Red Wolf's Room

While I love books that incorporate baking, mystery, Sherlock Holmes, a new town and a dog, the book Two Parts Sugar, One Part Murder by Valerie Burns wasn't my cup of tea. I was surprised and disappointed. The cover may be indicative of this. Maddy is on the cover, holding her phone for a selfie and several lopsided cakes surround her. While the cakes are symbolic of her inability to cook or bake, she is often on social media, posting pictures of food, her new dog and her new business. However, someone wasn't paying attention to her wardrobe; aprons are supposed to protect the wearer's shirt and, for some reason, it was drawn with very long drawstrings. If this was indicative of Maddy not knowing how an apron works since she's never in the kitchen, it's overkill. Maddy is intelligent and would know how to put an apron on. I like the play on the series' title: "Baker Street" because it's a baking series and the characters talk about Sherlock Holme...

  Murder is Binding by Lorna Barrett is a cozy mystery and Book 1 of her Booktown Mystery series. It includes the elements of a classic mystery in a succinct and compact writing style. I often turn to cozy mysteries when I want the suspense and intrigue of a good mystery but in a Hallmark-type of setting. I enjoyed putting my detective hat on for this mystery and ended up being half-right at the end. It was challenging since the story went some place I hadn't expected, and I found myself constantly going back and forth with uncertainty about the culprit's identity, their means, their motive, and who or what was a red herring. It was a fun read, but it does have its faults. Summary In the quiet town of Stoneham, New Hampshire, Tricia Miles finds the dead body of her neighbor, Doris Gleason, in Doris's Cookery bookshop during a fire. Tricia and her sister, Angelica, do their own investigation since the local sheriff is trying to pin the crime on Tricia. While she's look...