On My Table and In My Cup August 12th to the 19th

What a crazy week that has just passed. I continue to recover from pneumonia and though I am on the mend I am not 100%, I spent Thursday back in hospital with Pleurisy, which is a posh word for inflammation of the lungs and had it been the early 1900's possibly fatal.  Thankfully the makers of Advil are my savior this week and I am hoping that I am on the mend. As I write this I am feeling ever so slightly better. The raging forest fires this summer have added to the slowness of recovery with the air quality not being the best for recovering. I try not to complain about it as many people have been displaced and their lives ruined due to these fires and I have only been inconvenienced.
Upon arriving home Thursday a delivery from Berkley arrived, with these two books for September and I am beside myself with excitement at the chance to read and review them.  Julia Buckley has become one of my most favorite authors and who doesn't love a great magical cat mystery?

I was blessed to receive to care packages in the mail this week from my friends Lin and Sheryl! Feeling the love this week!

Earlier this week my youngest son and I made carrot soup from all the rainbow carrots he grew over the summer. This carrot and rosemary soup was extra special knowing that he was so proud to harvest his own veggies this summer.

We have been so lucky to have moved to a home with an established orchard of Figs, we have been amazed at the bounty we have received and how much we can share with our friends and neighbors. Our landlords have been kind enough to allow us to harvest and process the figs... I have the most amazing friend who shared her recipe for Fig and Balsamic Jam!  It is almost gone and such a treat to have with crackers and cheese, or a turkey sandwich!

Carole shared her D.I.Y book with the recipe in it and we all made the jam. This was the first day I had visitors in two weeks and Squirrel would not leave my side, guarding me and caring for me these past two weeks. On my table and in my cup was the English Breakfast tea my dad picked up in London, the Westminster Abby Blend.  Last remaining Walkers Shortbread on the table too. I had lovely visits with Carole,  my friend Banafshe and her daughter Rana, who baked me a lovely chocolate cake, Hey-Jung, A-hin, Hoon who joined me for tea and fig jam, cheese and crackers.

 My friend Daniela who kindly visited twice with macarons and treats to lift my spirits. My sister, nieces, dad and in laws and puppy niece too! I felt lots of love this week.

There have been books too! I read loved and pre ordered my own copy of Monica Crosson's book The Magickal Family, it comes out in October and this lovely resource guide, self help and pagan life guide was such a wonderful read I can not wait to have it in my hands to refer to often.

VIctoria Laurie, wow 15th book in the series which is out now and a great read, lucky I am to have been able to read this book and its entire series, one of the first I ever bought and still love.

Chime and Punishment by Julianne Holmes I reviewed on Sunday, this was a surprisingly great read and a series I hope will continue.

Jean Flower's book Addressed to Kill the third book in the series was wonderful also. I can relate so much to the main character and love the idea of working at the post office. As a lifelong lover of mail and admirer of those who carry the mail this is a series I just love!

I will have the review of Cat Got Your Secrets by Julie Chase tomorrow. This is a series that earned a place in my heart and favorites list late last year, book three was the best and I am thrilled to have had the chance to read it before it comes out this September.

I also finished From Ice To Ashes by fellow Sisters In Crime- Canada West Member Jessica Simon, I had 4 hours to read it mostly uninterrupted at the hospital on Thursday. Every time a nurse came to get me for a test or to take blood my nose was buried deep in this adventure mystery. I will have this review for you on Tuesday.

 While I did not have the voice to do a video on cozy mystery series this week I did manage to get one up on a favorite poetry series. I hope you will click this link to watch it. 

Thank you all who reached out this week and over the last few weeks, I am touched by your concern, generosity and friendship. Thank you all who continue to support me by visiting my blog here and the sponsors on the page.
I would love to hear from you so please leave me a comment here or email me at karenmowen@gmail.com

A Panicked Premonition by Victoria Laurie

Saturday I started and finished A Panicked Premonition by Victoria Laurie. This is the 15th book in the series and I am truly amazed by her ability to write books I simply can not put down. She has a wonderful way of writing not only characters but intense scenes that are so easy to picture that you feel so involved in the story. While these are paranormal cozy mystery books they also have an element of suspense that you do not often find in cozies. I know these would make amazing movies as the words are so vibrant on the page they seem to jump out at you and play like a movie in my head. This story was about panic rooms, but it was also about relationships, goals, leaving your comfort zone, taking chances and having an enormous amount of faith. One of the best series out there, long running and after the first book you will see why.  This book is out now and is a book and series I can highly recommend.

