Zorro Reviews The Charmed Bracelet (Nancy Drew Graphic Novels: Girl Detective #7)

Title: The Charmed Bracelet (Nancy Drew Graphic Novels: Girl Detective #7)
Author: Stefan Petrucha
Illustrator: Vaughn Ross
Genre: Action Adventure / Female Sleuth / Graphic Novel
Status: Read
Cats?: Zero

Zorro Says:

Last year KitKat inspired me to read a Hardy Boys mystery for the first time. When The Charmed Bracelet showed up on the Mystery Cats' desk, I swiped it too. (Sorry, KitKat. You can read it next.)

Why did Zorro, your action/adventure cat, want to read a Nancy Drew mystery? Easy answer. Just flip through this graphic novel and the first thing you'll notice is all the car chases and squirming around in air ducts. Nancy Drew is a total ninja in this graphic novel. Early on, she saves her boyfriend from being struck down by a murderous motorcycle. Okay, the motorcycle itself wasn't murderous. The guy riding it was. But wouldn't that be cool if the motorcycle was a sentient being intent upon Ned's ultimate demise?

Maybe I should be writing Nancy Drew graphic novels!

As you might have guessed by my description, the Nancy Drew in this graphic novel is a contemporary version of the character. She's a kick-ass super-heroine, for the most part.

Bess and George are no delicate doilies either. While Bess is interpreted as a bit of a femme fatale, George is her usual tomboy (KitKat's type, I'd venture to guess) and self-proclaimed "Girl Computer Whiz."

There are two mysteries to be solved in The Charmed Bracelet. One involves a stolen computer chip. The other is more personal: Nancy's boyfriend Ned is being framed for crimes he didn't commit.

Despite the dual mysteries, The Charmed Bracelet is a quick read. Maybe too quick? I'm not a big reader of graphic novels, so I'll be the first to admit I'm not overly familiar with how the pacing usually works in this style of book. I'll pass it along to KitKat, but I don't think she's a huge reader of graphic novels either, so the Mystery Cats probably can't provide an expert opinion. But, heck, we never claimed to be experts! We're just cats who like mysteries. And, as a cat who likes actiony thrillery tales, I thought it was a neat little read, but with an emphasis on "little." This glossy paperback has a total of 112 pages, and a whopping 24 of those pages are bonus materials and ads for other books! 

If you're a Nancy Drew aficionado, you'll surely want to investigate this graphic take on the franchise.

Find The Charmed Bracelet at Amazon

Subscribe to our mailing list

Murder at Meadowlark, Book 1 in the Lasagna Lady #Mysteries #culinary #cozy #mystery #series

Hello, friends!

KitKat here, with a big announcement on behalf of myself and my fellow Mystery Cats and our dear old cat mom, Doris Hay:

At long last, it is with great pleasure that we, the Mystery Cats, announce to you that our cat mom has released the first book in her Lasagna Lady Mysteries series!

Murder at Meadowlark takes place here in Toronto, where we Mystery Cats live. It's largely set at the Meadowlark Retirement Residence. Those seniors really get around! You'll be amazed! There's lots of LGBT content to keep me happy (sometimes I think Mama Doris writes these books just for me!), but I know Ginger loved the big feels she got from the characters.

There's a lot to love about Luella and Chandelle and their burgeoning friendship. A lady in her sixties and a sixteen-year-old makes for a great pairing. They're such an odd couple, but that's why they fit together so well. Luella never speaks her mind. Chandelle never stops speaking her mind. They work so well together, and I really enjoyed watching their friendship deepen throughout the book. 

This is a mystery novel with a whole lot of heart. We Mystery Cats hope you'll enjoy the twists and turns Murder at Meadowlark takes you on. Some of those twists are a little dark, especially for a culinary cozy, but ultimately this books captures the heart as much as it intrigues with its backbone of murder mystery.

Murder at Meadowlark is currently enrolled in Amazon's Kindle Unlimited program. That means, if you're a KU member, you get to read the entire novel for free! We Mystery Cats definitely recommend it. Mind you, we're somewhat biased. After all, we warm the author's feet every night, and she provides us with food and litter. So we certainly want her book to succeed.  If it does particularly well, maybe she'll even buy us treats!

Read Murder at Meadowlark today! It's the first book in the Lasagna Lady Mysteries series, and you're sure to fall in love with these quirky characters just like you've fallen in love with us Mystery Cats!

Murder at Meadowlark

Lasagna Lady Mysteries

Book 1

Author: Doris Hay

Luella Genova has never been great at speaking her mind. When community-spirited high school student Chandelle Jervais asks her to bring one of her famous lasagnas to the potluck at Meadowlark Retirement Residence, the aging widow would rather stay home and swallow a bottle of pills.

Who’d have thought lasagna could change a lady’s life?

