Book Review: Murder at Fontainebleau by Amanda Carmack

I started reading this for the Save Our Cozies Readathon, but didn't finish it in time to post the review. Ordinarily, I would've just skipped the review since I have so many other things to do, but I loved this book so much, I just had to review it.

Title: Murder at Fountainebleau (Elizabethan Mysteries #5)
Author: Amanda Carmack
Genres: Historical fiction| Mystery| Female sleuth
Print length: 297 pages
Publisher: NAL
Publication date: June 7, 2016
Source: Library
Format: Paperback
Author's website: http://amandacarmack.com/

In the latest Elizabethan mystery by the author of Murder at Whitehall, amateur sleuth Kate Haywood investigates deadly machinations unfolding behind the scenes in the magnificent French court.
1561. Queen Elizabeth’s throne is threatened as Mary Queen of Scots—pushed in every direction by opposing and powerful forces—declares herself the rightful Queen of England. To discover her rival’s next unpredictable move, Elizabeth dispatches a party of trustworthy intimates to Mary’s court at Fontainebleau. Chief among them is Kate Haywood, who finds that the glittering balls and genial banquets conceal a web of poisonous ambition that soon turns deadly.
When a beautiful and disruptively flirtatious member of the visiting party is murdered, Kate suspects that the man who stands accused has been set up to discredit Elizabeth. She vows to find the real killer, but the French court is a labyrinth unlike any she has ever navigated before—and at every turn there are more traps set to spring.

The plot: Kate Haywood is Queen Elizabeth's court musician and occasional spy. Due to Kate's position, she can go places where most women cannot. However, because she is "just a woman", she tends to be overlooked and takes advantage of this to collect gossip and sensitive information to report back to the Queen.

After King Francis, Mary's young husband, dies, Kate is sent along with a delegation to extend Queen Elizabeth's sympathies and also find out what her plans are now. Will she remarry to hold onto her power? Retire quietly in the French countryside? Return to Scotland as their queen? Attempt to overthrow Elizabeth after declaring herself the rightful Queen of England? It's Kate's job to find out.

While at court, a member of the English delegation is killed. Some wish to brush it off as a tragic accident, but Kate suspects that it's really murder. Queen Mary echoes this sentiment, accusing a member of the visiting English party of the crime, which now feels like a setup to cast aspersions on Queen Elizabeth's intentions.

The victim, a stunningly beautiful young woman, had been brushed off as a frivolous flirt, but Kate senses there was much more to her than she let on. She was previously involved in a scandal the last time she was at court, with a young man known for some questionable political ties. Could this have anything to do with the young woman's murder? Or was it the classic tale of a jealous suitor giving into a fit of passion?

As Kate delves into the background of those at court, where political intrigue is simply a game they all must play, she has to ask herself: Who can she trust? 

The character(s): Our heroine, Kate, is intelligent, talented, loyal, and discreet. Her position as court musician gives her the perfect opportunity to mingle unobtrusively while collecting information. What a wonderfully interesting character.

This is the first book in the series that I've read, so I don't know much about the love triangle being set up between Kate, Rob (the dashing head of the court acting troupe), and Anthony (the handsome, steady soon-to-be lawyer), but it's touched on very lightly. I did not feel like I was missing out at all by not reading the earlier books in the series.

The mystery: I was enjoying the world, characters, and set up so much that I didn't even realize I was over 100 pages into the book and the murder hadn't occurred yet! In fact, I almost wish I hadn't read the back cover, since it spoils who's going to be murdered. I actually would've preferred the tension and suspense of not knowing who was going to die. I was able to figure out who the murderer was, but I was still completely drawn in during the big reveal. Very satisfying.

Final bite: I loved this story so much that (literally) as soon as I finished, I went online and ordered all 5 books from my favorite independent history and mystery bookstore, Centuries & Sleuths Bookstore. I can't wait til they arrive so I can read the earlier installments in the series. If you like historical fiction and enjoy a good traditional mystery, definitely check this out.

