Craving the Cozies 2017 Reading Challenge Wrap Up

I signed up for this challenge at the Peckish level which required me to read 10 books.  Sadly, I only read 5 cozies.  I think that while I used to love this mystery sub-genre, it is not as interesting to me as it once was.  I still have favorite authors that I will always read such as Cleo Coyle, Laura Childs, Julie Hyzy, and Susan Wittig Albert.  However, I think that I will include these books in a mystery book reading challenge in the future since a cozy is technically a mystery.  Below are the links to the books that I read for this challenge:

The Perplexing Theft of the Jewel in the Crown
The Last Chance Olive Ranch
Pekoe Most Poison
The Champagne Conspiracy
Dead Cold Brew

My Favorite Book: Dead Cold Brew!  Cleo Coyle just knows how to write a great mystery.

My Least Favorite Book:  The Perplexing Theft of the Jewel in the Crown.  I just could not follow the plot and was bored to tears.

The Perplexing Theft of the Jewel in the Crown

The Perplexing Theft of the Jewel in the Crown is the 2nd installment of the Baby Ganesh Agency Investigation series by Vaseem Khan. The not-so-amateur sleuth is retired police investigator Ashwin Chopra who lives in Mumbai. Inspector Chopra has a pet baby elephant that he takes with him everywhere, having bought a special van to drive the animal around in. The elephant, named Ganesha, has intelligent and emotional features similar to a human, at least in Inspector Chopra's eyes.

The story begins with the opening of an exhibition of the British Crown Jewels at the Prince of Wales Museum in Mumbai. The Queen is also in India on tour. Chopra manages to obtain tickets for the first day of the exhibition for himself and his wife Poppy.  The main treasure of the exhibition is the Queen's crown with its Koh-i-Noor diamond. The diamond was given to Queen Victoria from India, via its British masters, and many Indians feel that it should remain in India. While Chopra is gazing at the crown he hears several loud noises and smoke engulfs the room.  When he regains consciousness, the crown is gone.

The Force One guards investigating the theft quickly find the perpetrator, police Inspector Shekhar Garewal, after finding the crown in his home, minus the Koh-i-Noor diamond. Chopra is asked by Inspector Garewal to help him clear his name as he is innocent of the theft.

I enjoyed the first half of the book but got bored when Inspector Chopra's investigation began and I started skipping pages. The characters did not appeal to me.  Chopra's wife Poppy seemed to be interesting but she had a minor role in the plot. Also, I had a hard time recognizing the pet elephant's role. Let's face it, the suspension of belief required to believe that an elephant can contribute to an investigation is too far to go. While the book is advertised as a mystery I would categorize it further as a cozy mystery.

Since I liked half of the book I will give it 2.5 stars.

The Last Chance Olive Ranch

The Last Chance Olive Ranch is Susan Wittig Albert's 25th China Bayles cozy mystery.  In this installment of the series there are two separate plots which are unrelated to each other.  China Bayles and her business partner Ruby Wilcox are scheduled to teach a workshop at the Last Chance Olive Ranch the next day. However, China's husband and ex-cop McQuaid gets a phone call advising that a killer he put on death row has escaped and has killed 2 people already.  He suspects that he is on the killer's list of people to exact revenge from.  China does not want to go to the workshop so that she can stay home and keep her husband safe.  However, she is talked into going and finds herself involved in a dangerous matter at the ranch where 2 characters battle for ownership of the ranch.

I have read the entire China Bayles series and this is the first time that China's activities and those of her husband were not related to the same plot.  I did not feel that it took anything away from the story though.  I know and love all of the characters in the series and they are strong enough to carry separate plots on their own.  Both plots were complex and interesting.

When you love a series you come to love the characters.  The sad part about finishing a book is that you have to wait another year before the author can write and publish the next book and separation anxiety sets in.  That just shows the strength of the series though.

The Last Chance Olive Ranch has alot of information on the almighty olive which was fun to read about.  There is also some suspense with the chapters alternating between China's story and McQuaid's story.  All in all, this was another great read from Susan Wittig Albert.

Pekoe Most Poison

I read Laura Child's latest tea shop mystery for the Craving the Cozies Reading Challenge.  It is the 18th installment of the tea shop mystery series and I have read every one of the books.  This is one of my favorite series.

