Stacking the Shelves #63

 

Stacking the Shelves is a weekly meme hosted by Reading Reality. It's a place to showcase any books I have purchased, borrowed, or been lucky enough to have been given an advance copy of. Hope you find something that looks interesting to you or that makes you remember a favorite book you need to finish. Enjoy your reading this week!

Loch Down Abbey by Beth Cowan-Erskine

Amazon Kindle purchase- $0.99

I thought this looked like a great cozy mystery set in Scotland. The author is an American who married into a Scottish family and therefore has a first hand knowledge of the the subject material. In this series, a Scottish aristocratic family living in a Downton Abbey like castle contends with a mysterious illness, locked in the house with a murderer loose. Looks like a lot of fun!

History of India: A History in 50 Events by Hourly History

Amazon Kindle- Free with Friday Freebies Newsletter

I love these Hourly History books and the Friday newsletter has lots of free and discounted books. This one about India is great because I am fascinated by the country's background but am not educated enough about it yet to delve too deep. I like the "snapshot" idea first and then I can see what areas I want to learn more about. 

California Gold by John Jakes

Libby borrow

Having completed so many of Jakes' books over the years I got a little burnt out but have always intended to return to and read them all. This is one that looks intriguing because I know very little about California. His research is always solid and he weaves a good tale with convincing characters. Sometimes his books can have them living through all the major events of the times and it can seem a bit "coincidental" but that is also a great way to use historical fiction to educate readers. I know it will be a good read.

Murder On Boston Common by Andrea Kress (Massachusetts Cozy Mystery Book One)

 

Publication Date:

January 21, 2023 

Genre: Cozy Historical Mystery

Length:   194 pages 

Series: Massachusetts Cozy Mysteries

Book description courtesy of Goodreads

She's rich and bored. This homicide has no motive. Determined to get to the truth, can a socialite solve the murder before she's next?

Boston, 1933. Amanda Burnside yearns for more. Dutifully hitting the social scene and volunteering for charity, the young former debutante is delighted to be dating a doctor yet wishes for excitement. But she wasn't expecting a stroll on Boston Common with her beau to end with the discovery of a dead body.

Shocked by the experience, Amanda ignores her parents' wishes and resolves to follow the clues to uncover the perpetrator. But with shady characters, ruthless bootleggers and wily politicians all fighting to keep the details buried, the plucky amateur sleuth fears the answers may land her in the morgue.
Can Amanda unmask a murderer without becoming the next victim?

My Thoughts

The story was pretty simple and the characters not super fleshed out yet but I have to confess I really enjoyed it. I will likely continue with this series. Sometimes when I read cozy mysteries I can't figure out why I like certain characters better than others. The book had a sense of YA to it in that it was simple but I came away wanting to know more about the next book and see how they develop. Amanda is working hard on her project and volunteering and is more caught up in the mystery drama without trying to be. She and the detective in the story are slightly romantic but definitely nothing serious yet. And the doctor who is proposing marriage is interesting too. 

It didn't have a great big intricate plot of whoodunit and one could have guessed the outcome fairly easitly. But that wasn't all there was to the story. I enjoyed how the author portrayed her family and the doctor's family. Amanda comes from a more aristocratic background (as is so often true in the 1920's cozies) and her parents disapprove of her involvement in "a real job" and of course in the mystery solving. Sounds like a been there done that but the author made these characters authentic and I liked them. 

In addition, there is a whole separate story developing involving Louisa, Amanda's sister and her shady club owner boyfriend, this being the prohibition era. I think it will be fun to see where all of that goes too. 

Some reviews online complained that the story is way too short and the author is just trying to get you to pay for the next one without resolving the first. I totally disagree. After finishing it I came away with feeling things were wrapped up and moving on to another case. So I'm not quite sure why they thought that. Yes, the subsequent mysteries all take place in Boston and might be a bit similiar but as I looked at book two it is a completely different story. 

If you like cozies and need some simple but fun reading you can't go wrong with the Massachusetts Cozy Mystery series, one of the few not set in England either!

