Chloroform, Pastries, and Hemlock

What do chloroform, pastries, and hemlock have in common? This blog. The three books I’m reviewing all have a mystery to solve and a female protagonist as the main character. I do not give any spoilers, just the facts.

A Good Detective Team

Cocktails and Chloroform, a novella and part of the Rip Through Time Series by Kelley Armstrong. Mallory Atkinson and her employer Dr. Duncan Gray are lighting it up in Victorian Scotland—literally. They learn how to make Molotov cocktails.

But first, the story begins with Mallory trying to uncover a mystery surrounding her co-worker, the parlor maid Alice. Unable to shake her detective suspicions, Mallory, stuck in the wrong era as housemaid Catriona Mitchell, is compelled to solve the reason for Alice’s strange behavior after receiving a letter. Enter Dr. Gray. He’s never far behind Mallory and is pulled into her scheme that goes awry. The detective soon finds out that going backward in time two hundred years hasn’t improved peoples’ bad behavior.

I recommend the Rip Through Time series, but it makes sense to start with book 1, A Rip Through Time.

Spells and Burnt Pastries

The Great Witches Baking Show is a Culinary Cozy Mystery by Nancy Warren. It is a typical cozy mystery where a murder takes place, and the reader, along with every character in the story, are trying to figure out whodunnit.

Poppy Wilkinson, a young teacher with a passion for baking, enters the Great British Baking Contest. It is the legendary baking show in Britain, but the honor of being chosen to participate isn’t the only reason Poppy honed her baking skills. It is her only chance to get close to Broomwode where the show is being filmed and possibly unlock a mystery of her past and why she can see ghosts.

Unfortunately, one of the contestants is murdered during filming, and it happens to be Poppy’s newest friend. Fortunately, with Poppy’s ghost communicating talent, she is still in touch with the deceased. Poppy not only learns whodunnit but finds out she’s a witch.

If you like cozy mysteries, The Great Witches Baking Show has some good twists and will keep you guessing.

Not the Best Vacation Spot

Hemlock Island, is a standalone horror novel by Kelley Armstong. The main character, Laney Kilpatrick, rents her vacation home to strangers in order to afford to keep it. She originally acquired the home that sits on its own private island from her rich ex-husband Kit Hayes. Laney’s divorce, death of her sister, and guardianship of her niece Madison came in a huge wave. The next wave is ready to crash into her.

There’s trouble in Laney’s island paradise. The Lake Michigan home that she wants to keep and where she writes her novels is having problems. Renters complained, so she has to check it out. Her niece wants to tag along as well as her ex. Friends (former friends) of Laney’s decide it’s a good time to make amends, and they invite themselves along. The mixed-up history between the six is dizzying. They take a boat over to the island because that’s the only way to get there. It’s too far and too cold to swim across the lake. Being remote, there isn’t cell service or a landline. Of course, it doesn’t. It’s a HORROR novel.

The ending was impossible to guess, and there are many graphic gory descriptions. If that piques your interest, this book may be for you.

Feel free to leave a comment. It would be great to know if my blog helped you find your next read.