In this installment of the series one of Charleston's wealthiest men, Beau Briggs, dies suddenly after drinking a cup of pekoe tea while at a rat tea party in his home.  Rat tea parties were prominent in Charleston in the mid 1900s and the waiters all wear rat headwear.  The main character, Theodosia Browning, owns the Indigo Tea Shop and is a guest at the event as is her tea master Drayton Connelly.  Her sleuthing begins immediately after Briggs collapses when she says that she thinks that the tea was poisoned.  With a reputation in the community for solving crimes Theodosia is asked by the victim's widow Doreen Briggs to look into his death.  So whodunit?  Was it the wife, the business partner, the neighbor or the publicist? Someone else?  You will have to read the book to find out.

One thing I like about Laura Childs' writing is that the crime occurs early in the story, usually in the first chapter. Some mystery novels don't have the crime committed until well into a third of the book.  I think that is a waste of paper. I want to know right away what crime needs to be solved so that the entire book is really about solving the crime.

The author also follows the cozy mystery formula perfectly.  What you get is a well crafted, fast paced story with several twists and turns and red herring or 2. This is must read for cozy lovers.

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The Champagne Conspiracy

I read Ellen Crosby's The Champagne Conspiracy for the Craving for Cozies Reading Challenge.  This book is the 7th installment of the wine country mystery series. The author took a break from the series a few years ago so I was pleased to find this book in the library last week.

The main character is Lucie Montgomery, a disabled vineyard owner in Virginia. Her winemaker/boyfriend is Quinn Santorini and together they have decided to create a sparkling wine.  This aspect of the book takes a second seat to the family history of Quinn.  Quinn's California cousin Gino Tomassi arrives at the vineyard to find out who is blackmailing him over what happened to his grandfather's first wife Zara Tomassi. Zara died in 1923, the day after President Warren Harding died in California while on his way back home from a trip to Alaska.  Amateur sleuth Lucie delves into the Tomassi family history to help Gino get answers.  She finds the story begins in Prohibition era Washington, DC, travels across the pond to England and ends in California.

There were several subplots that made the plot a little confusing.  However, I loved getting to know the characters again and the subplots did all come together at the end.  The pace was fast and there were some interesting historical facts blended into the story which made it a fun read.  Of course, there was alot of information on the wine making process which I loved reading about.

Highly recommended!

Dead Cold Brew Book Review

I read Cleo Coyle's Dead Cold Brew for the Craving for Cozies 2017 Reading Challenge.  Cleo Coyle is the pen name of the husband and wife writing team of Alice Alfonsi and Marc Cerasini.  It is the 16th installment of their coffeehouse mystery series of which I have read them all. This series is modern and fast paced compared to other cozy mystery series which makes Dead Cold Brew a quick read.  I read it in one sitting.

The story opens with a scene from 1956 inside the sinking luxury cruise ship Andrea Doria where abused wife Angelica Campana and her 4 year old daughter Perla escape, but not until after Angelica holds her husband Gus's head down in the water rising in their room.  The story then moves to the present with coffeehouse manager Clare Cosi and her business partner, ex-husband Matteo Allegro discussing an exciting new business opportunity.  Matt and Clare have been invited to prepare a new coffee blend for a competition among coffee houses to sell their new blend to a cruise ship revival of the old Andrea Doria.  Wanting to do some research on the sunken ship, Matt suggests that she talk to his godfather Gus Campana who had been a passenger on the old ship.

While working on the blend Clare accepts an engagement ring from her long time cop boyfriend Mike Quinn. The ring has special coffee colored diamonds in its setting that were offered to Mike by Clare's boss and former mother-in-law Blanche Dreyfus Allegro DuBois who had previously worn them in a brooch. 

The plot moves in many directions.  A subplot concerning cops getting shot by snipers is prominent and there is alot of background information on the diamond trade which the Campana family is a part of.  

Dead Cold Brew is a welcome addition to the series.  As I mentioned earlier this book is fast paced.  It is modern.  There is mention of the characters having sex.  You would never see that in a traditional cozy. There is a subplot about cops getting shot at which is currently prominent in our national life.  This story covers alot of ground for a 307 page book and also includes coffee and dessert recipes at the end. Simply, a great read.