October is Halloween Books All Month Long! Spotlight: Witch's Tale by Melanie Snow #HalloweenCountdown2020

Hi everyone. Fall and everything about it, is one of my favorite times of the year. As I have done in the past few years, I will mostly be reviewing Hallowing books all month long. I will have a couple that are books on different disabilities as it is also Disability Month which celebrates people with different abilities. *wink*

I will be posting a different book everyday with the exception of Sundays. On occasion, like today, I might have a spotlight instead. In any case, I hope you enjoy all the books! ~Master Crypt Keeper, Michelle

Genre: Paranormal Cozy Mystery Book 1

Publisher: Spirit Paw Press, LLC

Date of Publication: September 8, 2020

ISBN: 978-1-7324375-6-2

ASIN:

Number of pages: 220

Word Count: 46,311

Cover Artist: Molly Burton

 

 

About:

 

Can she awaken her dormant powers and stop a desperate killer destroying the forest?

 

Sarah Spellwood feels she’s hit bottom. Divorced and jobless, she relocates to the enchanting village of Witchland intent on solving the murder of her late mentor. But as she pursues clues buried in the man’s fight to save the endangered forest-dwelling lynx, she makes an enemy of a ruthless land developer.

 

Encountering fairies in the woods, Sarah discovers she’s been repressing unique gifts passed down from her ancestor and founding witch, Lativia Spellwood. But though she can now hear her deceased friend’s dog speak, she isn’t sure her abilities are enough to expose the greed and corruption covering a killer’s lies.

 

Can Sarah work with the magical beings to bring a murderer to justice?

 

Witch’s Tail is the charming first book in the light-hearted The Spellwood Witches cozy mystery series. If you like paranormal puzzles, delightful canine companions, and environmental enlightenment, then you’ll love Melaine Snow’s wagging-ly fun whodunit.

 

Buy Witch’s Tail to set a snare for an assassin today!

 

 

 

About the Author:

 

Melanie Snow is the pen name for Wendy Van de Poll, a bestselling author, pet loss grief coach, and animal medium. She is the author of The Spellwood Witches, a paranormal cozy mystery series.

 

Her books weave together positive magic, snarky forest faeries, and insightful animals with fun and eclectic humor. True life adventures and intuition are woven into her stories laced with unbridled imagination.

 

She has been followed by wild wolves in minus 60 degrees, hissed at by a mama bobcat, and played ball with a wild owl—among other animal encounters.

 

Find out more about her work:

 

https://wendyvandepoll.com/melanie-snow

 

https://amazon.com/author/melaniesnow

 

 

https://www.goodreads.com/melaniesnowcozymysteries

 

Joker's Wild by Barbara Barrett #Spotlight & #Giveaway

Cozy Mystery
6th in Series
Publisher: Bowker (July 5, 2020)
Paperback: 232 pages
ISBN-10: 1948532220
ISBN-13: 978-1948532228
Digital ASIN: B0856RP32V

“The show must go on.” That applies even to playwright Marianne Putnam, when the director of her one-act play, “Jokers Wild,” fails to show for curtains up on opening night at the community theater in Serendipity Springs, Florida. When the director’s wife begs Marianne to accompany her to their home to check on him, they find the man floating in his pool. Dead.

Though not known for his pleasant disposition—her relationship with him had been tense since nearly ramming into his car in a parking lot, but after all, he was the director—who would have wanted to murder him? Surely no one in the production crew, cast or the staff of the community center where the play was to be staged. Maybe it was the wife, who Marianne had overheard arguing with him. Or perhaps someone from his theater connections back in the Big Apple.

Since she was there when the body was discovered, Marianne is considered a suspect. That doesn’t mean she can’t help her three Mah Jongg friends—Syd, Micki and Kat—assist the sheriff with the investigation. But who’s there to help her when her path crosses the murderer’s.

About Barbara Barrett

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Author Barbara Barrett. Photo by Chris Kridler, ChrisKridler.com

Barbara Barrett started reading mysteries when she was pregnant with her first child to keep her mind off things like her changing body and food cravings. When she’d devoured as many Agatha Christies as she could find, she branched out to English village cozies and Ellery Queen.

Later, to avoid a midlife crisis, she began writing fiction at night when she wasn’t at her day job in human resources for Iowa State Government. After releasing eleven full-length romance novels and two novellas, she returned to the cozy mystery genre, using one of her retirement pastimes, the game of mah jongg, as her inspiration. Not only has it been a great social outlet, it has also helped keep her mind active when not writing.

Jokers Wild, the sixth book in her “Mah Jongg Mystery” series, features four friends who play mah jongg together and share otherwise in each other’s lives. None of the four is based on an actual person. Each is an amalgamation of several mah jongg friends with a lot of Barbara’s imagination thrown in for good measure. The four will continue to appear in future books in the series.

