The Fast and The Furriest by Sofie Ryan

I love the title and the cover of The Fast and The Furriest by Sofie Ryan. This is the firth in the series but a first for me. I liked the idea of the mystery and theme that just how much you think you know a person is so subjective. This February 6th Berkley release is going to please fans of this series. 

Sarah Grayson and her trusty companion, Elvis, race to tail the right suspects in the fifth installment of the New York Times bestselling Second Chance Cat Mysteries.Sarah Grayson owns Second Chance, a shop that sells lovingly refurbished items, in the charming town of North Harbor, Maine. But she couldn't run the store without the help of her right-hand man, Mac--or her dashing rescue cat, Elvis.Mac's life before North Harbor has always been a little bit mysterious, but it becomes a lot more intriguing when a woman from his past shows up in town, and then turns up dead. Suspicion falls on Mac, but Sarah--and Elvis--know he can't be the killer, and they hope they can prove his innocence quick as a whisker.

Thank you for joining me here 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

The Quiche and the Dead by Kirsten Weiss

I read Kirsten Weiss' The Quiche and The Dead last week and it is a unique and fun cozy. It has a good mystery tied up in conspiracy and that perfect balance of small town political power meets unsuspecting and unwilling amature sleuth! But it is also a great book about standing your ground even when your legs are shaking, because it is the right thing to do. Loved the over the top support characters Charlene especially. Looks like Kirsten Weiss has laid the groundwork for a great new series. 

Owning her own business seemed like pie in the sky to Valentine Harris when she moved to the coastal California town of San Nicholas, expecting to start a new life with her fiancé. Five months—and a broken engagement—later, at least her dream of opening a pie shop has become a reality. But when one of her regulars keels over at the counter while eating a quiche, Val feels like she's living a nightmare. After the police determine the customer was poisoned, business at Pie Town drops faster than a fallen crust. Convinced they’re both suspects, Val's flaky, seventy-something pie crust maker Charlene drags her boss into some amateur sleuthing. At first Val dismisses Charlene’s half-baked hypotheses, but before long the ladies uncover some shady dealings hidden in fog-bound San Nicholas. Now Val must expose the truth—before a crummy killer tries to shut her pie hole.

This one is published by Kensignton and The Quiche and the Dead will be out October 31st! Click here for the listing on Amazon. 

Penny Warner's The Code Busters Club Case 1 The Secret Of The Skeleton Key

Today I am sharing a review of a book I bought for my 8 year old son. The Secret Of The Skeleton Key by Penny Warner. This summer my son read all 19 of the Hardy Boy's Secret Files books and loved them. I was looking for something to keep his new found interest in mystery books up and saw on Penny Warner's Facebook page that she had book 6 of The Code Busters Club coming out soon, I inquired as to what reading level they were and were pleased to learn they were written at a level that would both challenge and intrigue my son.

 Knowing Penny from her Cozy Mystery Adult series I was pleased to purchase book one and give it a try, Penny kindly sent my son her special Code Busters Club kit, which actually arrived before the book I purchased. He quickly got to work on his new handbook and we waited anxiously for the mail man to bring us book one The Secret Of The Skeleton Key.

Tuesday the 13th of September brought us the book we were waiting for and I snapped this photo of him reading after school. This book was so much fun from page one! You have to break codes to even find out what the chapters are called. We even spent the evening writing notes in code! From "dinner is ready" to "bath time" he devoured each code written note I sent him.

After reading chapter one I realized we were going to need book two sooner then I thought, so I even ordered that while he was reading the last page of chapter 1. I order from The Book Depository so that I don't pay shipping, and I realize that as soon as book two arrives I am going to have to order book 3 and so on and so on. These books are a great investment though and I can easily justify the price of these fun mysteries when I take into account that I am reading them and enjoying them as well!

"Readers are active participants . . .and are frequently invited to solve classic forms of code, such as Morse and semaphores. This intriguing tale has vivid characters and such a tantalizing cliffhanger that readers won t be able to resist cracking the next Code Busters." "Kirkus Reviews " Cody, Quinn, Luke, and M.E. may be really different, but they all share one thing in common: they love playing around with codes. In fact, they love codes so much, they have their own private club, with a super-secret hideout and passwords that change every single day. When Cody and Quinn notice what could be a code on the window of a nearby house, the one owned by their strange neighbor, the guy they call Skeleton Man, the club gets to work. And it is a cry for help! Now the Code Busters are on the case and nothing will stop them from solving the mystery and finding the secret treasure that seems to be the cause of it all! This exciting interactive mystery offers more thanfifteencodes for you to decipher, including the Consonantcode, Morsecode, and American Sign Language. Test your brain with the Code Busters and solve the mystery along with them. Answers are in the back, if you ever get stuck. For more code-breaking fun, visit CodeBustersClub.com and join the club! Ages 8 12"

I am so looking forward to book two arriving soon, it is called The Haunted Lighthouse  and combines my love of mysteries and lighthouses and gives my son and I something to look forward to reading and solving together. I can not wait to share my review of that one with you as well.
I believe that boys and girls will both love this series as much as the parents. The website is a fantastic help as well. The story and mystery in The Secret Of The Skeleton Key surpassed my expectations and truly wowed me. This is a series to love kid or not!
To learn more about The Code Busters Club books 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