We are rapidly approaching Cozy Mystery Day! Dame Agatha Christie's birthday is on September 15, so that was selected as the date to celebrate cozy mysteries! Time to catch up your reading on your favourite amateur sleuths. Jessica Fletcher stumbling across another body in Cabot Cove? Miss Marple peering out her window or listening in on the latest village gossip? A baker or knitter who just can't be held responsible for the rash of murders in her small town? ...

I have just finished The Battered Badge, a Nero Wolfe Mystery by Robert Goldsborough. This is the first of Goldsborough's series that I have read, but I am familiar with the original Nero Wolfe Mystery series by Rex Stout (although noting that it is 45 books long, I suspect I have not read all of them! ...

As well as doing fun posts on peach pie and cherry turnovers or ice cream cones, I also discuss a lot of less-comfortable topics like human trafficking, abuse, mental illness, and so on. This is one of the less pleasant topics — chronic pain ...

Kick off the school year with a Back to School YA Book Bundle! Gritty, contemporary young adult novels by award-winning author P.D. Workman ...

I have read several of Lorna Barrett's Booktown cozy mystery series in the past, so was happy to return to the fictional village full of bookstores (what kind of a dream town would that be?) with Not the Killing Type, book #7 in the series. So nice to get back to Tricia, her employees Mr. Everett and Pixie, and of course her cat, Miss Marple in the Haven't Got a Clue mystery bookstore. ...

Follow Dr. Kenzie Kirsch, an up-and-coming Medical Examiner's Assistant, as she untangles the strange circumstances that brought the wrong body to their table ...

I don't usually read romance, so this one is a bit of a divergence from my usual. I Owe You One by Sophie Kinsella is a rom com with a unique plot-line, focused as much on Fixie's relationships with her brother and hilariously vague sister and managing the family store. Being a rom com there are, of course, two men in her life, one that's right for her and one that's not. The storyline is interesting and the characters not the run-of-the-mill. ...

A vida do detetive Zachary Goldman não é só rosas, mas ele tenta deixar sua própria vida despedaçada para investigar a morte de Declan Bond, de cinco anos ...

Follow the lives of the Simpson family, their lives torn apart by abuse and neglect. Get the full series! ...

Das Leben des Privatdetektivs Zachary Goldman ist nicht nur rosig, aber er versucht, sein eigenes zerstörtes Leben hinter sich zu lassen, um den Tod des fünfjährigen Declan Bond zu untersuchen ...

It is release day for Fail, Medical Kidnap Files #6. If you are not familiar with the series, it is about the children who fall victim to the practice of social services apprehended children due to medical conditions practice, their families, and a small group of teens who are fighting back! Follow Gabriel and Renata as they fight against an unfair and corrupt system, trying to save themselves and others from the doctors, social workers, and judges who endanger rather than protect their charges ...

La vie du détective privé Zachary Goldman n’est pas que rose, mais il essaie de mettre sa propre vie brisée derrière lui pour enquêter sur la mort de Declan Bond, cinq ans ...

Nadie es un adolescente brillante pero rebelde que crece en Manitoba Cree. Viviendo en la pobreza extrema, intenta ayudar a cuidar a los niños más pequeños de la banda. Devastada por la muerte por ahogamiento de su prima pequeña e incapaz de superar su dolor, Nadie deja la banda ...

Junior Bender is a burglar, not a private investigator, so maybe I can't properly classify it as hard-boiled or noir. But the atmosphere and the colorful language and descriptions are as familiar as any Sam Spade. The characters are colourful, fun, and described well. This twisty little mystery is a great read so far, I will definitely read more of the series. ...

Un día, la vida de Carmina Knight, de quince años, era perfecta, y al siguiente, lo había perdido todo. Su familia, su casa, casi todo lo que conocía. Sola en las calles, no puede confiar en nadie, pero tampoco puede hacerlo sola ...

Discover strategies to help ease back-to-school anxiety. Communication, relaxation techniques, and support can make school kids less anxious ...

This week's read is Cat Under Fire, the second book in Shirley Rousseau Murphy's Joe Grey Mystery series. I've read a couple of other books in the series. They're a lot of fun. Murphy's cats do break a few physiological rules as well as being anthropomorphic speaking and thinking cats. They see in colour. They sweat. And, of course, they solve murders. Most of the humans are not too stupid, but they don't seem to have the same drive to track down the killers as Joe and Dulcie ...

I've done all kinds of themed posts and book lists here before, but one that I haven't done is prison breaks! This topic was prompted by my latest release, On the Slab Pie, which revolves around a prison break. As I was brainstorming for this book, I started to wonder how many people Erin Price had ended up putting in prison in the first seventeen books of the series. And... it's a fairly significant number. There are a couple of books where no one ended up going to prison for one reason or another, and other books where two or more people end up there. So I decided it was time for a reunion with a few of these villains! ...

Set Sail for Murder is a classic murder mystery. We have the unhappy family full of suspects stuck on a cruise ship, tempers flaring, feelings hurt, and millions of dollars on the line. Sound familiar? The characters are interesting and the scenery compelling. There has not yet been a murder, but there have been three attempts. I assume one of the heirs will eventually succeed! ...