Barbara is a member of Sisters in Crime, Sinc-Iowa, Romance Writers of America and the SpacecoasT chapter of Romance Writers of America.

She is married to the man she met her senior year of college. They have two grown children and eight grandchildren.

Now retired, she is a resident of Florida, although she spends her summers in Iowa, her home state. She earned her B.A. degree in History from the University of Iowa and her Master’s Degree in History from Drake University.

When not in front of her laptop creating her next story, she plays mah jongg, travels and enjoys lunches with friends.

Author Links

·         Website: barbarabarrettbooks.com

·         Facebook: https://bit.ly/2aXZvG9

 

·         Purchase Link – Amazon

GIVEAWAY HERE

Mystery Follows Her: A Multi-author Cozy Mystery Collection #review #cozymysteries

 

Mystery Follows Her
A Multi-Author Cozy Mystery Collection
By Dianne Ascroft, Ellen Jacobson, Sarah Biglow, Aubrey Elle, 
Beate Boeker, Adriana Licio, Vikki Walton, Angela K. Ryan, and Tamara Woods

Publisher: Kydala Publishing, Inc. (June 24, 2020)
Print Length: 426 pages
Digital ASIN: B08BTN6HN2

About:

Catch a mugger in THANKSGIVING AND THEFT by Dianne Ascroft

Dig up hidden treasure in BURIED BY THE BEACH by Ellen Jacobson

Open up a case in CLOSED OUT by Tamara Woods

Pray for justice in TREASURES IN HEAVEN by Sarah Biglow

Escape the blame in RING GONE ‘ROUND THE ROSES by Aubrey Elle

Try on some clues in THE MYSTERY OF THE STOLEN RING by Beate Boeker

Search for the suspect in WHEN THE CLOCK CHIMES TWO by Adriana Licio

Catch the culprit in HIJINKS IN AJIJIC by Vikki Walton

Locate the missing loot in VENDORS AND VILLAINS by Angela K. Ryan

You’ll love this collection of intriguing and light-hearted stories from award-winning and best-selling authors from across the globe.

My review:

For the purposes of my review, I only read one of the stories that is in this anthology. That story is "Thanksgiving and Theft." I will, however, read the rest of them at my leisure because frankly, cozy reads are usually fun and easy reads. Each story will take an hour to hour and a half to read.

"Thanksgiving and Theft" takes place...around Thanksgiving...in a quaint neighborhood in Toronto, Canada. The main character, Lois, is transported back into memories and nostalgia when her and a friend are thrust into a mugging in the near-by park.

The two ladies incorporate a third into amateurish sleuthing using visual techniques they have picked up along the way.

It is rather obvious who the culprit is but this reader could not help but wait for the older ladies as they come to conclusions.

It was a fun story, a bit repetitive, but overall just enough of a cozy to not get overwhelmed with the whole anthology. I kept rooting for those gals the whole way. That will teach those rotten muggers to mess with some old ladies!

I recommend this book if you just want a quick read at a time.

4 stars.

Disclosure: I purchased a Kindle copy of this book for my own collections. The views here are 100% my own and may differ from yours. ~Michelle

About the authors:

Two US Today bestselling authors are among these nine authors who hail from Germany, Italy, Northern Ireland and the United States.

Their current and past occupations are diverse and include lawyer, perfumery shop owner, biology lecturer, marketing consultant, global house and pet sitter, interior designer, university campus minister, journalist, tea lady, arborist, bookseller and lottery archivist.

Their interests and hobbies are broad too. Here’s just a few: anthropology, walking and hiking, quilting, sailing, lindy hop dancing, suburban homesteading, sci-fi and urban fantasy, playing bagpipes and poetry. While many have traveled and lived in places around the world that were new and exciting to them, one even lives in a tiny campervan that’s traversed several American states this year!

Yet as diverse as they are, they all share a love of cozy mysteries and telling a good tale. And that’s what they have done in this collection of stories and novellas that introduces readers to characters in each author’s cozy mystery series.

Author Links 

The website links for each author in the collection:

Dianne Ascroft: www.dianneascroft.com

Ellen Jacobson: www.ellenjacobsonauthor.com

Tamara Woods: www.tamarawoodsauthor.com

Sarah Biglow: www.sarah-biglow.com

Aubrey Elle: www.authoraubreyelle.com

Beate Boeker: www.happybooks.de

Adriana Licio: www.adrianalicio.com

Vikki Walton: www.vikkiwalton.com

Angela K. Ryan: https://www.facebook.com/AngelaKRyanAuthor

Purchase Links -  Amazon - Barnes & Noble 

#Spotlight: 15 Minutes of Flame by Christin Breecher #Giveaway15 Minutes #HalloweenBooks #Halloween

Cozy Mystery

3rd in Series

Publisher: Kensington (August 25, 2020)

Mass Market Paperback: 304 pages

ISBN-10: 1496721438

ISBN-13: 978-1496721433

Digital ASIN: B082WR2LH6

As Stella Wright’s Nantucket candle store thrives, her knack for solving mysteries burns equally bright—especially when a Halloween haunted house uncovers evidence of a centuries-old murder . . .

