Month: June 2025

Book Tour, Mystery, Partners In Crime

Elegance & Evil by DK Coutant

Patricia McDonald Uttaro

Virtual Book Tour June 2 – 27, 2025

Description

Cleo Cooper left ocean-dipping weekends as a psychology professor in Hawaii to sample life in the high desert of Santa Fe for her sabbatical. With her romantic relationship on the rocks in Hawaii, Cleo falls for Luc, a charming international expert in her field and is tempted to make the change permanent. She enjoys the people, the work, and the sparkling conversations, even if they come with a bite. But, when a wealthy backer of her project is killed, the snarky scientists, artists, and a Saudi ex-pat, who Cleo thought were her new friends, are now at the top of the suspect list. And with a killer on the loose, Cleo finds her life, and her love, in danger.

My Thoughts

The second entry in the author’s Cleo Cooper mystery series is a deftly plotted and casually narrated, semi-cozy mystery sure to appeal to mystery readers. I very much enjoy the current trend of what I call “casual” narration where the dialog and description are well crafted but not overly complicated. The characters seem like real people – those I like and who could be my friend (Cleo) and those who I would immediately walk away from (Jon). This kind of narration makes the reader feel a part of the story and is not as whimsical and silly as most cozy mysteries.

Coutant uses her real life expertise to craft appealing characters and a mystery that will keep you guessing. Cleo is smart, sassy, and loyal to a fault. She wends her way through an unfamiliar environment made more complicated by a murder but still manages to outwit the bad guys. I enjoyed this one enough I’ll seek out Coutant’s first Cleo Cooper mystery and will look forward to the next one.

Author Bio

DK Coutant graduated from Davidson College with a Psychology degree and initially applied her behavioral training to animals at Sea World, working with dolphins and whales. After a couple of years, she realized that scrubbing fish buckets might get old, and went back to Graduate school to earn a Ph.D. in Psychology, specializing in Cross-Cultural Issues. She began her academic career in Maine. A few years later, she made the jump to Hawaii and worked at the University of Hawaii at Hilo, rising to Department Chair of the Psychology Department. After many happy years in Hawaii,  her love for travel led her to make the move out of academics. She accepted positions as a professional geopolitical forecaster with GJ Inc. and Rand Forecasting Initiative. She splits her time between Olympia, WA, Santa Fe, NM, and France, with her husband and an Old English Sheepdog, Beasley. Evil Alice and Borzoi was released by the Wild Rose Press in 2023. Elegance and Evil is the second in the Cleo Cooper Mysteries.

Book Details

Genre: Traditional Mystery, Amateur Sleuth
Published by: The Wild Rose Press
Publication Date: June 4, 2025
Number of Pages: 288
ISBN: 978-1-5092-6136-9
Series: Cleo Cooper Mysteries, Book 2

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Book Tour, Books About Books, Cozy, Family, Magical, Mystery, Partners In Crime

By Hook or By Book by Misty Simon

Patricia McDonald Uttaro

June 2 – 27, 2025 Virtual Book Tour
The Charmed Inn Mysteries #1

Description

Roxy Gleason, an innkeeper by trade and a bibliomancer by birth, has lived in the same small town on the Susquehanna River in Central Pennsylvania for her entire life. Tradition is strong here. Roxy understands the rules and is willing to play by them most of the time. She runs the Charmed Inn, which has been in her family for decades.

The inn is all set to host a writers’ professional business weekend that’s been planned down to the very last hand-folded napkin, and Roxy is ready for the influx of creatives. She knows she’ll have a lot of different and sometimes unusual personalities to deal with, but this is a yearly function, so she’s not expecting anything to go awry.

Her expectations are completely tanked when she finds a dead body on her daily walk by the river’s shore. Owen Schultz had checked in for the conference a few hours ago, and she’d last seen him having tea with her aunt in the dining room.

How did he get down here on the ferry, and who killed him?

Fans of Lucy Score, Melissa F. Miller, Dianne Harman, Lynn Cahoon, Deany Ray, Kathi Daley, and Merryn Allingham will enjoy Misty Simon.

My Thoughts

I always enjoy the beginnings of a new cozy mystery series, and Misty Simon’s Charmed Inn Mysteries is very promising, indeed. The writing is loose and flowing, lending an air of familiarity and comfort to the reader as the story progresses.

I enjoyed the colorful characters, especially Roxy and her bibliomancy skills. I’ve read a few stories where books “speak” to the protagonist, but Simon handles that piece of the story with colorful imagination, helping the reader to imagine the letters, sparking and dancing in the air, form the crucial messages that help Roxy unravel the mystery.

Simon successfully introduces an endearing and appealing cast of characters who will undoubtedly continue to encounter murder mysteries in future books. I was hooked from the first sentence describing Roxy’s uncle as “Cheezy Rider,” which immediately clues in the reader to expect a fun story.

Recommended for cozy mystery fans.

Author Bio

Misty Simon always wanted to be a storyteller…preferably behind a Muppet. Animal was number one, followed closely by Sherlock Hemlock… Since that dream didn’t come true, she began writing stories to share her world with readers, one laugh at a time.

Touching people’s hearts and funny bones are two of her favorite things, and she hopes everyone at least snickers in the right places when reading her books. She lives with her husband in Central Pennsylvania where she is hard at work on her next novel or three. She loves to hear from readers so drop her a line at misty@mistysimon.com.

