New Releases For The Week Of January 23rd, 2022–Part 2

Up to No Gouda (Grilled Cheese Mysteries Book 1) by [Linda Reilly]

The first in a delicious new culinary cozy series featuring a grilled cheese eatery owner who must solve murders in her small town before she is put under lock and brie

Back in Balsam Dell to heal after the death of her husband, Carly Hale is finally pursuing her lifelong dream—opening Carly’s Grilled Cheese Eatery. After only five months, business is booming as Vermont vacationers and townspeople alike flock to lunch on her Party Havartis and other grilled cheese concoctions. All but Lyle Bagley, Carly’s one-time high school boyfriend and now town bully who just bought the building that houses her eatery and wants Carly out. After a muenster of a fight, Carly’s forced to put her nose to the rind and find a solution to keep her business afloat.

That is…until Lyle is discovered dead behind the dumpster of Carly’s shop, and one of her employees becomes the prime suspect. In order to save her eatery and prove her friend’s innocence, Carly must sleuth out the killer before she’s the one who gets grilled.

With a delightful cast of characters, an inventive amateur sleuth, and a whole host of cheesy hijinks, Up to No Gouda is the perfect cozy murder mystery to melt into. (Amazon)

Editions Available: Kindle, Paperback Audiobook

Resort at Castaway Bay: Now and Then by [Kathi Daley]

Sydney Whitmore, a forensic psychologist, moves to Shipwreck Island and renews her relationship with Ezra Reinhold, a reclusive billionaire who enjoys poking around in cold cases and has the means to hire the best people to find the answers no one else has been able to.

In book 4 in the series, Syd has settled into her new home at the resort just in time for a good old fashion Thanksgiving but before she can leave the stress of her old life behind she must first complete one final interview relating to Conrad Baker, the serial killer whose actions sent her running to Shipwreck Island in the first place. The problem is that the interview turns into a bit of a disaster throwing the entire case built by the district attorney into doubt. Syd knows Baker is guilty in spite of the fact that the case against him seems to be crumbling so she decides to take a second look at her assumptions and ends up with a realization she never expected. (Amazon)

Editions Available: Kindle, Hardcover, Paperback

Easter Bonnet Murder (A Lucy Stone Mystery Book 28) by [Leslie Meier]

Part-time reporter Lucy Stone isn’t about to put all her eggs in one basket during a frantic Easter in Tinker’s Cove—especially when it comes to cracking a deadly mystery . . .
 
Known for its cheerful staff and elaborate annual Easter Bonnet Contest, the Heritage House senior center regularly attracts new residents and positive press. But once the town’s retired librarian, Miss Julia Tilley, checks in to recover from an illness, Lucy sees a side of the facility that isn’t quite so perfect and pristine. And the place may soon be making headlines for different reasons following an unexplained disappearance . . .
 
Lucy can’t fathom how Agnes Neal could go missing from assisted living over a silly Easter bonnet contest, or why few seem concerned as signs point to foul play. A retired journalist with an independent mind, Agnes had an eye for details and little interest in conforming to catty cliques or rules set by her caretakers—traits that threatened some and angered others . . . 
 
While police stall the investigation without answers, Lucy realizes backstabbing has no age limit when alarming parallels bloom between her daughter’s college frenemies and social circles at Heritage House. Gathering clues as flimsy as a half-eaten milk chocolate bunny, Lucy must discover what happened to Agnes—before her own story becomes another springtime tragedy left unsolved. (Amazon)

Editions Available: Kindle, Hardcover, Audiobook

Something's Guava Give: A Tropical Island Cozy Mystery (Trouble in Paradise! Book 2) by [Carrie Doyle]

Nothing ruins an ocean view like a body on the beach!

Plum Lockhart went out on a limb when she ditched her corporate job in New York City and moved to the Caribbean island of Paraiso. Now the head of her own villa broker agency, Plum spends her days chasing down clients and lounging on white sand beaches.

But the sweet life turns sour when a publishing heiress is found dead at the mansion of an eccentric tycoon, Dieter Friedrich. Even worse, Plum’s old colleague cashes in a favor and asks her to investigate. It looks like she’ll need to fit a murder case into her already jam-packed schedule!

Friedrich is known for his shady dealings, but he’s not the only bad apple on the island—Plum will have to contend with a scheming millionaire, a sleazy rockstar, and devious B-list celebrities. And joining Plum once again is Juan Kevin Munoz, the distractingly gorgeous Director of Security. Despite the sparks between them, they’ll need to stay focused on the case—there’s a murderer hot on their heels! (Amazon)

Editions Available: Kindle, Paperback, Audiobook

The Accomplice: A Novel by [Lisa Lutz]

Everyone has the same questions about best friends Owen and Luna: What binds them together so tightly? Why weren’t they ever a couple? And why do people around them keep turning up dead? In this riveting novel from the New York Times bestselling author of The Passenger, every answer raises a new, more chilling question.
 
“Masterfully plotted, The Accomplice is both a keep-you-guessing mystery and a keenly and tenderly observed character study.”—Attica Locke, author of Bluebird, Bluebird and Heaven, My Home


ONE OF THE MOST ANTICIPATED BOOKS OF 2022—PopSugar, CrimeReads

Owen Mann is charming, privileged, and chronically dissatisfied. Luna Grey is secretive, cautious, and pragmatic. Despite their differences, they form a bond the moment they meet in college. Their names soon become indivisible—Owen and Luna, Luna and Owen—and stay that way even after an unexplained death rocks their social circle.

They’re still best friends years later, when Luna finds Owen’s wife brutally murdered. The police investigation sheds light on some long-hidden secrets, but it can’t penetrate the wall of mystery that surrounds Owen. To get to the heart of what happened and why, Luna has to dig up the one secret she’s spent her whole life burying.

The Accomplice brilliantly examines the bonds of shared history, what it costs to break them, and what happens when you start wondering how well you know the one person who truly knows you. (Amazon)

Editions Available: Kindle, Hardcover, Audiobook

Murder at a Scottish Social (A Scottish Shire Mystery Book 3) by [Traci Hall]

Sweater shop owner Paislee Shaw puts the yarn in Nairn, but a killer has put poison in some Scottish shortbread cookies . . .

Opening her shop Cashmere Crush and making a new home for herself, her son Brody, Gramps, and their black Scottish terrier Wallace in the beautiful Scottish village of Nairn is a dream come true. So Paislee is happy to give back by donating a luxurious cashmere sweater for an auction to raise money for the Nairn Food Bank. She’s less happy to make the acquaintance of a clique of competitive moms at the charity event, who treat a baking contest like it’s life or death. It turns out to be the latter for Queen Bee Kirsten Buchanan when a peanut-laced shortbread cookie triggers her fatal nut allergy.

Who would poison Kirsten? How about half the town? But when Paislee’s pal Blaise is suspected, the sweater-selling sleuth leaps into action to unravel the mystery. Along with gruff but handsome DI Mack Zeffer, she has to sort through a batch of suspects without becoming this cookie-cutter killer’s next target . (Amazon)

Editions Available: Kindle, Paperback