 

When Stella’s friend inherits a creaky, abandoned home in Nantucket, she knows it’s the perfect setting for the town’s annual Halloween fundraiser. A deserted, boarded-up building on the property—once used as a candle-making shop—adds to the creepy ambiance. But as Stella explores the shack’s dilapidated walls, she discovers a terrible secret: the skeleton of a Quaker woman, wrapped in blood-soaked clothing and hidden deep within a stone hearth . . .

 

While police investigate, Stella wastes no time asking for help from friends with long ties to Nantucket’s intricate history. The key to the murder may lie within a scorching 18th century love triangle that pit two best friends against one another over a dubious man. But before the case is solved, another life will be claimed—leaving Stella to wonder who in Nantucket is friend, and who is foe . . .

 

About Christin Brecher

Christin Brecher was born and raised in NYC, where her family and many childhood friends still reside. As such, she feels she is as much of a small-town girl as any. The idea to write the Nantucket Candle Maker series sprang from her life-long connection to the small island off the coast of Massachusetts. Spending summers there as a child, Christin read from her family’s library of mystery novels, after which she began to imagine stories inspired by the island’s whaling heyday, its notoriously foggy nights, and during long bike rides to the beach. After many years in marketing for the publishing industry, followed by years raising her children, Murder’s No Votive Confidence is Christin’s debut novel. Visit her at www.christinbrecher.com.

Author Links 

Website – http://christinbrecher.com/

Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/christinbrecherbooks/

Purchase Links – Amazon –  B&N

GIVEAWAY HERE

#Review: I Survived the Attacks of September 11, 2001 by Lauren Tarshis #ScholasticBooks

I have had this book in my collections since I bought it in 2017. My intention since then was to read it on the anniversary of the attack. For some reason or another, I would or did not until this year. I wanted to read it as a pseudo memorial.

The author states in the back of the book that she did not want to even write the book but kids and librarians kept asking her to. So, she relented because it made sense that there were children that were either too young to remember the events or were born during or after that wanted to know.

The book tells the story of fictional characters who witness the very true events of September 11, 2001. The main character is Lucas whose Dad and "uncle" are members of a local firehouse in NYC. Lucas finds himself in downtown Manhattan just as the first plane hits. The horror is revealed but not in such a way that a middle-grade kid would be traumatized but to still understand.

Overall, the book was well written but ends rather abruptly and on a good-feel note. I can understand to some extent why the author did it this way. However, in the same sense those who remember, like myself, it is tough to read and to know the aftermath was not a feel good at all. Still the whole point of the book is so kids who would not know about our yearly memory are able to get at least a partial picture of what happened that fateful day.

One last thought and in the author's defense, she did include a historical timeline in the back and more details that could not be written into her story. This information can and should be talked over with an adult to answer any questions.

4 stars.

Disclosure: I purchased a copy of this book for my own collections. The views here are 100% my own and may differ with yours. ~Michelle

#Giveaway & #Spotlight: The House of the Setting Son by Silverman #Cozymysteries @NancyColeSilvel

About The House of the Setting Son

The House of the Setting Son: A Misty Dawn Mystery

Cozy Mystery 3rd in Series 

Independently Published (September 4, 2020) 

Print Length: 213 pages

ASIN: B08F65LCBJ

When Misty Dawn, the former "Hollywood Psychic to the Stars," receives a phone call in the middle of the night, she knows it can't be good news. Dorine Witherspoon, an actress and former client is in town for the opening of her touring musical and tells Misty the show's leading lady, Cassie Marx, has disappeared and the understudy had to go on for her on Opening Night!

 

Misty immediately suspects foul play and when she and Wilson, her psychic shade, arrive at the theater the next morning they discover LAPD's Detective Cesar Romero meeting with the cast and crew. Events on both sides of the veil take a dark turn when Romero asks Misty off the case, and Wilson appears out of his depth with ghosts who want nothing to do with him.

 

Death, close calls, and forces on both sides of the veil threaten to undo Misty and destroy her relationship with Wilson unless she can find Cassie and restore order to the show.

About Nancy Cole Silverman

Nancy Cole Silverman spent nearly twenty-five in Los Angeles Talk Radio. She began her career on the talent side as one for the first female voices on the air, and later on the business side, where she retired as one of two female general managers in the nation’s second-largest radio market. Leaving her successful radio career behind in 2010, Nancy began to write fiction, and her crime-focused novels and short stories have attracted readers throughout America. Her Carol Childs Mysteries series (Henery Press) feature a single-mom whose "day job" as a reporter at a busy Los Angeles radio station often leads to long nights as a crime-solver. Her most recent series features Misty Dawn, an aging Hollywood Psychic to the Stars, who supplements her day to day activities as a consultant to LAPD and the FBI. Nancy lives in Los Angeles with her husband and a thoroughly pampered standard poodle.