When Luella arrives at Meadowlark, a woman has just died—not an uncommon occurrence in a home for seniors, but Luella smells a rat. Even the old woman’s family is satisfied to believe that she died of natural causes, but that only makes Luella more suspicious. The only way to prove it was murder… is to find the killer!

Book One in the Lasagna Lady Mysteries series.

Read MURDER AT MEADOWLARK by Doris Hay today! 
It’s free with KindleUnlimited!

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B078YGP2N3?tag=dorishay-20
Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B078YGP2N3
Amazon CANADA: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B078YGP2N3
Amazon AUSTRALIA: https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B078YGP2N3

Ginger Reads The #Cat Who Ate Danish Modern: A #Cozy #Mystery

Title: The Cat Who Ate Danish Modern

Author: Lilian Jackson Braun
Genre: Cozy / Pets / Amateur Sleuth
Status: Read
Cats?: Two, and one's got a knack for presenting clues!

Ginger Says:

I've seen Lilian Jackson Braun's "Cat Who..." books on library shelves since I was a kitten, but this is the first time I've actually picked one up to read.  I always wondered how these stories were told.  For some reason, I assumed I would be reading a book told from a cat's point of view.  As it turns out, that wasn't the case.  Once I got over the initial disappointment of being told a human story instead of a cat one, I really got into it and had a lot of fun with this book.

The Cat Who Ate Danish Modern features a journalist named Jim Qwilleran who used to work the crime beat.  Now he's down on his luck, living in a run-down apartment with a Siamese cat named Koko.  When his boss assigns him to an interior design magazine, Qwilleran's not keen.  He's clueless about design. It's really not his world... that is, until a crime spree breaks out!  Every property he visits seems to get burgled, someone dies, the police raid it as a brothel... the list goes on!  Finally, some crime to investigate. Qwilleran's back in his element.

Now, his cat Koko doesn't accompany him on his investigations.  That would be pretty neat, but I guess you'd get a reputation if, as a journalist, you brought your cat along to interviews.  So Koko stays home while Jim is out and about, but still manages to bring attention to clues leading to whodunit.

When I first picked up this book, I didn't quite realize its age.  I was barely three pages into the novel when I said to myself, "When was this written?!?"  There are certain concepts, relationships and turns of phrase that struck me as outmoded.  That's when I checked the copyright date: 1967.  No wonder the book's got a bit of a Mad Men feel about it.

All in all, I ate this book up.  It's very witty, consistently amusing, and the characters are a lot of fun: big personalities that keep you wanting more.  This is probably my feline bias talking, but I would have enjoyed more time with the cats.  Yes there are cats in the book, but it's primarily a human story and a human investigator.

Having said all that, if you're looking for a big-city cozy mystery set in the world of 1960s-era interior design, The Cat Who Ate Danish Modern certainly fits the bill! 

Find The Cat Who Ate Danish Modern at Amazon

Subscribe to our mailing list

KitKat Reviews The Courtyard Clairvoyant Mysteries #Ace #LGBTQIA #Paranormal #Cozy #Mystery #Series

Title: The Courtyard Clairvoyant Mysteries Collection One
Author: J.J. Brass
Genre: LGBT / Psychic / Cozy
Status: Read
Cats?: Yes, but I don't want to talk about it.

KitKat Says:

I have a new favourite queer cozy mystery series and it's called The Courtyard Clairvoyant Mysteries.

What's so great about the Courtyard Clairvoyant? Well, first of all we've got an asexual aunt and her pansexual niece as main characters. Aunt Elise is currently recovering from a cornea transplant and guess what?  Turns out the cornea she received previously belonged to a psychic!  Now when she looks people in the eye, she can see what they're hiding.

What are you going to do when you find out you're suddenly psychic? You're going to solve mysteries, of course! Especially if you live on a small-town courtyard and your neighbours are all a bunch of gossipy (but mostly friendly) people.

My favourite of the four books I've read was the third in the series: I Spy a Courtyard Casanova.

In this book, Aunt Elise's former fiance arrives on the courtyard. It turns out she left him at the altar many years ago, and seeing him again brings out lots of messy feelings.

I love the way author J.J. Brass shows us this older woman coming to a greater understanding of what it means to be asexual, for her.  It's not like she's been identifying as ace for 50 years.  The idea of identifying as asexual and that there are other people in the world who are a lot like her is pretty new.

I also love the way her niece Val helps along the way. Life can be confusing for anybody, but for someone who is questioning her identity later in life, Elise sometimes feels really discombobulated. She admires the way her niece's generation can be so out and proud while she still feels a need to keep certain matters private.

The other thing I love most about I Spy a Courtyard Casanova is the mystery itself. It starts out looking like a simple theft, but we soon discover an art fraud ring going on right under their noses. Who doesn't love a good art forgery story, am I right?

There are cats in this series but I won't say too much about that. When you get to the fourth book in the series, I Spy a Wedding Dress Mess, you'll find out why.

