Review of The Relic

Alyson, with the help of her resident ghost, uncovers a treasure map one night.  She enlists the help of her friends to follow clues and to see if there is any treasure to uncover.  Along the way the gang befriends Booker, a retired librarian, who is an  expert on the history of Cutter’s Cove.  They are hoping with his help, they can decipher a long-lost language and solve the mystery of the treasure map.

As is usual with all of Kathi Daley’s books, the characters are well developed, well rounded and three dimensional.  She is very talented in creating characters that the reader can relate to and care about.  They continue to grow in their own personal lives and in their relationships with each other, and this is fun to see happen.  I enjoyed learning more about the reason that Alyson and her mother are in witness protection and I think that added another layer to their personalities.

The writing style flows smoothly and the book is an easy, clean read.  Kathi Daley must live in a small town setting because she is able to create the atmosphere perfectly.  After reading one of her books I always think “that would be a great place to live”.

I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a well crafted mystery cozy.   I am looking forward to reading the next book in the series and seeing what happens next to the gang of friends.

Review of Mischief In Christmas River

Cinnamon Peters has a great life.  She has been married to the love of her life for one year now.  She adores their dog and she loves volunteering at the animal shelter.  Her pie shop is doing well and her best friend is about to get married.  It is Christmas time in Christmas River and time for the annual gingerbread house competition.  Everything is alright in her world    until….she sees the sign for the new pastry shop that opened across the street from her pie shop.  She see the grand     opening sign, the large crowd of people and the new business owner, who happens to be beautiful.  Suddenly that perfect world starts to crumble.  And when some strange thing start  happening to the animals in the town, her world collapses.  Will Cinnamon and Daniel be able to right their world before the damage that is done is permanent?

The characters are well rounded, well developed and three dimensional.  They feel like people I would be friends with and I care what happens to them.  I think this book spotlighted Cinnamon more than the others in the series because she did not have her best friend to help her investigate the mystery and her grandfather is out of the country.  Having read all of the books in the series I can see how the characters are growing and evolving and that is a great thing.

One  thing I found different about this book is that there is no murder to solve, no dead bodies found.  In the vast majority of the cozy books I have read, the protagonist stumbles across a dead body and then decides to solve the case.  It is very refreshing to read a book that has a different type of mystery to solve.  There is still suspense and clues to follow and I was surprised  to find out who the culprit was.

The writing style flows smoothly and the book is an easy read.  The author is very talented in using the written to describe things in enough detail to make me feel like I am right there.  I think there is a lot of humor in the book and I found myself laughing out loud at some of the things that Cinnamon thought and did.  I just love that and is one of the things that make the book stand out from other cozies, in my opinion..

I cannot recommend this book enough to anyone who enjoys a well crafted cozy.  I read a lot of cozies and I can honestly say that this series is among the top three of my favorites.  I cannot wait to read the next one and visit everyone in Christmas River again.