Can't Wait Wednesday: Murder at Arleigh by Alyssa Maxwell (A Gilded Newport Mystery Book Thirteen)

 

For this week's Can't Wait Wednesday hosted by Tressa at the book blog, Wishful Endings, I'm featuring, Murder at Arleigh, by Alyssa Maxwell. I have come to appreciate this series more, especially since it became a movie series on Hallmark Movies and Mysteries. I am very far behind as usual with them and have only read the first three books. It is fun how each focuses on a different mansion in the Newport area. This is another I'm going to try and keep up with in the future. Happy reading ya'll!

Cozy Historical Mysteries

 

August 26, 2025

Book description courtesy of Goodreads

Reporter, sleuth, and new mother Emma Cross Andrews comes to the aid of a distraught wife who’s convinced her husband is trying to kill her . . .

April 1903: Emma and Derrick Andrews have been invited to the wedding of her cousin Reggie Vanderbilt and heiress Cathleen Neilson at the Bellevue Mansion, Arleigh. Their hosts are a popular young couple who are leasing the home for the summer—Harry and Elizabeth “Bessie” Lehr. Known for his practical jokes, Harry is the toast of parties, earning a reputation as the court jester of the Gilded Age. However, as Emma soon learns, behind closed doors he is dead serious.

Following the wedding, Bessie comes to Emma for help, insisting that her husband is cruel to her in private, telling her outright he married her only for her money and finds her repulsive. Divorce is unthinkable. Now she believes he is plotting to murder her and make it look like an a broken balcony railing she might have leaned on, a loose stair runner that could have sent her tumbling down a staircase, faulty brakes in the car she uses . . .

Some would say being trapped in a loveless marriage is a fate worse than death. Not Bessie—she wants to live! Unsure if these situations are mere coincidences or add up to premeditated sabotage, Emma agrees to investigate and determine if Newport’s merry prankster is engaged in a cold-blooded game of life or death . . .

Top Ten Tuesday: My Favorite Cozy Series Mysteries Set in the 1920's

 

This week's theme for Top Ten Tuesday, hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl, is to pick books set in a certain time, place, etc. of my choosing. I thought it would be fun to choose books set in a one hundred year period and since I also love so many cozy mysteries I chose my favorite ones set in the 1920's. There are so many series here that I wanted to narrow down my favorites. Here is my list. I can't wait to see others' ideas!

Cozies Set in the 1920's: (Click on the title link to go to Good Reads)

1. Lady Caroline  by Isabella Bassett 

2. Lady Eleanor Swift by Verity Bright

3. Camille Devine Mysteries by Andrea Hicks

4. Lottie Sprigg Mysteries by Martha Bond

5. Jane Wunderly Mysteries by Erica Ruth Neubauer

6. Lord Edgington Investigates by Benedict Brown

7. Tommy and Evelyn Christie Mysteries by Catherine Coles

8. Lady Felicity Quick Mysteries by Rosie Hunt

9. Kitty Worthington Mysteries by Magda Alexander 

10. Her Royal Spyness Series by Rhys Bowen

Have you read any of these series? What other cozies are your favorites?

Stacking the Shelves #62

 

Stacking the Shelves is a weekly meme hosted by Reading Reality. It's a place to showcase any books I have purchased, borrowed, or been lucky enough to have been given an advance copy of. Hope you find something that looks interesting to you or that makes you remember a favorite book you need to finish. Enjoy your reading this week!

Midsummer Mysteries by Agatha Christie 

Amazon Kindle purchase- $1.99 

These short stories are great for a quick read. I have the winter version of this and haven't read it but want to do so this Christmas season. You can't go wrong with summer Christie mysteries!

The Red Prince: John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster by Helen Carr

Amazon Kindle purchase- $1.99 

I love Helen Carr. She's a great history author and covers more obscure topics from the Middle Ages. This book about John of Gaunt should be informative and written in narrative style. She has been featured on some podcasts I listen to and is top notch with her research. 

A Body on the Doorstep: London Ladies Murder Club Book One by Marty Wingate

Amazon Kindle purchase- Free with points

Another cozy mystery series to add to my huge collection....I didn't need it but I just can't help myself! This is book one in the series and I just couldn't pass it up. I find I'm enjoying getting the first book in cozies and reading it and then deciding if it's worth continuing with. Unfortunately I seem to love them all when I need a lift of mood. So it's hard to whittle them down. Mayble something unique will hop out from the pages of this one.