BOOK REVIEW: Empty Nest: A Birds of a Feather Mystery (A Birds of a Feather Mystery #2) By Marty Wingate

Empty Nest: A Birds of a Feather Mystery (A Birds of a Feather Mystery #2)

by Marty Wingate (Goodreads Author)

Kindle Edition, 284 pages

Published December 1st 2015 by Alibi

Goodreads synopsis:

If you love M. C. Beaton or Susan Wittig Albert, don’t miss the charming Birds of a Feather series from bestselling author Marty Wingate! In Empty Nest, Julia Lanchester’s life is interrupted by a murder most foul—and a killer who’s watching her like a hawk.

    Manager of a tourist center in a quaint British village, Julia Lanchester finds herself with more ideas than time. Her boss is the Earl Fotheringill himself, but apart from him, she doesn’t mix well with the aristocracy. Unfortunately, toxic mold forces her from her cottage and into one of the earl’s countless spare rooms at the Hall. She tries to get a handle on her overload of work, while she finds herself arguing with dinner guests, chaffing at the sudden interest the earl’s son has in running the estate, and missing her new beau, Michael Sedgwick.

   Her life goes from bad to sinister when Julia discovers poisoned sparrowhawks on the expansive estate grounds. And soon after, she finds one of the Hall’s visitors murdered—felled by the same poison. While simultaneously both spooked and angry, she still can’t keep herself from snooping, and dragging Michael along into her investigation. But will she find the culprit before her own wings are clipped?

***

4 stars

This was an interesting concept for a cozy mystery. I don’t think I had seen other series where they were really interested in birds and had so much knowledge about them. That sets this mystery apart from others. Marty Wingate is famous for her Potting Shed Mystery series and now she is venturing into the area off birds and all things fowl (fowl as in mysterious and alluring).This is book two in a series and I just picked up book one on my Kindle. It is called The Rhyme of the Magpie.

Julia Lanchester is having her house cleaned out due to a mold infestation and the Earl of Fatheringill has asked her to stay at the estate. She soon discovers some dead sparrow hawks and then not long later, a friend of the Earl’s son is found dead after a fire on the estate. 

So, Julia, being the nosy sort (aren’t all cozy heroines just a bit on the extra curious side?) has to investigate and find out all she can. I don’t want to give too much away since following along with the story is the best part of a cozy mystery. Let’s just say that I enjoyed the data between Garrett, Julia and Michael as well as the addition of Linus (Earl of Fatheringill). All the characters were well-crafted and easy to relate to. I did not have a problem at all keeping straight in my mind who was who. 

Better put the tea kettle on. This little village mystery is sure going to satisfy.

I received this as an ARC (Advanced Reader Copy) from NetGalley in return for an honest review. I thank NetGalley, the publisher and the author for allowing me to read this title.

BOOK REVIEW: A Premonition of Murder (Dream Club Mystery #3) by Mary Kennedy

A Premonition of Murder (Dream Club Mystery #3)

by Mary Kennedy (Goodreads Author)

Paperback, 304 pages

Published June 7th 2016 by Berkley

Goodreads Synopsis:

An elderly Southern heiress’s nightmare becomes a real case of murder in the latest Dream Club Mystery from the national bestselling author of Dream a Little Scream.

When Abigail Marchand, Savannah’s famously reclusive heiress, invites the Dream Club ladies to lunch at her Beaux Reeves mansion, Taylor and Ali hope for an invitation to join the distinguished Magnolia Society. But Abigail has a more pressing concern: a recent dream that seems to foretell her death.

Taylor reassures Abigail that there are many ways to interpret a dream, but at the next meeting of the Dream Club, their discussion is cut short by a call from Detective Sam Stiles. She's at Abigail's mansion, where the elderly woman appears to have been pushed to her death down a flight of stairs. Now Taylor, Ali, and the Dream Club need to catch a killer before someone else is laid to rest.

Kindle version sells for $7.99

4 Stars

My Take...

This is a new book series for me that is set around the world of dreams. And that is totally in my wheelhouse considering how much I dream and how epic all my dreams are. So, needless to say, I truly enjoyed delving into the Dreaming Club conceived of in this book.

Here is the plot: Rich lady has a dream that foretells her death and the dream club tell her that dreams are usually symbolic … but not in this case. The rich lady dies the next day.

Cue the spooky music. Something devilish is afoot.

This book was filled with twists and turns that led our heroines into murky corners and stuck inside tunnels hoping they wouldn’t die like the rich lady had. Abigail, aforementioned rich lady, made Ali and Taylor in charge of cataloguing her earthly goods once she was dead, which was pretty funny considering she had only met the lady the day before her death. But that is just a little niggle that didn’t quite make sense to me but the rest of the book was beyond stellar. 

I truly enjoyed this cozy novel. It packed a great punch and I will definitely be checking out more books by Mary Kennedy.

This is book three in a series and of course, like I normally do, I started with book three and have yet to read the first two books in the series. But be sure that I will definitely be checking out these novels. 

The heroines have a cool business in town called the Olde But Goodie Store/Cafe. They have all kinds of vintage stuff including food and old candies. I found the concept of that pretty interesting and always looked forward to when the scene were set in the business.

The ARC I received had a lot of extra numbers and such that curt off words and made reading this galley a challenge but I did not lessen my enjoyment of it.

I received this as an ARC (Advanced Reader Copy) from NetGalley in return for an honest review. I thank I received this as an ARC (Advanced Reader Copy) from NetGalley in return for an honest review. I thank NetGalley, the author and the publisher for allowing me to read this title.