Category: murder mystery

Review: Fastening the Grave (Kali James Book 1) by L.A. McBride

Rating: 3.5⭐️

It’s the introduction to Kali James, a setup novel and it takes its time getting there. Specifically, spending so much time on the fact that she’s a costume designer and wears vintage styles and expensive clothing. So instead of building layers of world foundation or setting, we get clothing. A little bit would have been fine. 

Kali is unaware of the fact she’s a necromancer, so the whole ghosts following her everywhere or asking for help while she ignores them, seems a bit ludicrous. That it takes a witch to say basically “ hey, hon, you’re a necromancer” feels far fetched . 

There’s a murder, mystery and a goat shifter who gets her own series. For me , I find her annoying because she’s got little history but takes zero responsibility for her actions. So the author doesn’t give us much reason to connect with her.

I’ll give it another book but there’s so many more out there that read similar to this that it’s not a standout in my opinion. 

Reluctant paranormal finds out there’s a whole different world out there. Plus she’s got a goat shifter bff. Investigates murder mystery. And ghosts!

Them’s the facts. Check it out if you’re game. 

Cover Artist: Original Book Cover Designs

KALI JAMES SERIES 

Book 1: Fastening the Grave 

Book 2: Threading the Bones 

Book 3: Stitching the Talisman 

Book 4: Gathering the Dead

Buy link 

        Fastening the Grave (Kali James Book 1)

    

Blurb 

Two things are impossible to walk away from: death and vintage clothing. Trust me. I’ve tried. 

Moving across the country and opening a costume shop was supposed to be my chance for a normal life. What I wanted was a fresh start, one where the biggest danger would be a carelessly wielded sewing needle.

What I got was the ghost of a murdered reporter demanding justice, a stony-eyed enforcer I’m not sure I can trust, and a power I can’t control. Oh and my new goat shifter BFF? Hell-bent on trouble.

Now, my hunt for the killer threatens to expose a supernatural community determined to safeguard its secrecy at any cost. My only chance to survive is to embrace the legacy I’ve spent my life running from.

Fastening the Grave is the first book in the completed Kali James series, featuring a reluctant necromancer who finds herself in a world of werewolves, vampires, and ghosts. If you like your urban fantasy with quirky characters, a side of supernatural mystery, and an opposites attract slow-burn romance, this is the book for you.

Review: The Dusk Reapers (Cursebreaker #1) by J. T. Lawrence 

Rating: 4⭐️

The Dusk Reapers (Cursebreaker #1) by J. T. Lawrence is the first book in her urban fantasy mystery series about a witch assassin in South Africa.

The location is one of the better elements, an unusual one that I don’t run into often. This first book is also features amnesia storyline around the main character. It’s resolved here by the end of the novel.

Asha Rook wakes up in a hospital. She’s been the victim of a horrific attack, suffered a significant brain injury and has amnesia. No idea who she is other than her identity from her identifications and driver’s license. 

And the idea she’s in danger as well as the fact that she’s implicated in a murder, has her fleeing the hospital for answers. 

Lawrence does an excellent job building the character of Asta, a woman scrambling to discover who she is in the middle of a murder investigation, and layout the structure of a urban fantasy world of witches, mages and spirits and dark realms existing within the city of Johannesburg.

A fluctuating pov that didn’t always work because the reader wasn’t sure whose perspective we were in made things confusing or complicated. Nicola or Asta? Sometimes we had no clue. 

I don’t mind unresolved plot lines, especially in a first book. Usually they will carry over through the series. Here it’s the case of missing children left hanging as well as who was behind the original attack. 

The character of Sam, the police officer, the maybe romantic interest, is ok. Perhaps he will be more fully developed as the series progresses. 

Overall, a good start with some interesting elements. 

If you are interested in something new, give it a try. 

Cursebreaker: An Epic Urban Fantasy Action Adventure (6 book series)

The Dusk Reapers #1

The Haunted Portal #2

The EverShade Ring #3

The Obsidian Castle #4

The Pick Pocket’s Curse #5

The Eternal Betrayal #6

Buy Link

Source: Amazon.com The Dusk Reapers: An Urban Fantasy Action Adventure (The Cursebreaker) – Amazon.com

Blurb 

Her heart was flatlining. Her magic wasn’t.

