Murder at the Highland Games (Ally McKinley #4) by Dee MacDonald

Cozy mystery set in the Scottish Highlands.

In the village of Locharran, B&B owner Ally McKinley is excited for the annual Highland Games until champion athlete Archie Armstrong is killed during the caber tossing. He and his extended family are staying at Ally’s while visiting from Canada, and there is no shortage of suspects.

Fast paced with a huge pool of possible killers, Ally snoops and pries to get information so that she can help Detective Inspector Amir Kandahar in solving the case. The investigation proceeds with many interviews and revelations of motive. The story provides a glimpse into small town life in the Highlands. The main character, Ally, is in her early 70s and has a boyfriend as well as friendships with the locals. 

This is the fourth book in the series that is best enjoyed if read from the beginning. 

Thank you to Bookouture and NetGalley for the e-book ARC to read, review, and recommend if you’re in the mood for a cottagecore mystery.

Book Blog Tour 4-20-26

Witness Protection by Robert Whitlow

 I enjoy legal thrillers and relish any courtroom drama along with the technical details, but this story was overly laden with an intense religious theme that detracted from my overall appreciation of the story. The constant evangelical undertones, emphasis on prayer and divine intervention, and talk of faith really did take away from the suspense and made the pace of the narrative lag. 

The gist is that a young husband and father, Cesar, is wrongly suspected of being involved with drug smuggling and hires a lawyer to represent him thru his boss who is in witness protection. Jon Tremaine had previous experience with a drug cartel and his testimony sent a kingpin to prison. Now, with his new identity, he manages a tree farm and tries to stay under the radar with his pregnant wife, Sarah. The lawyer is new to town after a divorce sends Kelli Quinn and her two kids to stay with her Aunt Carly. I kept waiting for her to do some real attorney work but if she wasn’t ignoring calls or letting others call the shots for her client, she was out to lunch with the DA or at home talking about stuff, especially food, with her kids. 

I prefer more edgy legal thrillers with more focus on the maneuvers and strategy that demonstrate effective defense of a client. It seemed that the main advisor to Cesar was Jon instead of his lawyer. 

I’m always looking for new authors in my favorite genre so I thought I’d give this one a try. Doubt I will read another. 

I started out listening to the audio book while also reading along in the e-book ARC, both provided by the publishers. I found the narrator, Jason Keller, to be lacking and not up to the task of voicing all the characters. This production definitely would have benefitted from a larger cast, especially a good female voice. His attempts at accents also drove me to distraction and I was ultimately so annoyed that I quit listening half way through and just read to the end.

This is a standalone and is not part of any series.

Genre - Christian fiction, drug cartel, legal suspense, witness protection, family life

Hope Rises (Walter Nash #2) by David Baldacci

 Gripping sequel brings the thrills.

After a brutal syndicate destroys his life, Walter Nash reinvents himself as Dillon Hope to hunt down the woman he holds responsible, Victoria Steers. He puts himself into her inner circle in a series of manipulations where he becomes a loyal body guard to the woman he intends to kill. Once embedded, he finds that things are not exactly as they first seemed. He must decide how far to go and whom to trust as he navigates the lethal tightrope he must walk to stay alive and get his revenge for all that was taken from him. 

This was a gritty and fast-paced story that was full of action and double cross. Nash, as Dillon Hope, has become a cold and calculated operative who must be alert to every changing and challenging situation as he penetrates Victoria’s world. There is a nonstop action and lots of tension as he tries to stay one step ahead of the nefarious plotting of all of the different factions and people involved in the crime world.  There was a lot going on and a lot of characters that might be good or bad at any moment. There was psychological tension as Walter grapples with the morality of what he’s doing and the choices he’s making. It’s definitely engaging and kept my interest. I’m hoping there will be another in this series as I don’t feel that his story has ended with all the tumult and changes.

I was able to listen to the audio book while also following along in the e-book ARC, both provided by the publishers. The full cast of six narrators were simply amazing and brought the book to life. The dramatic flair, the accents, the performances all contributed to make this one of the best audio books I’ve had the pleasure of listening to. I’d highly recommend everyone enjoy this as I did as it was a truly immersive experience that enhanced my pleasure in the story.

This is the second in the Walter Nash series and should be read after finishing NASH FALLS.

Genre and tags: mystery thriller, murder, syndicate, drugs, body guard, intrigue

A Very Irish Mystery (Lady Eleanor Swift #25) by Verity Bright

 

Historical cozy mystery in the golden age of detective fiction.

In this 25th installment of the series, we travel to Dublin along with Lady Eleanor Swift, 
her husband, Hugh, and their butler, Clifford. This is no ordinary vacation, however, as she and Hugh have come to meet a man who holds the key to her parents' disappearance. While waiting to connect with him, they decide to visit the legendary Finnegan's Brewery only to discover the owner, Fergal Finnegan, murdered. The head of operations immediately hires the Byron Detective Agency to help solve the case before the police get involved and the brewery's reputation is ruined. 

