Tag: cozy mystery

• Book Review: All My Bones by P. J. Nelson

  This is my second book by P. J. Nelson, also the second in the Old Juniper Bookshop mystery series. The first one, Booked for Murder (Minotaur Books, December 2024, 325 pages), was an enjoyable read, although I noted in my review a few things that I found odd, namely that it is a book about…

  michardillo

  January 2, 2026

  books

  All My Bones, author, book-review, book-reviews, Booked for Murder, books, bookshop, bookstore, cozy mystery, Fever Devilin series, fiction, Flap Tucker series, food, Kindle, literature, Minotaur Books, mystery, NetGalley, north Georgia, novel, Old Juniper Bookshop, P J Nelson, Phillip DePoy, reading, Safe in Their Graves, small town, writer

• Book Review: The Star from Calcutta by Sujata Massey

  The fifth installment in the Perveen Mistry series, The Star from Calcutta by Sujata Massey, is to be published March 3, 2026. I started this series in 2019, when I was recuperating from surgery to repair a a broken ankle, and read the first two books in quick succession. I really enjoyed the third and…

  michardillo

  December 26, 2025

  books

  book-review, books, British, British rule, cozy mystery, dog, fiction, food, India, India film industry, murder mystery, mystery, NetGalley, novel, Perveen Mistry Series, reading, Soho Press, Sujata Massey

• Book Review — Revenge, Served Royal: A Mystery (Lady Petra Inquires #3) by Celeste Connally

  

  First of all, I am a devoted fan of the Great British Bake Off show and have watched each season many times. I love a good cooking show, and I’ve watched the cooking shows made by previous winners of the GBBO, like Nadiya Hussain, the 2015 winner. I also love all things British, all things…

  michardillo

  August 22, 2025

  books

  Act Like a Lady Think Like a Lord, Agatha Award, Agatha Christie, baking, book-review, books, Bridgerton, British, Celeste Connally, cooking, cozy mystery, England, English, fiction, food, GBBO, George III, George IV, Great British Bake Off, Lady Petra Inquires, London, Minotaur, mystery, Nadiya Hussain, Netflix, NetGalley, novel, Prince Regent, reading, Regency Era, Revenge Served Royal, St. Martin’s Press, Windsor Castle

• Book Review: Sugar and Spite, An Agatha Raisin Mystery by M.C. Beaton with R. W. Green

  Mystery is by far my favorite genre, and within that genre I tend to gravitate toward cozy mysteries. Add to that a Scottish author and, well, I’m all in. Everyone has a guilty pleasure when it comes to their reading life, and for me, the Agatha Raisin mystery series falls squarely in that court. With…

  michardillo

  August 1, 2025

  books

  Agatha Raisin, ARC, book-review, books, British, cozy mystery, death, England, fiction, food, Hamish MacBeth, M. C. Beaton, Macmillan Publishers, mystery, NetGalley, novel, R. W. Green, Ray Bradbury, reading, Sugar and Spite, The Homemade God, The Quiche of Death, The White Octopus Hotel, writer, writing

• Book Review: Death on the Marlow Belle by Robert Thorogood

  In Death on the Marlow Belle (Poisoned Pen Press, September, 2025) this fourth installment of The Marlow Murder Club, a cozy murder mystery series, author Robert Thorogood has returned us to Marlow, a very real town located on the Thames River thirty miles from London. This is brilliant news for all of Thorogood’s fans, as…

  michardillo

  June 16, 2025

  books

  Agatha Christie, And Then There Were None, book-review, books, British, Columbia Theatre Players, community theatre, cozy mystery, death, Death Comes to Marlow, Death in Paradise, Death on the Marlow Belle, Downton Abbey, England, English, fiction, Goodreads, James Bond, Kindle, Lady Rosalind, London, Lord Grantham, Marlow, Miss Moneypenny, mystery, NetGalley, novel, Oscar Wilde, PBS Masterpiece, Poisoned Pen Press, reading, Richard Osman, River Thames, Samantha Bond, Ten Little Indians, The Importance of Being Earnest, The Marlow Murder Club, The Queen of Poisons, The Thursday Murder Club, theater, theatre, writer, writing