Asha wakes up in the hospital with thirty-six stitches in her head and no memory of the attack that put her there. The damage to her skull was catastrophic, but she surprises the medical team with her lightning-quick healing—and by inexplicably sending their equipment flying across the room.

She soon learns that she is Asha Rook—The Cursebreaker—and she’s just become the prime target of every ruthless bounty hunter wizard in the Realm of Magic & Mayhem.

To add to the high stakes, a curse has landed an innocent woman in a terrifying asylum, and it’s Asha’s job to save her.

Asha must rely on her eccentric found family, finding belonging and banter with allies who accept her complex and dangerous nature. This includes an unnervingly attractive and steadfast cop (an epic slow burn), a sassy goblin who trades portal magic for tacos and lime milkshakes, and her beloved steampunk dwarf godmother, who is equally talented at roasting perfect potatoes as she is at creating magitech weapons.

Join Asha and her ragtag team as she embraces her destiny, navigating pocket realms and battling evil to break the ultimate curse. With more twists and turns than you can shake a wand at, this is a dark magic mystery with humor, adventure, and a whole lot of heart.

Fans of Patricia Briggs, Jim Butcher, and Ilona Andrews will burn through this totally addictive urban fantasy series.

Read the complete 6-book series now!

TROPES:

• Curses and curse-breaking

• Kick-ass female protagonist

• Amnesia

• Hidden Magical World

• Gritty Urban Setting

• Diverse Supernatural Creatures

• Haunted houses; ghost children

• Secret Societies and Organizations

• Found Family: banter and belonging

• Slow burn deep connection romance

• Huge, satisfying happy ever after

Fire Finch Press

Publication date

August 28, 2024

Accessibility

Learn more

Language

‎English

File size

2.9 MB

Screen Reader

Supported

Enhanced typesetting

Enabled

X-Ray

Not Enabled

Word Wise

Enabled

Print length

468 pages

Page Flip

Enabled

Book 1 of 6

Cursebreaker: An Epic Urban Fantasy Action Adventure

Review:  Cold Fury (Frost Mage #1) by Ryan Attard

Rating: 4.5🌈

What an unexpectedly great find. Different on so many levels, Ryan Attard is another new writer for me and his main character is a powerful Frost Mage. Shes just also happens to be bisexual, angry and lonely. Freydis, Frost Mage and town Executor, carrying out justice for the supernatural world in Vigrid Falls. When she’s not going to college. 

Freydis, Frost Mage, is a conflicted character, whose backstory is slowly revealed over the course of the story as events unfold. Incredibly and unashamedly strong, she works out to maintain her physique, which is intimidating to match the reputation she’s gotten as someone who is cold and emotionally hard. Which is far from the truth. 

Attard lays out the complex universe and supernatural politics of Vigard Falls where underneath the beautiful town and college campus where the wealthy students attend to their university studies, is another otherworldly city, complete with transportation systems. 

It’s there where Freydis operates and reports to her boss on her daily enforcement of the laws and takes on whatever missions she’s given. 

It’s werewolves against mages, against vampires with other fae or mythical beings thrown into the narrative. 

Including small side stories of romance or crushes (Freydis is bi so while most of her romantic interests are women in this book I wouldn’t rule out that she might have a vampire in her life in the future. Romance really isn’t a main aspect of the book, it’s primarily about a larger supernatural suspense or intrigue element that is going to continue throughout the series. And how Freydis’ developing powers fit into this. 

I absolutely got into the characters and the various aspects of the town and world building. 

Can’t wait to see where the author takes them next. 

A winner. 

Buy link

        Cold Fury: Frost Mage Book 1

    

Blurb 

Vigrid Falls looks peaceful — until you look beneath the surface.

The supernatural runs the world.
Mages keep the balance.

Until a shifter is brutally murdered — and the victim’s family wants blood.

Enter Freydis, Frost Mage and town Executor. She’s young, brash, dangerously stubborn… and a college student trying to survive midterms while enforcing magical law. Keeping her double life separate is hard enough.

Then the murder turns personal.

