Tag: cat cozy mystery

Review:  Morning Glories & Murder (Willowmere Cozy Mysteries Book 6) by Corrine Winters

Rating: 4⭐️

Morning Glories & Murder is the sixth novel in Winters’ Willowmere Cozy Mysteries series and I find that, in a 17 book series, there’s elements of this that I still love and others that I find less appealing at this point. 

Number one is the gorgeous language and the absolute beauty of the words Winters uses to convey a sense of character or atmospheric magic in her work. Succinct, poetic and witty, I love the expression of her voice here.  

Her ability to create a mystical, living almost sentience that flows from the dirt and wood in Willowmere is amazing. It’s believable in feeling both ominous and beautifully ancient simultaneously. 

The murder mystery each book is occupied with are also good. But each has felt a bit flat because of there’s been so much time spent on a convoluted, investigative work that apprehending the culprit is a rushed affair, concluded all too briefly. 

Relationships too are sparsely linked, dryly written about and even more weakly linked. The reader must infer from bits of information where different relationships might be headed, if anywhere. I’m actually ok with that. 

But it’s with the main character of Maeve Everhart where I personally have the most problems connecting. She’s been hinting at having considerable power but time and again she’s attacked. Yet Maeve is passive against violent aggressive tactics or undermining maneuvering. 

Throughout story after story, she avoids taking evidence to the town’s sheriff, keeping clues to herself ( sometimes losing the key material), waiting and watching for “the soil” and Whim, the familiar to point to a possible motive or culprit. 

It’s frustrating to read. Because essentially it’s wandering around as the culprit continues to escalate “evil doings” right until the last few pages. Then it’s boom, it’s whoever. Done. 

Here she’s personally attacked in a number of ways, professionally, personally etc. And again, it’s an approach of “ idk, not sure what I can do about it “. 

For me, I’m not sure if this type of character is worth the effort. Love the language, not connecting with any but the cat, a snarky wry individual on his best days. 

Think I’ll give it a rest for now. Come back later when I need a hit for sentences like this: 

“From his perch atop the hanging planter by the window, Whim offered a disdainful yawn and flexed one white-tipped paw. “It’s not the rosemary. It’s the coming crowd. You can feel the potpourri energy swelling already. Too many amateur aromatherapists. Not enough dignity in the ceramics.”

Sigh. 

Not a fan of the covers, which doesn’t match up with the tone of the book. 

Willowmere Cozy Mysteries (17 book series):

1 Mildew & Murder (2025) 

2 Moss & Murder (2025) 

3 Marigolds & Murder (2025) 

4 Mulch & Murder (2025) 

5 Magnolias & Murder (2025) 

6 Morning Glories & Murder (2025) 

7 Milkweed & Murder (2025) 

8 Mulberries & Murder (2025) 

9 Mint & Murder (2025) 

10 Moonflowers & Murder (2025) 

11 Marjoram & Murder (2025) 

12 Mandrake & Murder (2025) 

13 Meadowfoam & Murder (2025) 

14 Mayapple & Murder (2025) 

15 Mallow & Murder (2025) 

16 Mist & Murder (2025) 

17 Mosswine & Murder (2025)

Buy link:

 Book 6 of 17: Willowmere Cozy Mysteries 

Blurb 

Willowmere’s Summer Artisan Faire was supposed to celebrate beauty, craft, and memory. Instead, it begins with the discovery of a beloved potter’s body beneath her own shattered booth.

Maeve Everhart wasn’t looking for another mystery. But the clay doesn’t lie—and neither does the soil. As whispers of sabotage echo through the town’s sunlit streets, she’s pulled into a web of rivalries, forgeries, and unfinished work that someone was desperate to keep buried.

With her greenhouse rattled by secrets and old friendships tested by fire, Maeve must piece together a broken charm, a fractured legacy, and the truth that lives in what Petra left behind.

Because in Willowmere, every creation carries intention—and some were made to remember what others wanted to forget.

Get ready for a whirlwind mystery and cozy thrill ride in this paranormal cozy mystery. Get under a blanket and be prepared to be immersed!

Publication date

May 21, 2025

Language

‎English

Print length

151 pages

Book 6 of 17

Willowmere Cozy Mysteries

Review:  A New Beginning: A Millie the Miracle Cat Cozy Mystery by Courtney McFarlin

Rating: 3.5

A New Beginning: A Millie the Miracle Cat Cozy Mystery by Courtney McFarlin has so much potential in the overall series storyline and engaging characters that I wish I actually enjoyed the book more. 

Initially, how McFarlin started to develop her character and her initiation into the small town of Timber Falls, Colorado was a terrific setup. 

Olivia Sutton is fleeing Portland, a failed marriage, a recently remarried ex, and lots of memories. She’s made arrangements to buy a bookstore in a small town in Colorado she’s never seen from a woman she’s only talked to on the phone. 

She’s got a doubting best friend in Portland telling her to return, and all her belongings packed in her car.  Right away I’m invested in this woman who desperately wants a new beginning. 

She’s met with drama, murder and a mystery. And a town of strangers, some of whom slowly become friends. 

Especially a small group of older women, who I just adore. They rank high as some of the best characters and aspects of the story. 

Then there’s Millie, the cat she adopts. 

This is the element I feel derailed the book for me. 

Take Millie away or change certain parts of this cat’s “personality” and we continue to have a really good mystery series set in a believable place, filled with credible characters a reader can connect with. 

Add in Millie, the woowoo factor and you’ll find, imo, a story at odds with itself. Both an emotional journey and interesting mystery series or an over the top “woowoo” tale that rides the line of  goofy talking cat from outer space or whatever. Honestly, that element gave me a narrative whiplash when it popped up, because it was so unexpected in the way the author introduced it. 

Anyway, for me, Millie kept taking me away from the story and developing relationships with the other characters.  Just odd.  So much that I’m probably not going forward with the rest of the series . 

Check it out and decide for yourself if this is something you might enjoy. 

A Millie the Miracle Cat Cozy Mystery (5 book series):

A New Beginning #1

Stacked Against Us #2

Volume of Lies #3

Poison Pen #4

The Plot Thickens #5

Buy link

        A New Beginning: A Millie the Miracle Cat Cozy Mystery

    

Blurb 

Olivia Sutton just moved to Timber Falls, a little town hidden in the mountains of Colorado, with the goal of starting fresh and leaving her past firmly in the rearview mirror. She’s got a plan and some hard-earned savings. How hard could starting over be?

While she’s scouting locations to start a new bookstore, she discovers a bedraggled stray cat, and something far more sinister.

Will the people in her newly claimed hometown believe she’s innocent? Is she losing her grip on reality or is her new cat capable of strange things?

Join Olivia and Millie the Cat as they work together to save Olivia’s reputation, find a killer, and begin living their new lives.