Catch Up With Misty Simon:

MistySimon.com
Amazon Author Profile
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BookBub – @MistySimon
Instagram – @mistysimonwrites
Threads – @mistysimonwrites
Facebook – @misty.simon.18

Book Details

Genre: Rom Cozy (Paranormal Cozy mystery with Romantic elements)
Published by: Rowan Prose Publishing
Publication Date: June 3, 2025
Number of Pages: 300
ASIN: B0D98KM21B
Series: The Charmed Inn Mysteries, Book 1

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Book Tour, Cozy, Mystery, Partners In Crime

Cayman Conundrum by Stacy Wilder

Patricia McDonald Uttaro

June 9-20 Virtual Book Tour
Liz Adams Mystery Series

Description

A honeymoon in paradise turns perilous in this riveting seaside mystery.

A tropical vacation transforms into a web of danger and deception when an author and his manuscript vanish. Is his thriller about money laundering in the Caribbean too close to the truth?

With the stakes high and time ticking, Private Investigator Liz Adams and her new husband, Brad, along with their truth-sniffing Labrador, Duke, partner with the local authorities to unravel a multitude of crimes. As they search for clues, the newlyweds explore the delights of the island, including a hunt for buried treasure.

Will they uncover the truth in time, or will the honeymoon end in heartbreak? Set against the backdrop of the stunning island of Grand Cayman, this cozy mystery will keep you on the edge of your seat until the very end.

My Thoughts

This is a new series for me, and I was pleased to find that I could jump in and enjoy this without having read the earlier books. What I found was a delightfully fun mystery with a bit of an edge – a cozy blended with a hard-edged crime and ruthless criminal.

Liz and Brad (and, of course, Duke!) are as engaging a pair of detectives as I’ve found recently. I was reminded a bit of Carolyn Hart’s “Death on Demand” married duo, but Liz and Brad are definitely a 21st century couple!

The murder mystery here is handled with sensitivity, given that the victim is a friend of the couple. The plot is well-developed and sneaky enough that I was still guessing past the half-way point. The guilty party is totally repulsive and unexpected.

This will be a great summer read, especially if you’re on a beach!

Author Bio

Stacy Wilder writes mysteries, children’s stories, short stories, and poetry. Her mission is to deliver a delightful story to readers of all ages while benefiting a larger community. She donates a portion of the proceeds from the sales of her books to causes that help the homeless, both people and pets.

Beyond writing, Stacy is deeply devoted to her faith, family, and her beloved Labradors. She is also enthusiastic about the causes she supports, the beauty of art, the serenity of the beach, and the joy of reading.

She and her husband live in Houston, TX with a totally spoiled Labrador named Eve.

Book Details

Genre:  Cozy Mystery
Published by:  Wild Hawk Press
Publication Date:  June 28, 2024 
Number of Pages:  227
ISBN:  9798985426694 (Pbk)
Series:  A Liz Adams Mystery, Book 4 

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Ghosties, Mystery, New Releases, paranormal, Psychological, Spooky Season, Suspense, Women

Asylum Hotel by Juliet Blackwell

Patricia McDonald Uttaro

Description

When a mysterious figure shows up in the photograph an architect takes of the derelict Seabrink Hotel, ghostly encounters and murder are unleashed.

Aubrey Spencer loves photographing classic old buildings and abandoned places that hold old secrets. The Hotel Seabrink, perched overlooking the sea, is one such place. Currently abandoned but scheduled for a major renovation, it has a torrid history. Back in the 1920s it hosted A-list celebrity clientele, and now the locals insist it is haunted by the ghosts of two young women who died there. When Aubrey goes to photograph the site before the renovation begins, she bumps into a man named Dimitri Petroff, a minor online celebrity who shares her fascination with old buildings, the Hotel Seabrink in particular.

When he is found dead the next day at the base of a cliff, the police are quick to close the investigation. But Aubrey feels unsettled by locals who claim he was murdered and that it’s not the first time someone interested in the hotel was killed. As she digs deeper into the property’s dark history (and its origins as an asylum) as well as Dimitri’s professional rivalries, she becomes mired in an unsolved murder case from several decades earlier, one with eerie parallels to the contemporary case.  But someone is determined to keep her from discovering the truth—at any cost.

My Thoughts

I’ve been a fan of Juliet Blackwell’s books for a long time, beginning with her Lily Ivory series and expanding into her later forays in longer fiction. I confess, I was very disappointed to hear that the Lily Ivory series has sunsetted, but if giving up the LI series means Blackwell has time to write mysteries like this absolute STAR of a book, I’m good!

Turns out Blackwell’s earlier writing might have been practice for this full-blown mysterious, scary, imaginative story.

Everything here works seamlessly to deliver a taut, suspenseful, and very well written paranormal mystery. It’s just the right amount of scary blended with a well-plotted mystery, resulting in a startling and very satisfying conclusion. Blackwell steps into the circle with authors like Simone St. James and Sarah Rayne, delivering a story that will keep you turning pages, albeit with all the lights on.

So well done!

Publication Date: July 29, 2025
Published By: Berkley Publishing Group
Thanks to Netgalley and the Publisher for the review copy