What should have been a routine investigation spirals into something darker. This wasn’t random. It wasn’t simple.

It was planned.

As vampires quietly pull people off the streets, shifters call for open war, and the Mage Council hides behind ancient arcane law, Freydis uncovers a conspiracy that could tear Vigrid apart. In this city, secrets are currency. Trust is weakness. And magic is a weapon.

Good thing she’s angry.

Cold Fury is the gripping first book in the Frost Mage series — a sharp, noir-tinged urban fantasy packed with supernatural politics, deadly alliances, and a heroine who hits back harder than she’s hit.

Review:  Fire Marked by (Alchemy of Witches Book 1) by L.A. McBride

Rating: 4.25⭐️

I really enjoyed this urban fantasy story. There’s apparently a prequel out there that fills in the background for the main characters here and how she arrived at her current situation. As well as all the other secondary characters interacting with her that come from that prequel.

However , the author gives us enough information about that time period so we’re not at a disadvantage here as the story goes forward. 

Olivia “Liv” is a retired fire elemental assassin who at the age of 16 was framed for a crime she didn’t commit. As a result Liv was forced to work for as a Shadow for the Conclave (magical ruling body) for a decade.

Now she’s free, name cleared and she’s back in Kansas City where she’s opening a magic shop. Until her old life comes back to interrupt her new start. 

I love so many of the characters that McBride has created for her book and series. The older group of witches, including Liv’s aunt are fabulous and among my favorites. From their environmental battles with toxic gardeners to their hula hoop classes, every scene memorable and often hilarious. They’re real, intelligent people who care about Liv, going about things in their own ways. 

Rafe, a werewolf black op who is the enemy to lovers maybe aspect of the story and series, is suitably flawed, and mysterious in his own ways. Where he fits in is left open-ended, which works. 

There’s an ongoing storyline that starts with the reason Liv was framed, but eventually moves on into a much larger, more complicated plot that involves demons, hell fire, and prophecy at the end. 

The end book leaves the reader immediately wanting the next story to see what happens with the characters and their lives. I am thoroughly hooked. 

I had certain reservations about why Liv was so determined to do something on her own but later on, she answered that during a heartfelt conversation with Rafe. It was the answer that I wanted to see her grounded in the reality of the dangers of her situation.  That one scene made all the difference. 

I now need to track down Inferno Bound for the history of this series and main character while waiting for the next one to be released.

New author discovery and series unlocked. Fantastic!  A winner!

This is set in the same universe as another of L.A. McBride’s series but as it’s the first book I’ve read of hers, that’s a series for another time. But the characters do crossover.

Cover and Illustrations by NMT Design Studio

Alchemy of Witches (2 book series)

Inferno Bound #0.5 prequel 

Fire Marked #1

Blaze Born #2 – Jan 27, 2027

Buy link

        Fire Marked (Alchemy of Witches Book 1)

    

Blurb 

Ten years as a supernatural assassin did not prepare me for customer service.

Once I was called the strongest fire elemental in a generation. All that got me was sentenced to serve as a supernatural assassin for a crime I didn’t commit. Now that my name’s been cleared, the powers-that-be cut me loose.

Their only rule? Keep my head down and leave missions to other Shadows.

Sinking my blood money into a magic shop, I try to be a good little witch. I run my shop, join a geriatric coven, teach fire hula hooping classes on the side, and adopt a klepto packrat as my familiar. Avoiding Rafe Blackwell, the golden-eyed lone wolf charged with keeping me in line, is harder. And ignoring the vampires attacking witches in Kansas City? Impossible.

When bodies turn up with veins full of the same blood additive that landed me that ten-year sentence, I can’t afford to sit on the sidelines. Going rogue risks my newfound freedom, but the alternative is a city overrun with demons and Nectar-addicted vampires in a feeding frenzy. When my fire magic fails, it’ll take every skill I earned as a Shadow to take down the Nectar ring despite the enforcer determined to keep me out of it.

But if running a witch shop has taught me one lesson, it’s how to face anything with a potion bomb and a smile.

Fire Marked is the first book in the Alchemy of Witches series. If you love fast-paced urban fantasy with a witch ready to burn down the establishment, quirky found family, and a slow-burn, enemies-to-lovers romance, this series is for you.