I highly recommend The Courtyard Clairvoyant for any cozy mystery reader who wants a strong cast of queer characters. This series has got it all kinds of representation covered: characters who are genderqueer, ace, poly-pan, trans, lesbian, gay, bisexual, the list goes on! There are even a few straight people in there too. 😛

If you want to sink your teeth into a cozy small-town mystery series with a hearty dose of queer representation, look no further. The Courtyard Clairvoyant Mysteries by J.J. Brass is the series for you!

Find The Courtyard Clairvoyant at Amazon

Subscribe to our mailing list

Murder Island: A Rogan Bricks #Maritime #Thriller by Steve Richer

Title: Murder Island: A Rogan Bricks Thriller
Author: Steve Richer
Genre: Maritime / Conspiracy / Thriller
Status: TBR
Cats?: Unknown

Zorro Says:

Bestselling thriller author Steve Richer is back with the third Rogan Bricks book.  Murder Island follows Counterblow and The President Killed His Wife.

A small island and killers everywhere. No communications. No boats. A hurricane closing in. Rogan Bricks alone against an army.

Former FBI agent and Marine Rogan Bricks once uncovered a shadow government and took down a drug cartel, so he's looking forward to his next assignment to infiltrate a laid-back meeting with financial wizards on a Caribbean island. Nothing dangerous this time, all he has to do is listen and report.

Yeah, right. It's just his luck when ruthless commandos sneak onto the private island and start killing everyone.

At the risk of blowing his undercover mission, Rogan must find a way to rescue the survivors and discover why these assassins are here... in the middle of a hurricane!

Standalone action novel following the best-selling thrillers The President Killed His Wife and Counterblow.

Find Murder Island at Amazon

Subscribe to our mailing list

Magical Bookshop Mysteries: A New #Paranormal #Cozy #Mystery Series

Title: Magical Bookshop Mysteries: A New Paranormal Cozy Mystery Series

Author: Samantha Silver
Genre: Cozy / Paranormal / Small Town
Status:TBR
Cats?: Yes

Ginger Says:


Mystery author Samantha Silver is best known for paranormal cozies, and she's back at it with her new venture: the Magical Bookshop Mystery series!

If you've got a taste for witchcraft, small-town life and books, you might want to give this new series a try. There are already three installments available:

1) Alice In Murderland
2) Murder on the Oregon Express
3) The Very Killer Caterpillar (pre-order, available July 30, 2017)

Here's a bit more information about the first in the series, Alice In Murderland:

Moving from Miami to small-town Oregon was supposed to be boring...

When Alice Calliope takes over her recently deceased aunt's bookshop in Sapphire Village, Oregon, she's not expecting her world to be flipped upside down, but that's exactly what happens when her cousin Cat reveals to Alice that she's actually a witch. Add in the fact that the two of them stumble upon a dead body, and Alice's first day in town ends up being a lot more eventful than she could have possibly imagined!

What was supposed to be a simple cross-country move winds up with Alice having to learn how to navigate a whole new magical world while at the same time trying to clear Cat's name as she emerges as the main suspect in the murder. Add in the eccentric Grandma Cee, witchcraft lessons, a whiny old ghost and the laziest cat ever, and Alice definitely has her hands full.

With pressure mounting for the super-hot local sheriff to arrest her cousin, will Alice be able to hunt down the real killer before it's too late?

Alice in Murderland is a full-length novel and the first book in the Magical Bookshop Mystery series of paranormal cozy mysteries.

Find Alice in Murderland at Amazon

Subscribe to our mailing list

FRESH CREAM: The Continental Gentleman #Victorian #Historical #Mystery

Title: The Continental Gentleman (Book 5 in the Lady C. Investigates Series)
Author: Issy Brooke
Genre: Historical Mystery
Status: TBR
Presence of Cats: Unknown

The Honorable Butterball Catsworth III Says:

I am ever so pleased to announce that the fifth book in Issy Brooke's Lady C. Investigates series is now available for readers to purchase! The Continental Gentleman has certainly found its way on to my To Be Read list. If you enjoy Victorian mysteries, I do believe it warrants a place on yours as well.

Cordelia, Lady Cornbrook confronts her past. It’s not pleasant, but luckily she’s armed with a short, stabby sword.

It’s late summer and Cordelia is rattling around her Surrey estate, annoying the servants and causing the gardeners to hide in the bushes. Her old friend – or nemesis – Hugo Hawke turns up, and he’s closely followed by his own past. It’s good news … at first.

But Cordelia has received a note warning her that she is at risk of harm from a “continental gentleman” and it turns out that the local area is positively brimming with potential suspects.

It’s not Cordelia who is found dead in a stream, however.

The race is on to find the killer before they strike again. She’s aided by her motely retinue of servants, and severely hampered by her well-meaning friends who only wish to help her improve her social standing.

Etiquette has never been Cordelia’s strong point. But she’s still got that sword…

Find the most elegant Lady C. at Amazon.

Subscribe to our mailing list