in Arkansas, but it is her childhood friend, Gabe Celiot, who is my favorite character in the book. 

The story unfolds like a premium soap opera, and I was hooked from the start. Present-day (1930s/40s) Catherine, still living in Tascosa, recounts her story as she looks back over her lifetime, reminiscing about people she knew, and worries will now be forgotten once she’s gone. The descriptions of the settings are so vivid and full of life themselves that the whole effect is almost cinematic. I was there with Catherine every step of the way. 

I recommend THE LAST WOMAN to readers of historical fiction.

For this and other reviews, visit my blog, Boys' Mom Reads!

Happy Sun Farm: Behind the Façade

by

Deven Greene

Riveting agricultural thriller!

In the final semester of her senior year at Purdue, Strawberry "Berry" Fields looks forward to graduating with a degree in agricultural finance and accounting, and returning to her parents' farm near Bakersfield, California, where she plans to apply her education to improve its operations and, eventually, its profits. However, her father's sudden death has her going home much sooner than planned, where she learns her mother has sold up to the local, foreign corporate farm conglomerate, Happy Sun Farm, a move her father had been completely against. Her mother immediately embarks on a new life, free of the farm, leaving Berry to wrap up all the loose ends of their life in the two weeks before she must vacate her childhood home. As she prepares to bury her father, Berry questions the lack of an investigation into his suspicious death and soon finds herself a target when she shares her concerns with a former childhood acquaintance. Suddenly, Happy Sun Farm's strong-arm tactics appear to be only the tip of the iceberg as to how far they'll go to continue with their plans and in silencing any opposition. 

Happy Sun Farm: Behind the Façade by Deven Greene is a fast-paced and shocking murder mystery combined with a political thriller with an unusual and alarming agricultural storyline. With stories about foreign investments in real estate and large corporate farming operations putting generational farms out of business appearing regularly in the news, this is fertile ground for this thrilling tale, and the plot has a frightening and realistic feel. 

Berry Fields is a genuinely likable protagonist, and I was immediately behind her in her efforts to discover what was going on behind the façade of Happy Sun Farm’s successful image. She is joined by her childhood crush, CJ, as she seeks answers and justice, not only for her father, but also for the many others who've been affected by the mysterious corporate giant. She keeps a pretty cool head while things go squirrelly, and as they encounter the many twists and turns in the plot. Besides the thriller aspect, Berry's story also explores the impact of a war veteran's unchecked PTSD on his mental health and his family, and there is the depiction of an unsuccessful attempted suicide midway through the book, so readers sensitive to these topics should take note. 

With its engaging main characters and page-turner of a story, I recommend HAPPY SUN FARM to readers of mysteries and thrillers. 

I voluntarily reviewed this after receiving an Advance Review Copy from the author through Partners in Crime Virtual Book Tours.