Professional psychic and FBI consultant Abby Cooper has used her inner visions to get her out of many a scrape—and solve many a crime—but she’s about to face a murder scene that will put all her powers to the test. Abby’s husband Dutch has a side business providing security and building panic rooms for wealthy clients. One morning, one of Dutch’s partners, Dave, goes missing on his way to meet a client. Abby’s intuition tells her something terrible has happened to him.Then two of Dutch’s clients are found brutally murdered...inside their brand new panic room, and most of the evidence points to Dave as the killer.  With the authorities racing to find and arrest him, Abby's got to use all her intuitive prowess to get to Dave first, discover the real killer, and save her husband's business. This is one case where Abby is positive there’s far more to this mystery than meets her inner eye…

You can find A Panicked Premonition out now on Amazon by clicking here. 

Thank you for joining me for a cup of tea and a cozy mystery I would love to hear from you so please leave us a comment here or email us at karenmowen@gmail.com

A Grave Prediction Spotlight on a fantastic series by Victoria Laurie

It feels like just yesterday I read A Grave Prediction by Victoria Laurie, I read it when it came out in hardback last year and am so excited it is out in paperback. This is a Psychic Eye Mystery, number 14 and yes I have read them all! You can read my review from last year by clicking here.

Victoria Laurie is an author that I first fell in love with at my local library. Spinning the racks one of her books literally jumped from the rack and into my hands. True story that is how I used to pick my books, let the kids get their books in the kid section which was beside the cozies and as they spent their three minutes looking, I would spin the rack and what fell came home....try it sometime it is a fun way of discovering new series.

In A Grave Prediction, main character Abby is hired to help train FBI members in LA, you can imagine the lack of welcome she receives! However this is an action packed and exciting read with every bit of magic Victoria Laurie has created to captivate the readers since book one!

"In Victoria Laurie s new Psychic Eye mystery, Abby Cooper learns that following the money often leads to murder . . . Professional psychics learn to deal with skeptics, but Abby has to prepare herself for one steep uphill battle when she s sent to San Diego to help train FBI officers to use their intuition. Her first challenge: a series of bank robberies in which the thieves made off with loads of cash but left no clues. Abby s sixth sense leads her team to a tract of land recently cleared for development. But instead of finding clues to the cash, Abby gets a vision of four buried bodies. A site search turns up some bones and pottery from an American Indian tribe, but that s still enough to delay construction for years. With a furious developer and dubious FBI agents on her back, Abby is losing credibility fast. But unlike the best laid plans, Abby s talent rarely leads her astray. And if the bodies aren t there yet, that means that four deaths can still be stopped. She ll just have to dig a little deeper . . ."


A Grave Prediction is out now and you can find it on Amazon by clicking here.
Learn more about author Victoria Laurie and this series by clicking here for her author website

Thank you for joining me here today for a cup of tea and a cozy mystery spotlight. I would love to hear from you so please leave me a comment below or email me at karenmowen@gmail.com

On My Table and In My Cup August 6-13th

Another very delightful week has come to an end here on my blog and I have been very busy this week. I have some truly delightful projects on the go, fantastic books that have just arrived to read  and some extremely supportive friends who made this week a complete joy.

Thank you to my team, Karen, Lisa and Sheryl for all the ways you make me love what I do. In addition to great family, and friends I am so thankful to have been able to make the time to read some great cozies this week.

I finished  A Catered Tea Party which is by Isis Crawford and comes out August 30th. Tea themed cozies are a true delight for me! I can not wait to share my review with you of this one! In my cup this week I have had Murchies Lavender Black tea, Davids Cotton Candy Tea and even After 8 tea just to name a few!

I shared the review of All- Butter Short Dead by J.Y. Hanna yesterday and it was still free as of yesterday so run over to amazon.com and download it for yourself! I enjoyed this one and it got my blood pressure up in parts!

I can honestly say I did not loose any weight this week, not that I am trying and even if I was I could not have resisted eating Karen MacInerney's Peach Sunrise Coffee Cake I made from her recipe provided in The Gray Whale Inn Kitchen, this was only one off some very delicious looking recipes included with in! Now Lisa has me wanting to catch up with her and Sheryl with all the cook books that go with cozy series!

A Grave Prediction by Victoria Laurie was so much more fun then I had anticipated. This cozy was heavy on the side of amazing friendships and complicated mysteries. A cozy combination I admire and enjoyed. I felt very involved in this particular mystery and strongly recommend it for a great weekend read.