Rating: 5/5

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? #2 + Summer 2016 Comment Challenge

This was another crazy weekend. I participated in the Save Our Cozies Readathon, met with my mystery book club, and went to my childhood best friend's bridal shower. For an introvert like me, all this enforced socializing has left me exhausted. Happy, but exhausted. Not looking forward to work tomorrow.

First things first, the Save Our Cozies Readathon was so much fun! I'm new to the blogging community, so it was nice to participate in something that made me feel like I was part of the group. It's crazy how fast an hour can pass, as I struggled to keep up with the hourly challenges. I greatly enjoyed it, and would sign up again in a heartbeat. I not only found lots of awesome blogs to visit, but I read three different books that I'd had my eye on, but never got around to reading. I also won one of the challenges, so I'm eagerly awaiting a copy of Terror in Taffeta ^^

Hosted @ The Book Date

It's Monday! What Are You Reading is a chance for me to talk about what I was/am/will be reading.

What I Read Last Week:

First up, I did a LOT of reading last week. For the Save Our Cozies Readathon, I read Beauty, Beast, and Belladonna (reviewed here), Death with All the Trimmings (reviewed here), and Murder at Fountainebleau (expect a review soon).

I liked Beauty, Beast, and Belladonna, but ultimately found it disappointing. I might have had my standards too high, but I found the plot rather convoluted. I might check out more in the series, but it's not on my priority list. Death with All the Trimmings was a fun, easy read and I definitely plan on checking out more in this series. The last book I read for the Readathon was hands-down my favorite. Even though I had never read any of the other books in the Elizabethan Mystery series, I was immersed from the very first page. I literally ordered all 5 books in the series as soon as I was finished, I loved it so much. Highly recommended.

1) Pretty good, 2) Good, 3) EXCELLENT

Bruno, Chief of Police was my mystery discussion group's July selection. I really, really enjoyed this book. It started off a bit slow for me, but I was soon immersed in the intricacies of food, life, politics, and murder taking place in the fictional town of St. Denis. The food descriptions were so good, that I whipped up on omelette based on one of the passages in the book (recipe here)

The Teaberry Strangler is, I believe, the 10th volume in the Tea Shop Mystery series. Another great edition, though I suspect I enjoy the world and the characters much more than I do the mystery-solving.

What I Am Currently Reading:

 

 

I got A Dark and Stormy Murder at the author's book signing and discussion and have just been waiting for the craziness of last week to finish before reading it.Throw Away Girls was downloaded from Netgalley (why did it take me so long to find you?!), and it seems like an interesting departure from the many cozies I've been reading. Expect reviews on both in the coming weeks.

What's Up Next:

I am a huge fan of graphic novels, and spent a ton of money on Saturday picking up the latest trades. Paper Girls has been sitting on my shelf, but it's definitely going to be read soon, not only because it's gotten great reviews but because it's also a mystery. So expect me to talk about it in the coming weeks.

Lastly, I will be participating in the August/Summer 2016 Comment Challenge, hosted by 

Lonna @ FLYLeF and Alicia @ A Kernel of Nonsense.

Since I'm a new blogger, I figured this would be a great way to meet other people in the blogging community, make some friends, and discover new blogs. I'm new to this, so I'm only signing up for 5-10 comments. I can't wait to meet my blog partner! 

You can also follow along on Twitter by using the hashtag #commentchallenge2016

(Save Our Cozies!) Recipe: Hannah Swensen's Butterscotch Bonanza Bars

Another Hannah Swensen/Joanne Fluke recipe to share, this time for the Save Our Cozies Readathon. I had posted a picture of these luscious bars about a week ago, promising to share the recipe someday. That time is now! These are so, so easy to make, customizable, and quite delicious. My friends, co-workers, and students are all big fans of this recipe.

