{I've Been Reading} Bait and Swiss

 Bait and Swiss by Korina Moss

The Cheese Shop mysteries embody everything that first got me hooked on cozy mysteries. It's fun to immerse yourself in someone else's world and Willa's Cheeseboard Cafe is a perfect place to vicariously escape to. I didn't reread the description before starting the book, so I wasn't expecting any of what happened and I'm not going to spoil the fun for you by revealing the details. There's a murder and it hits close to home so there's a definite sense of urgency to Willa's investigation. The cheese shop sounds as delicious as ever. I almost stopped reading at one point to see if a particular recipe was included in the back of the book because it sounded so tempting. This is one of the best books in a great series. 

What Kind of Paradise by Janelle Brown

For as long as she can remember, seventeen-year-old Jane has lived alone with her father in the cabin. They visit town on rare occasions so that he can drop off copies of his zine at a local bookstore and she has one friend she communicates with by phone, but until the day her father brings home a laptop and connects them to the internet, she's been alone with her father and his theories. Once he goes online in hopes of reaching a wider audience with his manifesto, everything changes. Set in the mid-nineties in the early days of the internet, this book immediately caught my interest and held it through the end. 

What Happened to Lucy Vale by Lauren Oliver

This definitely wasn't what I was expecting. It starts out with a cast of characters that spans several pages. The chapters alternate between Rachel Vale and "We." We is (or are?) the local high school students and includes lots and lots of quotes from their Discord server. Those chapters were meandering and kind of overwhelming. The chapters told from Lucty's mother's point of view are, by comparison, a little boring. I didn't love it.  

{I've Been Reading} The Place Where They Buried Your Heart

 The Place Where They Buried Your Heart by Christina Henry

I'm a sucker for haunted house books. It turns out that this one is more cosmic horror, but I didn't mind that at all. The abandoned house on Jessie Campanelli's street eats people. It takes bites out of them and sometimes spits them out. Her little brother's friend, Paul, lost an arm in there. Her brother, who she'd dared to go inside, never came out. Years pass and the neighborhood changes. Fewer people know about the family that died in the house in the 1970s or the things that have happened since then. Jessie and a few of the older neighbors remain on the street watching and waitng and trying to warn newcomers away, because the house is still hungry. I really enjoyed this one. I was expecting it to be about a character who had moved away and then been pulled back home, because that seems to be the usual setup in books like this one, but Jessie has been in this awful situation since childhood so it's a different sort of conflict. 

The Cold Case and the Corpse by Debra Sennefelder

I've been reading and enjoying the Food Blogger mystery series from the beginning. This one is a bit different, starting out with Hope and her friends at an expensive wellness retreat with an internet life coach. It's quickly revealed that their host isn't who she presents herself as online, but some of other guests already knew that. A worsening storm and the discovery of a body all combine to make the first half of the book an intriguing locked room mystery. But after that, it felt like the plot really slowed down.  This one's not my favorite book in the series. 

Behind the Door by M. S. Berry

The whole situation is odd. Anna is housesitting for a complete stranger, feeding his cats and spending three hours a day minding his old bookshop, which has almost customers, no cash register, and no sense of order. In exchange, she has privacy and plenty of time to finish her folklore thesis.  Her unknown host has left a few rules, which she doesn't seem too concerned about following. The writing style took a bit of getting used to, but I did find myself drawn into the story. It was the locked door upstairs that bugged me. What's so strange an ominious about keeping personal items locked away from a stranger you've allowed into your house? I know it's the whole point of the story, but "I don't want strangers going through my stuff" seems like more than enough justification for a lock.  

Disclosure -- The publisher provided me with advance review copies. 

{I've Been Reading}

 

Dead Post Society by Diane Kelly 

The latest in the House-Flipper mystery series centers around a former boarding school that's being revived as a retirement community. In the center of the sprawling property is an old Victorian house that's been boarded up since the deaths of the Head Master and his wife. (And now I'm wondering if Blogger allows me to say "murder suicide" especially when the whole situation is fictional....) Whitney and Buck jump at the opportunity to save the house, which was originally scheduled for demolition, with plans to repurpose it as a boutique hotel. The plot unfolds at a leisurely pace with lots of time spent in the buildings of the old school, which gives the reader plenty of chances to vicariously explore old buildings. Because the crime was forty years ago, there's little sense of urgency. It all combines into an enjoyable read, especially if you've already spent some time with these characters and want to revisit them. 

Murder Bears Fruit by Rosie Sandler 

I've read all four of the books in this series and it's always fun to spend some time with Steph and Mouse.  This time around she's updating the landscaping of a newly rennovated luxury hotel where quite a few of the guests are permanent residents. Of course there's a murder for her to solve and gardening to be done. The subplot involving Steph's ex husband will raise some questions for readers who are starting the series with this book, but it's not a major part of the plot. And the whole series is available on Kindle Unlimited, so you can start with the first book or jump in with this one. 

Disclosure -- The publishers provided me with advance review copies. 

{I've Been Reading} When the Wolf Comes Home

 When the Wolf Comes Home by Nat Cassidy 

This is the wildest, most  wonderful horror novel I've read in absolutely ages! I skipped the trigger warnings at the beginning of the book because sometimes I find myself distracted from the story while I'm expecting that awful thing I was warned about. It's a gory book. Seriously awful things happen, but most of it is too cartoonish and over the top to be upsetting.... there are other, more subtle, more upsetting things hiding in these pages. It uses ideas from some of my favorite stories in the genre, but telling you which ones would involve spoiling the fun and that's the LAST thing I'd want to do.

Serial Killer Games by Kate Posey

It takes one to know one and when Delores sees the new office temp, she's thrilled. Jake Ripper just has to be a serial killer. The book alternates between the two of them, giving the reader odd glimpses of what Delores and Jake are hiding from each other and  the rest of the world. They think they know what they're getting into...but they're wrong. It reminded me of You, with a much more cheerful slant, and although I enjoyed most of it, my interest started to wane a bit as the story went on. 

Disclosure -- The publishers provided me with advance review copies.