Bailey Cates, Spells and Scones appeared briefly on my table this week as well, I say briefly as I could not put it down and read it in record time. This is a "chip" type book series where you can just inhale each cozy mystery as if they were a bag of chips! Thank you to Laura from swimming for the great analogy!

The Witch Who Couldn't Spell was a Sunday review and another free or almost free cozy I enjoyed from Amazon.com. I loved the concept of this one, it was on the lighter side of paranormal but still a good British themed cozy.

With that I must leave you this Saturday morning as I have a very exciting event today, my second annual Witches Tea Party and I hope to have some fun photos and tips from my own party to share with you soon.
Thank you for joining me here for another week in review. I would love to hear from you so please leave me a comment here or email me at karenmowen@gmail.com

A Grave Prediction by Victoria Laurie

Where to start with A Grave Prediction...utterly fabulous, exciting and fun. I could not put down A Grave Prediction by Victoria Laurie for all the right reasons. The mysteries in this story were incredible and very well thought out, the setting, the intrigue and the relationships that continue to grow and get so much more interesting with each book are one of the reasons this is such a fabulous paranormal cozy series. This is a great "weekend getaway with you your best friends"  type of book. The hardcover copy of A Grave Prediction is worth the investment for the story tucked so neatly between the covers. This was a truly great read. A perfect example of why this long running series is so good! A Grave Prediction is the 14th book in this series and it is available now!

In Victoria Laurie s new Psychic Eye mystery, Abby Cooper learns that following the money often leads to murder . . . Professional psychics learn to deal with skeptics, but Abby has to prepare herself for one steep uphill battle when she s sent to San Diego to help train FBI officers to use their intuition. Her first challenge: a series of bank robberies in which the thieves made off with loads of cash but left no clues. Abby s sixth sense leads her team to a tract of land recently cleared for development. But instead of finding clues to the cash, Abby gets a vision of four buried bodies. A site search turns up some bones and pottery from an American Indian tribe, but that s still enough to delay construction for years. With a furious developer and dubious FBI agents on her back, Abby is losing credibility fast. But unlike the best laid plans, Abby s talent rarely leads her astray. And if the bodies aren t there yet, that means that four deaths can still be stopped. She ll just have to dig a little deeper . . ."

To order your own copy of Victoria Laurie's A Grave Prediction please click here.
To learn more about Victoria Laurie please click here.
Thank you for joining me for a cup of tea and a cozy mystery review. I would love to hear from you so please leave me a comment here or email me at karenmowen@gmail.com

On My Table and In My Cup July 30- August 6th

Saturday morning and what a busy week it has been. I have been able to read some great mysteries this week, one book about writing and a cook book. It has been a wonderful and busy week here on my table. I treated my self to some wonderful mint and chocolate scented tea with Steeped Tea's After Eight tea. It was indulgent like the wonderful chocolates themselves and satisfying as an after dinner tea. Arriving Thursday on my table was A Grave Prediction by Victoria Laurie and Bailey Cates Spells and Scones.

This month I am taking an on line course in writing called Discover Your Writing Self and I am so enjoying it. One of the books I found very informative and helpful was Writing Day In and Day Out by Andi Cumbo-Floyd, there was some very practical and helpful advice along with some truly motivating passages. You can find this book on Amazon by clicking here.

Karen MacInerne kindly sent her newsletter subscribers her The Gray Whale Inn Kitchen  tomorrow I plan on making the Peach Sunrise Coffee Cake you can find The Gray Whale Inn Kitchen by clicking here. 

Thursday I finished The Witch Who Couldn't Spell by Katie Penryn, A British Paranormal Cozy I will share a review of Sunday.

This week thanks to my library,  I read A Tigers Tale by Laura Morrigan, I loved it. The story is a good one and it was a delightful read and mystery.

Out now a new first in series by CeeCee James this was a fun cozy and one I quite enjoyed. I loved the cover as much as the story. This book is available now.

Vickie Fee's 2nd in her Liv and Di series comes out in September and this was a great book, good cozy and easy to get into. If you have yet to read this series pick up the first book  for $1.99 right now on kindle! Death Crashes the Party and pre order It's Your Party Die If You Want Too for September! You will be glad you did.

Victoria Hamilton/Amanda Cooper sent me this wonderful tea spoon for my collection. This Skull Spoon works perfectly and photographs even better with my afternoon tea and a great cozy series, The Teapot Collector Mystery Series!

On my table this week I am pleased to share a new to me tea cup my father's friend Janice gave him to give to me. This Royal Albert stunner is from the portrait series and has been a delight to use this week on my table. Fun fact I use around 4-6 teacups and saucer sets a day, lots of hand washing! I don't consider myself a collector as I actually use my teacups, I do not treat them as  trophies but as beautiful vessels delivering liquid sanity in the sea of chaos that life can bring.