Hannah divided the contents of her bowl into three batches. She added the butterscotch chips to Bertie's batch and spread the batter in the bottom of a nine-inch by thirteen-inch pan she'd lined with heavy duty foil. Since she'd tripled the recipe, Hannah mixed semi-sweet chocolate chips into the second batch and white chocolate chips into the third. Personally, she preferred these yummy cookie bars plain. The butterscotch flavor from the ingredients was absolutely delicious all by itself. But several of their customers were crazy about white chocolate chips, and she knew they'd be delighted with the combination of white chocolate and butterscotch. There were also those who wouldn't dream of ordering anything without dark chocolate, and the third batch she'd made was bound to please them.

Butterscotch Bonanza Bars with white chocolate and walnuts

 I've made all three versions, sometimes with pecans, other times with walnuts, and all variations are delicious. I'm particular to the regular butterscotch with walnuts though.

Hannah Swensen's Butterscotch Bonanza Bars
1/2 cup salted butter
2 cups light brown sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 beaten eggs
1 1/2 cups flour
1 cup chopped nuts (optional)
2 cups butterscotch/semi-sweet//white chocolate chips (optional)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease and flour a 9 x 13-inch pan. Set it aside.

Melt the butter in a small saucepan over low heat on the stovetop, or put it in a microwave-safe mixing bowl and heat it for 1 minute in the microwave on HIGH.

Add the brown sugar to the mixing bowl with the melted butter and stir it in well. 

Mix in the baking powder and the salt. Make sure they're thoroughly incorporated.

Stir in the vanilla extract.

Mix in the beaten eggs.

Add the flour by half-cup increments, stirring in each increment before adding the next.

Stir in the nuts, if you decided to use them.

Stir in the optional chips.

Spoon the batter into the prepared cake pan and smooth out the top with a rubber spatula.

Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 20-25 minutes.

When the bars are done, take them out of the oven and let them cool completely.

Use a sharp knife to cut into small pieces (they're quite rich).

(Save Our Cozies!) Book Review: Death With All the Trimmings by Lucy Burdette

Next up on my Save Our Cozies reading list is:

Title: Death with All the Trimmings (A Key West Food Critic Mystery #5)
Author: Lucy Burdette
Genres: Mystery| Amateur Sleuth| Culinary| Cozy
Print length: 320 pages
Publisher: NAL
Publication date: December 2nd 2014
Source: Library
Format: Paperback
Author website: http://www.lucyburdette.com/

The only snow in Key West this Christmas is Hayley Snow, food critic for Key Zest magazine, who is not getting time off for the holiday…or time off from murder. 
It may be Christmastime, but thoughts of peace on earth, good will toward men, don’t seem to extend to the restaurant biz. Hayley has been assigned to interview Edel Waugh, chef/owner of Key West’s hottest new restaurant. But off the record, Edel reveals someone’s sabotaging her kitchen and asks Hayley to investigate.
Things heat up fast when the restaurant is set on fire—and a body is discovered in the charred wreckage. Is someone out to destroy the chef’s business—or actually kill her? Amid holiday festivities like the lighted boat parade and visiting relatives who stir up mixed emotions, Hayley needs to smoke out an arsonist and a killer who may turn up the heat on her next…
INCLUDES RECIPES!  Goodreads

The plot: It's Christmastime in Key West, but all is not jolly for Hayley Snow, struggling food critic, and our series sleuth. Her job security is shaky at best, her mother pops down for a surprise visit with her boyfriend in tow, her love life isn't looking any brighter, and the famous chef she's assigned to interview has a boatload of issues.

Edel Waugh, the owner/chef of the hot new restaurant in Key West, is desperate for her restaurant to be a success after breaking away from her established restaurant in New York, co-owned with her philandering ex-husband. However, a series of sabotage, arson, and a dead body are threatening her livelihood. She turns to Hayley to figure out who's behind all this and save her restaurant.

The characters: I have to confess to yet again picking up a series in the middle. However, my lack of knowledge of the previous books didn't hamper my reading enjoyment at all. The cast of characters felt fully realized to me, and I loved Hayley's relationships with the people within her community. 

Hayley is a very likeable character. That usually isn't necessary for me as a reader, but fairly important in a cozy series.

The mystery: I really enjoyed all the mysteries and plot twists, but when we got near the end, I found it a little...anti-climactic. It wasn't bad, but I definitely enjoyed the journey way more than the destination.