September 10, 2026

Accessibility

Learn more

Language

‎English

File size

5.8 MB

Screen Reader

Supported

Enhanced typesetting

Enabled

X-Ray

Not Enabled

Word Wise

Enabled

Print length

302 pages

ISBN-13

978-1957445328

Page Flip

Enabled

Book 1 of 2

Alchemy of Witches

Review: Pumpkin Spice Spells (Witchcakes #1) by Sara Bourgeois 

Rating: 3.5⭐️

I made the mistake of reading this without reading the prequel, Magic Muffin Magic, and felt that Pumpkin Spice Spells was decidedly lacking in background knowledge and in world building for the story to make sense and the reader to feel any connection. 

After I backtracked and read the prequel and got up to speed, Pumpkin Spice Spells was a better story. Ivy’s new start in her deceased aunt’s bakery in Harvest Hollow is slowly becoming her own, venturing into her own recipes and making her own mistakes, all with the help of her best friends and Nutmeg.

The rest of the town is still vague in community and shops, details of which I’m sure the author will fill in as events happen. But it’s the town inhabitants and descriptions that give the reader a glimpse into its own character and a sense of “identity “ that small towns have about them. 

So far that’s lacking here. Surprising in a book that is very wordy. It’s too “told to” and not enough, ambiance, I guess to make up for it. Something is missing here, and I’m finding it hard to figure out what. 

Whatever it is that is the missing ingredient, it’s what is keeping me from being 100 percent engaged in the lives of the people here and the storyline.  I’m just too removed emotionally to care about the mystery and the characters involved.

Surprising in a novel by this author.

I’ll keep reading, you never know. 

Lick it up and check it out for yourself. 

Witchcakes (3 book series)

Maple Muffin Magic #0.5

Pumpkin Spice Spells #1

Apple Cider Charms #2

Sugar Cookies Sorcery #3

Buy Link

        Pumpkin Spice Spells (Witchcakes Book 1)

    

Blurb 

Welcome to Harvest Hollow, where the pastries are sweet, the magic is real, and murder is always bad for business.

Ivy Merriweather never planned to come home. But when life in the city goes up in flames, she returns to Harvest Hollow to help save her family’s bakery, Witchcakes, just in time for the town’s busiest season… Halloween.

Between pumpkin spice cupcakes, enchanted recipes, and a chonky orange cat named Nutmeg who is far more trouble than help, Ivy already has enough on her plate.

Then a member of the Halloween festival committee is found dead behind the bakery, and suddenly all eyes are on Witchcakes.

The police chief is more interested in keeping the peace than solving a murder. The town rumor mill is working overtime. And Ivy’s kitchen magic keeps warning her that the wrong person is about to get away with it.

To clear her name, protect her bakery, and keep Harvest Hollow’s spookiest season from turning deadly, Ivy will have to follow the crumbs, trust her instincts, and hope Nutmeg does not destroy the evidence first…

September 15, 2026

Accessibility

Learn more

Language

‎English

File size

527 KB

Screen Reader

Supported

Enhanced typesetting

Enabled

X-Ray

Not Enabled

Word Wise

Enabled

Print length

225 pages

Page Flip

Enabled

Book 1 of 3

Witchcakes

Review: A Killer Heart (The Cat Lady Chronicles Book 5) by Helen Harper

Rating: 4.75⭐️

I just love Helen Harper’s The Catherine Lady Chronicles and this might be my favorite book of the series so far. 

In A Killer Heart we finally get to explore more of cat sith Kit McCafferty’s history, both her dangerous past and her current life’s work with MET, the Magical Enforcement Team,besides Captain Montgomery.

Kit’s past history as an assassin has often been referenced in other stories but here it’s an integral part of the book. The EEL, or Eagle Enforcers and Liquidators where Kit was employed and later retired from after 20 years as an assassin, is under attack. 

And whoever is targeting the people who work or worked there are harming others around them, innocents, as well as. Kit is immediately involved, both as a secretly retired assassin and as someone who is working with the MET, who is investigating the attacks. 

This is a great story. Kit is trying to balance her life, her past family as a EEL assassin and her new life in the Coldstream community which she’s embraced. Along with her new lone wolf boyfriend. 