This was a classic whodunit with lots of suspects. The 1920s Dublin backdrop provides atmosphere and a history lesson. Of course the emotional weight that Eleanor carries about what happened to her parents infused the narrative and provided some new information for her which I hope will be resolved sooner rather than later has this has drug on long enough. The team enjoys their usual repartee and points of peril in their usual fashion. 

I like this series and it's one of the few I continue to read because I've stuck with them since the beginning. I feel that most of the installments don't work well as standalones as there is a ton of backstory. Although the new agency is in its infancy, I do long for that team to stay back home at Henley Hall in Little Buckford as I miss the manor life and the details as well as the ladies who work the house. 

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for this e-book ARC to read, review, and recommend. 
Book Blog Tour Date 4-14-26

This is the 25th book in a series that should be read in order from the beginning.

Genre and tags: murder, brewery, Ireland, Dublin, 1920s, amateur detectives, historical, cozy 

When I Kill You by B.A. Paris

 A predictable but fast paced mystery thriller.

Fourteen years ago, Elle Nugent witnessed a young woman being snatched off the street and driven away in a car. Elle is adamant when she identifies and names the man behind the wheel. Unfortunately, she was proved wrong. Not only did she destroy the life of the man, she eventually achieved such notoriety that she fled and changed her name. Trying to escape her past has been difficult now that she is Nell Masters. She’s living in London in an inherited house and has just met and fallen for a new man. Alex spends a lot of time in the US, however, so Nell becomes convinced that she has a stalker and she still can’t let go of her obsession as she believes that the stalker is part of her past that has finally caught up to her.

This story was told in dual timelines with Elle of the past and Nell in the present. Nell is paranoid and does crazy things. There’s a lot of coincidence and bad decisions made. The reveal seemed to veer off course from the direction the mystery seemed to be heading and it was quite a letdown. There were some real stretches to get to the conclusion. I’d say this was OK but nothing spectacular though I kept on reading just so that I could find out who was doing all the harassing. The motive was just lame.

I was able to listen to the audio book while also following along in the e-book ARC, both provided by the publisher. The narrator, Georgia Maguire, did a good job with bringing the characters to life in this production. She wasn’t overly dramatic and handled the main character’s moods and reactions very well. Her performance definitely enhanced my enjoyment of the book.

This is a standalone and is not part of any series.

Tags and Genre - mystery thriller, stalkers

Murder by Moonrise (Dr. Julia Lewis #3) by Patrice McDonough

 This third in the Dr. Julia Lewis mystery series finds her and Inspector Richard Tennant connected to several incidents involving the British Royal Family and some of their staff and servants. It starts when a young servant of Princess Louise is found dead on the Isle of Wight. The maid is found to be pregnant when Julia performs her autopsy. Julia’s examination proves the cause of death was murder. As Tennant and Scotland Yard try to find the killer, yet more murders occur that appear to be linked and this discovery leads the investigating Tennant to uncover a Fenian plot targeting Queen Victoria. It seemed a rather convoluted plot using both real and fictional characters. The threads tying everything together took a while to pull in. 

I really enjoy this series and I hope to read further installments. I really like Julia and am happy that she and Richard have finally declared their intentions. I hope there are future cases that the pair will work in the late 1800s London setting. I enjoyed this story but noted that it focused more on the police and conspiracy themes than the medical situations that I prefer. Although Julie was called to attend members of the Royal Family, she didn’t do much real doctoring in the book. Or not nearly as much as I would have liked. 

I was able to listen to the audio book while also following along in the e-book ARC, both provided by the publishers. The narrator, Marian Hussey, did an admirable job of handling the British and Irish accents as well as the different tones of male and female characters. She has a very expressive voice and spoke clearly which was necessary to follow the complex plot and the very large cast of characters in the story. I find that a good narrator definitely enhances my enjoyment of a book.

This is the third in the series that should be read in order.

Genre - historical fiction, British Royal Family, woman physician, Scotland Yard, murder, Fenian plot

It’s Not Her by Mary Kubica

 This is both mystery and domestic drama.

Courtney Gray’s family vacation at a Wisconsin lake resort turns into a nightmare when she finds her brother and sister-in-law brutally murdered in their cottage. While her nephew, Wyatt, is found upstairs in his room unharmed, her 17-year-old niece, Reese, has disappeared.

The story alternates between Courtney’s frantic search in present time and Reese’s perspective in the days leading up to brutal crime. 

Fully of really icky people, terrible behavior, and a definite need to suspend disbelief at times, the book mostly suffered from a bloated teenage narrative with its typical angst, inappropriate use of social media, drama, and a super sketchy romance. I didn’t like the flip between the adult and teen points of view and never have been a fan of a mystery where an amateur protagonist is off trying to solve the case. Courtney spends a lot of time doing things she shouldn’t and the author throws up a lot of red herrings on the way to what I’d call a ridiculous ending. Come on. Sometimes there is just that twist too far. 

I was able to listen to the audio book while also following along in the e-book ARC provided by the publisher. The narrators, especially the females, were just too melodramatic and theatrically overwrought. I almost stopped listening because it got on my nerves, but stayed on til the end.

This is a standalone and is not part of any series.

Genre and tags: mystery, dual perspective that ultimately reads more like YA due to teenager point of view, murder, missing persons