Final bite: The bits of food description were tantalizing, and I craved a Cuban sandwich and good cup of cafe con leche the whole time I was reading. The book was fun and interesting, and while I didn't love the ending, I enjoyed it enough to want to read the other books in the series.

Rating: 4/5 

Saturday Review of Books Hosted @ Semicolon

(Save Our Cozies!) Book Review: Beauty, Beast, and Belladonna by Maia Chance

Title: Beauty, Beast, and Belladonna (A Fair Tale Fatal Mystery #3)
Author: Maia Chance
Genres: Mystery| Amateur sleuth| Historical fiction| Fairy tale
Print length: 320 pages
Publisher: Berkeley
Publication Date: February 2nd, 2016
Source: Library
Format: Paperback
Author website: http://www.maiachance.com/ 

Variety hall actress Ophelia Flax knows how to win over an audience. That’s why she’s accepted the marriage proposal of the brutish Comte de Griffe to nettle her occasional investigative partner—and romantic sparring partner—the pompous if dashing Professor Penrose. 
But with his boorish table manners, wild mane of hair, and habit of prowling away the wee hours, the comte has shredded Ophelia’s last nerve. She intends to disengage from her feral fiancé at his winter hunting party—until Penrose, his lovely new fiancée, and a stagecoach of stranded travelers arrive at the comte’s sprawling château. Soon she can’t tell the boars from the bores.
When one of the guests is found clawed and bloody in the orangerie, Ophelia is determined to solve the murder before everyone starts believing the local version of Beauty and the Beast. But until the snows melt, she can’t trust her eyes—or her heart—since even the most civilized people hold beastly secrets...Goodreads

The plot: The classic fairy tale (and best Disney movie ever), Beauty and the Beast, is re-imagined as a fun take on the traditional mystery. 

Our heroine, Ophelia Flax, a former actress/circus performer/lord-knows-what-else, seems to have landed herself in a bit of trouble by agreeing to marrying the rich, yet brutish Comte de Griffe. He believes that she is a rich American heiress, a ruse that she is quickly becoming uncomfortable with. Before she can come clean and break off the engagement, the money she set aside for passage back to America mysteriously disappears. Her scheming companion Henrietta promises to reimburse her if Ophelia keeps up the charade long enough for Henrietta to seduce a rich acquaintance of the Comte. A conman named Forthwith jumps in on this scheme. Wacky hijinks ensue.

To further complicate things, Professor Penrose, a romantic entanglement from previous books, makes an appearance at the Comte's estate with his beautiful fiancee and future father-in-law in tow. To add to this ever-growing party, a stagecoach breaks down outside the Comte's gate and several mysterious strangers join our cast of characters.

Murder(s), snooping, false imprisonment, and a history lesson behind the original story of Beauty and the Beast follow this curious event.


The character(s): Ophelia Flax is our typical, plucky young American heroine. She is a consummate survivor, but with a strong moral code that demands she make her own way in life. Her unusual background within this world makes her a much more interesting character than most cozy heroines.

Beauty, Beast, and Belladonna is the 3rd book in the Fairy Tale Fatal Mystery series, and I must confess that I have yet to read the first two. My lack of knowledge on the series made it a little confusing in the beginning, because the pre-established relationships play a rather important role throughout the novel. However, I don't feel that it's necessary to read the previous books in order to enjoy the story.


The mystery: This book took some crazy twists and turns; most of them were interesting, others not so much. I went back and forth a few times on who the killer really was, but due to the complicated plot and surplus of characters, it was hard to really pin them down. Not sure if this is a positive point or not.

Final bite: This book was a pleasant departure from my usual culinary-inspired cozies, though the plot was a bit convoluted and the page length was a tad too long for a cozy. I'm in a weird position; I didn't care enough for the book to read the first two books in the series, but I liked it enough to read future volumes.

If you like historical mysteries and fairy tale-inspired stories, you will probably love this book.

Rating: 3.6/5

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