Finally today I would like to thank you all who entered to win a copy of Leann Sweeney's The Cat, The Collector and the Killer. The winner is :

Robin Coxon! Congratulations and a copy will be sent to you from the pulisher shortly. 

Thank you for joining me for a cup of tea and a week in review here today and I look forward to sharing more reviews with you again tomorrow. I would love to hear from you so please leave me a comment here or email me at karenmowen@gmail.com

Sense of Deception by Victoria Laurie, Impressive Mystery, Suspense And So Much More!

Oh how I enjoy and fear this series. Book 13 of Victoria Laurie's A Psychic Eye Mystery, Sense of Deception, does not disappoint with an on the edge of your seat story, mystery and its revelation.  I say fear this series because I have been known to put more then a few of her mysteries on ice literally, while I gather my nerves! My friend once told me that if you have a book that is too good to put down but is scaring/or stressing you out too much you put it in the freezer. I have to admit I was tempted with this one but the story was just too good! Victoria Laurie's books are written in such a way that they feel as though they are ripped from the headlines, and so real. I can clearly see each character perfectly in my mind, setting and horrific crime as well.
This story was more deep and dramatic then your average cozy and the subject matter more gruesome then cozies usually get into, however the way Victoria Laurie tells her mysteries, unfolds the stories is like nothing I have ever read before. I do recommend this series and truly have loved Sense of Deception. 

" Abby Cooper senses a convicted killer is innocent, but she ll need hard evidence to save the woman before it s too late A ticked-off judge has tossed Abby in the slammer for contempt of court, and during her brief but unpleasant stay she learns the story of a condemned woman who is confronting a far more serious sentence. Skyler Miller has been found guilty of murder and faces the death penalty. Everyone believes she s guilty, including her own family and her ex-husband everyone, that is, except Abby, whose finely honed intuition tells her this woman doesn t belong behind bars. With the help of her husband Dutch and her friend Candice, Abby launches into her own investigation to clear Skyler and find the real killer. But after a final appeal is denied and Skyler s attorney scrambles for a stay of execution, time is running short and the list of suspects keeps growing. There s no margin for error as the life of an innocent woman hangs in the balance. . . ."

Sense of Deception is out now and you can order your book with free shipping from The Book Depository by clicking here.
 Learn more about Victoria Laurie and her series by clicking here

Thank you for joining me for a cup of tea and a cozy mystery review I would love to hear from you so please leave me a comment here or email me at karenmowen@gmail.com

On My Table And In My Cup June 25th- July 2nd

Thank you for joining me for a cup of tea and a week in review. On my table this week I have had some amazing cozy mysteries and some fantastic cups of tea.

 Yesterday was Canada Day and I started my day with Heavenly Creme Tea (My favorite from Neverland Tea Salon) in A Royal Adderley Cup and Saucer with the pattern Maple Leaf Tartan. This is one of my most favorite little sets as it is a demi tasse. Maple Leaf Tartan was created in 1964.  I just started Dressed To Kill By Hannah Reed. I put it on my table last week but I wanted to save it having this cup and saucer in mind for Canada Day and as I so enjoy this series I thought it would be a great way to spend my holiday weekend!

If you missed it yesterday I was so excited to share the first Chapter of A Toxic Trousseau, Juliet Blackwell's 13th book in this series which comes out July 5th. This was my favorite so far in the series and I can not wait for you all to read it!

It was a paranormal themed week for cozy mysteries this week on my table and the June release of Victoria Laurie's Psychic Eye Mysteries, Sense of Deception had so much to offer, suspense, fear, a couple of great mysteries and a really wonderful cast of characters.

Canadian Author Linda Wiken's new series Toasting Up Trouble spent a brief time on my table this week, the review will follow Monday!

Maggie Sefton's Purl Up and Die was also a June release that I enjoyed, even brought out my Celestial Seasoning's tea pot for my evening read!
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So many great things to talk about with A Dark and Stormy Murder, if you have yet to order this one I say run to your store, or order on line you will not want to miss this first in series!

I also am so excited and thrilled to share that Read To Death comes out July 5th! I am so thrilled with this series and delighted to have lent my recipe to Terrie for the back of the book. I do hope you will give the series and my recipes a try! I can not wait to hear what you think about both!
Thank you for joining me for a cup of tea and a week in review. I would love to hear from you so please leave me a comment here or email me at karenmowen@gmail.com