Harper is terrific at showing Kit in her multiple identities, cat sith, dangerous assassin , an older woman who’s body is being uncooperative when she needs it most, and the “harmless cat lady “ persona she uses when she’s trying to make herself look like a helpless woman.  It always feels credible to the reader, valid and occasionally hilarious. 

The cats remain as cat like as ever, intriguing and mysterious. I love them. 

The investigation is a good one. And ends satisfactorily. 

The book ending however, oh my. An hilarious cliffhanger of sorts. It’s not fair to have to wait until next year to see the outcome of this one! 

An absolute delight of a book. Highly recommended. A romantic relationship with no spice is included. 

Book Cover created by Covers By Juan

The Cat Lady Chronicles (6 books)

Waif and Strays #1

The Dark Hiss of Magic #2

A Skirl of Sorcery #3

Night Maze #4

A Killer Heart #5

Kith and Kin #6 – April 30, 2027

Buy link

        A Killer Heart (The Cat Lady Chronicles Book 5)

    

Blurb

What happens when the hunters become the hunted?

Kit McCafferty is an upstanding citizen of the magical city of Coldstream.

She’s a good neighbour. She has a fabulous partner, an occasionally tidy home, and only a moderately alarming number of cats. Her days as a professional assassin with Eagle Enforcers and Liquidators are behind her. Or so she thinks.

When Kit volunteers to assist local law enforcement with crowd control, she comes face-to-face with her former life. Someone is trying to destroy EEL — the discreet but deadly firm of assassins she once called home — and they’re not concerned about collateral damage. They’re willing to raze Coldstream to the ground to finish the job.

Whoever is targeting EEL knows its inner workings and its secrets. Kit’s old friends and colleagues, as well as the citizens of Coldstream, are at risk. To stop blood from spilling onto the city’s glittering streets and shadowed alleyways, Kit must decide who she is now – a heroic citizen determined to protect her city or a stone cold killer.

Walking away from her past might not be an option.

This is the fifth book in the urban fantasy series The Cat Lady Chronicles. Expect magic, adventure and a whole lot of cats.

September 18, 2026

Language

‎English

Print length

288 pages

Book 5 of 6

The Cat Lady Chronicles

Review:  Storm’s Edge (Storm Herald – An Epic Urban Fantasy Series Book 1) by Sean Cunningham 

Rating: 4.5 ⭐️

Sean Cunningham is another new discovery for me in urban fantasy fiction and I am absolutely loving his characters and universe I’ve found in the first story in his new Storm Herald series, Storm’s Edge. 

It’s an action packed urban fantasy thriller, full of paranormal beings who battle mythical creatures, seek to obtain clients magical objects even investigating murders. All the while they are hiding their own problematic dark backgrounds. 

The main character is a woman whose identity and past history is slowly being revealed over the course of the series. But who she was is a persona of enormous power and dark energy. On the wrong side of the line.  Now she’s called Vanessa Montiero, not as powerful but strong enough. Vanessa works temporarily both for a coffee shop and as a courier who takes less than legal jobs. It’s a living and keeps her out of the notice of others. 

Until it doesn’t. 

I’m surprised by how much I’m enjoying this character and the storylines here. 

First of all, no romance. She exists first as a solo character, and then, reluctantly, as perhaps someone who might consider her to think of one or two of the other characters she’s gathering around her as friends. 

Not that she’d ever come out and acknowledge that. 

Vanessa is a hard personality. The past is one she’s working to overcome, as well as a core that thrives on violence.  As the story continues, she has to develop and adapt to her changing circumstances, and that’s means that instead of being able to always battle her way through a difficult situation, she has to learn how to handle it differently.

And Cunningham has just the other characters to assist her in this change in perspective. Including a vampire who’s not exactly the poster boy for the species himself, Leo. 

With every new character, there’s a good chance they might not make it through to the end. Cunningham exhibits a willingness to take his characters out of the narrative, even when we’re getting fond of them. 

Be warned. 

I hope Vanessa stays romantically free, that’s a great element here. The story is exciting, fast paced and very well executed. I couldn’t wait to get my hands on the next book and see what happens next. 