Author Links – Facebook – GoodReads 
  Purchase Links – Amazon – B&N 


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#Spotlight & #Giveaway: The Spiritual Adventures of Russell the Dog by Trisha Watson #dogs #inspirational @SpiritualAdven2 @iReadBookTours

 

Book Details:

Book Title:  The Spiritual Adventures of Russell the Dog - A Blend of Truth, Fiction and Inspiration from the Other Side by Trisha Watson
Category:  Adult Fiction (18 +),  284 pages
Genre:  Dog Story, Inspirational
Publisher:  Stone & Light Publishing
Release date:   January 20, 2020
Content Rating:  G for General Audiences


Book Description:

By reading this newly released book for the dog lover’s soul, you are about to take a remarkable journey through the eyes of Russell the dog. At times you will find that reading about his spiritual adventures takes an open mind, and a willingness to laugh and cry. By choice, Russell has come into this life with a unique dual purpose: to experience his present lifetime as a dog and to review his previous lifetime as a man. His journey is multidimensional; taking him through numerous challenges triggering a spectrum of emotions which he resists. One of his special abilities is to telepathically hear and communicate with other animals, his Spirit Guides, and even people when necessary for his growth. In the process, Russell learns about reincarnation, karma, grace, unlimited thinking, and forgiveness - all from a dog’s point of view and that of a soul who has had many previous human lifetimes.

Buy the Book:
Amazon
Add to Goodreads

About the Author

Trisha Watson has a reverence for life, nature, and compassion for those in need, including, and especially animals. Of course, that encompasses pets too, and thus all her dogs and cats over the years were rescues or strays. Because of her passion, a portion of the proceeds from the sale of each book is donated to different animal rescue organizations. Twenty years of self-employment helped her develop a can-do attitude. When asked about the process of writing a book she said, “This story wouldn’t leave me alone, much of it flowed easily. Some of it I don’t remember writing, which at first was spooky, but later made complete sense as the story revealed itself. My intention with this book is to perhaps provide a source of inspiration and healing for those who read it.” At sixteen, Trisha began her spiritual journey. Over the years she has delved into many facets always with an open mind and a dash of healthy skepticism. Never looking back, she keeps moving forward in her own spiritual adventure, seeking to learn and share her experiences with others. Trisha was born in Rhode Island. A few years later her family moved to the “Mile High City” Denver, Colorado where she grew up. As an adult she was drawn to the mountains eventually settling in Evergreen, a small mountain town outside of Denver. It is there she’s built a life with her husband Mark and their two dogs, Maggie and Cooper.

Connect with the Author:  website   ~ facebook  

Enter the Giveaway:

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#Giveaway & #Spotlight: Trick Or Thief by D.E. Haggerty #cozymysteries

About Trick or Thief

Trick or Thief: A Humorous Culinary Cozy Mystery Short Read (Death by Cupcake) 

Cozy Mystery 6th in Series 

Independently Published Digital 120 pages

ASIN: B0878QF5V9

A little haunting sounds like innocent fun until a ghost plunders your stockroom.

 

Kristie is convinced ghosts don’t exist until food starts disappearing without a trace from the Youth Center storage. There are zero clues as to who’s been inside the building. The security guard hasn’t seen a thing, and the security tapes are mysteriously blank. When the ghost widens his hocus-pocus to include Kristie’s office, the gals of Callie’s Cakes jump in to find the culprit before Kristie can get in a whole mess of spooky trouble.

 

Will the gals of Callie’s Cakes expose the ghost before Kristie’s facility is destroyed?

 

Cupcakes not included, although recipes for all the delicious cupcakes Anna bakes are.

About D.E. Haggerty

 D.E. Haggerty is actually just plain old Dena, but she thinks using initials makes her sound sophisticated and maybe even grown up. She was born and raised in the U.S. but considers herself a Dutchie and not only because it sounds way cooler. After a stint in the U.S. Army, she escaped the US to join her husband in Holland. She fled Holland over ten years ago when she couldn’t stand the idea of being a lawyer for one single second more. Turns out Bed & Breakfast owner in Germany didn’t do it for her either. When the hubby got a job in Istanbul, she jumped ship and decided to give this whole writer thing a go. She’s now back in Holland, which she considers home. Sorry, Mom

  Blog: https://dehaggerty.wordpress.com/category/mymusings/
  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dehaggerty
  Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7210211.D_E_Haggerty
Purchase Link - Amazon 

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