Wednesday Reads — March 22nd – Regina the Southernista

Hello cozy mystery and book lovers and HAPPY SPRING! Spring has finally sprung and while the temps haven’t been spring like they will be this weekend and I am all like yeah! Also I thought it was time I introduced y’all to my cozy companion (and granddog) Miss Pumpkin who is my reading buddy and personal trainer. She is a new addition to our family and we love her to pieces even if she can be a little diva and has chewed up a few of my flats!

Hope everyone had an awesome St. Patrick’s day weekend. March has been a really great reading month. I’ve really enjoyed reading mysteries set in Ireland or during St. Patrick’s Day plus a few non Irish mysteries.

Until Next Time!

Currently Reading:

Murder at an Irish Castle (An Irish Castle Mystery) by Ellie Brannigan I just started reading this book today which is also my Facebook book club pick this month. So far the pacing is great and it has been hard for me to put it down and get back to work I am hoping that the story just keeps getting better.

Murder in a Scottish Shire (A Scottish Shire Mystery) by Traci Hall (ebook) is another book I just started and is the March pick for The Cozy Mystery Book Club (YouTube) but to be honest this is another book that has been on my radar for a while. Again so far I am enjoying the book and hoping it keeps getting better.

Finished Reading:

I stayed up till almost one o’clock this morning to finish reading Dead in Dublin (A Dublin Driver Mystery) by Catie Murphy and it was so worth the sleep I lost. I gave this first book in this series a huge 4 stars. I love that the book opens with the murder victim and sleuthing along with American transplant Megan as she keeps insisting she is not sleuthing. I’ve never thought of Dublin as a small town (it isn’t) but the author makes Dublin feel like a small Irish village instead of the city that it is. I found the pace of the story moved fairly quickly and it never dragged or got dull. Megan and her friends were so much fun and there is obviously chemistry between her and the detective. I really hope for more background on Megan as I read the other books in this great series.

I also read Hostile Taco-ver (A Street Food Cozy Mystery) by Gretchen Allen who is a new author to me and I discovered when she did an author takeover on a Facebook cozy mystery group I follow. She was doing a giveaway and I was one the winners and one the e-book of this first book in her series (full disclosure). I gave this book 2 stars but I plan to read the next book in the series. The main character Billie Hallifax arrives in Sea Glass Island, FL to claim the inheritance her grandmother left her: 12 food trucks. My problem with this first book is there is talk of a murder that takes place at the local culinary school but no sleuthing and then a second murder happens at almost the end of the book and the killer is revealed. It didn’t feel like a mystery at all but I’m hoping the second book will be better.

Next Read:

I am really excited to read Dial P for Poison (A Movie Club Mystery) by Zara Keane as a movie buff myself I am excited to read this first book that is set in Ireland and I am really excited for this one.