I hope the author has more than 3 books planned for the series. 

Highly recommended and yes, when I’m done reading this, I’ll head to the writer’s other series too. 

Cover art © MIBLArt.com 2025

Storm Herald – An Epic Urban Fantasy Series (3 book series)

Storm’s Edge #1

Storm’s Reckoning #2

Storm’s Awakening #3

Buy link 

        Storm’s Edge (Storm Herald – An Epic Urban Fantasy Series Book 1)

    

Blurb 

She just wanted to stay hidden. They had other plans.

Vanessa Montiero has spent a year keeping her head down – slinging coffee by day, running courier jobs by night. It was enough to stay off the radar of the people hunting her. It was safe.

Until a wealthy eccentric offers her more money than she’s seen in months to extract one girl from the Brotherhood: a gang of street-level warlocks who burn through their girlfriends like batteries to fuel their magic.

Simple job. Get in, get Mia, get out.

Except Freddie Wright isn’t about to let his “crucible” walk away. And the magic he wields is far more dangerous than anyone realised.

With Leo at her side – a vampire who’d rather cook you dinner than drain you, and whose strange abilities make him an outcast even among the undead – Vanessa will face necromancers, ancient vampires, and relentless warlocks, all while keeping one traumatised girl alive.

But the thing that made Vanessa so good at violence never really left her. Unleashing her old self might be the only way to save them – or it might shatter the life she’s worked so hard to build.

Storm’s Edge launches the Storm Herald series with brutal fight scenes, morally complex characters, and a London where magic hides just beneath the surface. Perfect for fans of Alex Verus, Kate Daniels, and The Dresden Files who like their urban fantasy served with found family forged in fire.

Join Vanessa on this action-packed urban fantasy adventure across London today!

Falconbrook Press

Publication date

December 6, 2025

Language

‎English

Print length

316 pages

Book 1 of 3

Storm Herald – An Epic Urban Fantasy Series

Review: Black Moon Rising (Riley Blackthorne #1) by J.L. Brannick

Rating:4⭐️

I enjoyed Black Moon Rising, the first in the Riley Blackthorne urban fantasy series by J. L. Brannick. Brannick’s another new urban fantasy author for me so I was excited about this book.

The character of Riley Blackthorne doesn’t disappoint here. She’s 24 I believe, trying to finish her degree in college while staying under the “radar “ of law enforcement agencies of all kinds due to her as yet unregistered powers. 

That’s about to end. 

Werewolf children are missing and the Alpha needs her help with the investigation. He won’t take no for an answer. 

I absolutely love Riley. Life has been tough for her, she’s been raised by her uncle. Her background is filled in more in the second novel than the bits the author allows here. But it’s tantalizing hints that give depth to Riley and strengthens her character. She’s independent, intelligent and with the ability to make decisions for herself. 

She’s absolutely the best thing about the book.

Now to the most problematic. That would be the Alpha. And their dynamic. Conall Segerson is the overbearing Alpha here. I’m sure in the trope he’s the powerful dominating male. But let’s be real.

In any other context, he’s toxic. He doesn’t let her make her own decisions. He withholds key information “because it’s for her own good “. He isolates her because it’s for “her own welfare “. And continues to ignore real issues within his pack that put her life at risk. 

And when things go south, as they do.

It’s all about what his “wolf” wants and what he wants. Not exactly what is good for her. 

Hint: This aspect of the series and the characters relationship is going to be even worse in book 2.

So for every character, Ash, or the hellhounds, that I found engaging, there was Conall sapping the joy right out of the narrative because I found his so offensive. 

Yes to her. Yes to the plot minus any aspect of the story about Conall. 

It ends on a cliffhanger. Which you know won’t end well for her. 

The other books are out. Read it for a terrific woman character, and an interesting plot. The author has spent some time defining her different types of Cognizant traits. Check out the beginning of this book.   Too bad she didn’t start with DARVO. 

Cover designer Maggie G. Jackson

Riley Blackthorne series:

Black Moon Rising #1

Cold Moon Burning #2

Crimson Moon Falling #3

Buy link

 Book 1 of 3: Riley Blackthorne Series 

Blurb 

The federal agents waiting outside my ecology classroom are here for me.