• Book Review: The Queens of Crime by Marie Benedict

  Those of you who know me, I mean really know me, know how much I love to read! Growing up, I would read just about anything; of course, the back of the cereal box, but also, the back of the shampoo bottle in the bathroom. But, my favorite all time thing to read is a…

  michardillo

  February 17, 2025

  books

  Agatha Christie, Baroness Emma Orczy, book-review, books, British, cozy mystery, Dorothy Sayers, England, fiction, Golden Age of Detective Fiction, literature, London, Margery Allingham, Marie Benedict, NetGalley, Ngaio Marsh, novel, Queens of Crime, reading, St. Martin’s Press, The Queens of Crime, writer, writing

• Book Review: Murder by the Book by Lauren Elliott

  Murder by the Book (the novel, Kensington Cozies, 2018) by Lauren Elliott is the first in the Beyond the Page Bookstore Mystery series. I checked this book out to read on my Kindle via Libby through my local MCPL mostly because of the title and the cover. Many years ago, I directed a play by…

  michardillo

  January 29, 2025

  books, Essay

  Beyond the Page Bookstore Mystery series, book-review, books, cozy mystery, Craig Sodaro, death, education, fiction, Hamlet, Kensington Cozies, Kindle, Lauren Elliott, Libby, literature, middle school, Murder by the Book, mystery, New England, novel, Pioneer Drama Pulbishers, reading, teacher, theatre, writer, writing

• A Very Merry Bookmas!

  It’s Christmas Day! I’ve had a wonderful Advent and now Christmas season with my family and close friends. It has to be the most relaxed Christmas I’ve ever had, having retired from teaching this January 12, 2024, I came into Advent this year without reams of papers to grade, midterms to create and then grade,…

  michardillo

  December 25, 2024

  books, Essay, faith, food

  Advent, baking, book-review, books, chocolate, Christmas, cookbooks, cooking, cozy mystery, essays, exercise, faith, family, fiction, food, friends, healthy, Judi Dench, Kate Quinn, Martha Stewart, Maryland, Mass, Mrs. Quinn’s Rise to Fame, nonfiction, novel, Olivia Ford, prayer, reading, self-care, Shakespeare: The Man who Pays the Rent, teacher, teaching, The Briar Club, The Cookbook, writer, writing

• Book Review: A Lady’s Guide to Etiquette and Murder by Dianne Freeman (Book #1 in the Countess of Harleigh Mystery Series)

  I recently grabbed a book off of the new mysteries shelf at my local library and knew almost immediately that I was missing quite a bit of backstory, only to realize I was starting with book #7 of a series. I enjoyed An Art Lover’s Guide to Paris and Murder – albeit without the backstory…

  michardillo

  November 5, 2024

  books, Essay

  A Lady’s Guide to Etiquette and Murder, An Art Lover’s Guide to Paris and Murder, book-review, books, British, Countess of Harleigh, cozy mystery, death, Dianne Freeman, Downton Abbey, England, English, family, fiction, Libby, library, literature, MCPL, mystery, novel, parenting, reading, social media, vacation, Victorian Era

• Book Review: Mystery in the Title (Miranda Abbott Mystery #2) by Ian Ferguson and Will Ferguson

  In a previous post, I reviewed I Only Read Murder by the Canadian Ferguson brothers, and made a not so subtle request for the sequel to read and review – albeit on its very publication date. The Fates (as in NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing, lol) smiled upon me, and I’ve just finished Mystery in…

  michardillo

  October 31, 2024

  books, Essay

  book-review, books, cozy mystery, death, fiction, Hollywood, I Only Read Murder, Ian Ferguson, indie bookstore, literature, movie of the week, MOW, mystery, Mystery in the Title, NetGalley, novel, Oregon, Pacific Ocean, reading, Sherlock Holmes, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, The Hound of the Baskervilles, vacation, Will Ferguson