One of them is an enraged Alpha.

I’ve been dodging the agents for days, and Conall Segerson seethes with impatience. His Pack children are disappearing, but the wolf shifter has few clues and no leads.

He doesn’t care about exposing an unregistered, no-name Cognizant like me if it will help him find his missing cubs.

As we race to recover the children, I become an invaluable tool in his arsenal.

His wolf’s obsession.

And a target.

Conall pledges to protect my secrets, but enemies are closing in. And the most vicious betrayals are those we never see coming.

*The first book in the thriller urban fantasy romance series where a deadly investigation leads to seduction and betrayal.

Black Moon Rising is book one in the Riley Blackthorne Series. For fans of smart, STEM FMC’s and urban fantasy romance. This book ends on a cliffhanger and contains power imbalances, a slow-burn romance, spice, and violence.

Smart Mouth Publishing LLC

Publication date

February 12, 2026

Language

‎English

Print length

346 pages

Book 1 of 3

Riley Blackthorne Series

Review: Appraised for Murder: A Humorous Small Town Cozy Mystery (The Antiquated Alibi Mysteries Book 1) by Beatrix Penrose 

Rating: 4⭐️

This is the beginning of a new small town cozy mystery series by Beatrix Penrose and I think it’s off to a good start.

Appraised For Murder’s central character is a somewhat recently widowed woman, Maggie Callahan,  (it’s been two years), whose children are in college. Maggie returns to the small town of Black Walnut Cove, buys a big barn and opens an antique store/estate liquidators shop with her best friend, Birdie in the Blue Ridge Mountains, called Callahan & Co.

In Black Walnut Cove,  Maggie Callahan, along with Birdie Jenkins, the v neighbor shop owner Luke Sterling, and her golden retriever, Buster take on daily challenges and the occasional murder mystery. It’s a cozy, with a non spicy romance , small town murder mystery story. 

I enjoyed so much about this. The community was captured by the author so well, that of an Appalachia Mountain town and culture, layered over with antiques and other knowledge about its citizens and history.  All woven together in a story both about Maggie, a widow in her 50’s starting over in a town where she raised her children, old memories and a new future. 

Birdie, her best friend and co-owner of  Callahan & Co is absolutely one of my favorite characters. She’s real, hilarious, intelligent and one of the best things about the story. The murder mystery is also a good one, although I thought it was a little muddled towards the end. 

The romance between Maggie and Luke is almost nonexistent, he brings her pie, or coffee. There’s a kiss. That’s it. I didn’t see any chemistry between them. For me, it could have been left out and it wouldn’t have mattered. 

Buster the golden retriever is a cute element to the story and characters. 

One last thing, Maggie, Birdie and Luke do a lot of investigating here and the Sheriff’s department is mentioned. But when do they actually interact with each other? Turn over actual evidence? That whole thread or aspect to the narrative is missing and it doesn’t make sense to leave it out.

Appraised for Murder is a good start to Beatrix Penrose’s new series and I’m excited to see what the next book takes it. 

Cover Design is exactly what I expect from this author. Terrific. 

The Antiquated Alibi Mysteries:

Appraised for Murder #1

Poisoned by Provenance #2 

Buy link

 Book 1 of 2: The Antiquated Alibi Mysteries 

Blurb 

A picturesque Blue Ridge mountain town, an empty-nester starting over, and an antique appraiser who just valued his last settee…

Fifty-two-year-old widow Maggie Callahan thought she had her second act figured out. Running Callahan & Company Estate Liquidations out of a restored apple warehouse gave her purpose, steady work, and just enough room to keep her grief at bay. 

With her sharp-tongued best friend Birdie running client relations and her affable, treat-obsessed golden retriever Buster greeting customers, life in Black Walnut Cove was peaceful.

Then came the estate sale of the century.

Blackwood Manor is an eighty-room Victorian stone estate overflowing with three generations of hoarded family heirlooms. But before Maggie can even catalog the parlor furniture, an arrogant high-profile appraiser from Atlanta storms in, loudly threatens her business, and attempts to declare a rare 1820s Moravian cherrywood secretary worthless junk.

Hours later, the appraiser is found dead in the carriage house—bludgeoned with an antique brass balance scale.

With the sheriff eyeing her as a prime person of interest and two predatory out-of-town heirs circling like vultures, Maggie must team up with handsome salvage carpenter Luke Sterling to uncover what the victim was really hunting. When Buster sniffs out clues to a hidden 1845 mountain covenant, Maggie realizes someone is willing to kill to keep a century of land swindles buried in the dust.

Can Maggie decode the clues and unmask the killer before Blackwood Manor is sealed for good—or will Callahan & Company become the next liquidated asset?

Appraised for Murder is the first full-length novel in the charming Antiquated Alibi Mysteries series. If you love witty banter, small-town mountain secrets, lovable canine sidekicks, and clever mature sleuths, you’ll feel right at home in Black Walnut Cove!

Includes clean romance, no graphic gore, and no profanity. Grab your copy and start reading today!

September 5, 2026

Language

‎English

Print length

225 pages

Book 1 of 2

The Antiquated Alibi Mysteries

Review:  Call of the Blood (Everly Abbott #4) by K.N. Banet

Rating: 4.5⭐️

The fourth book in K.N. Banet’s new Everly Abbott series, I thought it was the best one where the characters are finding their rhythm and how their relationships are going to evolve. 

I also found the author’s Tribunal Archives timeline for this and how it fits into the other series. So I have a better understanding of the overall storyline and what is happening with the Tribunal here. Yes, it really does make sense now. 

Alexius and Everly head out to see her brother and encounter some surprises after the events of the last novel. 

Isaiah has disappeared, dealing with the death of his longtime companion and lover, Jacob. Which leaves Everly and Alexius at loose ends and when a call comes in from the other coast from a Vampire Master requesting assistance from Alexius, they are traveling away from Savannah and home. 

Banet packs so much into this terrific adventure. We meet Declan, Everly’s brother and his girlfriend. That’s a fantastic storyline. 

Callahan is head of the Werewolves and on the Tribunal with his mate Carissa. The Tribunal Archives time line can be found on the author’s website. I have listed it on the longer version of this review on my website as well. The author is going to add to it as new releases come available. 

But back to Call of the Blood because it packs a punch. Full of action, more than a few twists, and some extremely powerful drama here, including new relationship dynamics between the main characters. 

I’m so thrilled to see this author writing again. Wonderful novel and great addition to the universe. 

⭐️Series in the connected Tribunal Archives Universe (crossover characters and storylines);

Kaliya Sahni (6 book series)

Jacky Leon (12 book series to date-waiting for the 13th)

Everly Abbot – 4 books atm/9 books planned :

Servant of the Blood #1

Blood of the Wicked #2

Tainted Blood #3

Call of the Blood #4 

Tribunal archive Timeline – to date for Everly Abbott series:

Jacky Leon book 1

Kaliya Sahni Book 1

Kaliya Sahni Book 2

Jacky Leon #2

Kaliya Sahni #3

KS #4

Jackie Leon #3

KS#5

KS#6

Jackie Leon #4

Ancient and Immortal Standalone story 

Everly Abbott #1

Everly Abbott #2

Jackie Leon #5

Everly Abbott #3

Jackie Leon #6

Jackie Leon #7

Hearts & Wars/Tribunal Archives story 

Jackie Leon #8

Buy link

 Book 4 of 4: Everly Abbott 

Blurb 

Book overview 

Madness lives at the edge of every vampire’s mind.

We’re driven by a need to hunt and feed on the blood of what we once were. Blood, though, is not the only thing that can drive us to madness.

Alexius and I are learning that firsthand, stuck together for months, unable to leave Savannah, trapped in tight corridors as the tension rises. Conversations grow difficult and need becomes a painful thing that we both avoid. So when the opportunity arises to escape the quasi house arrest Isaiah condemned us to, we take it. My brother, my last living family member, wants to see me and I can’t resist the call.

The call of the blood brought me here.

It is also the source of a madness that can break me.

And we’re not the only vampires who ran to escape madness.

August 28, 2026

Language

‎English

Print lengthz as

326 pages

Book 4 of 4

Everly Abbott