51) Mortar and Murder by Jennie Bentley

The Blurb :

Avery Baker was once a New York textile designer, but inheriting her aunt's old Maine cottage has led her down a new career path-home renovation. Finding a property's hidden potential has rewards and challenges-especially when a mystery surfaces from behind the walls of a centuries-old house on an island that has more than its share of deadly secrets.

My Thoughts :

A good cozy mystery theme is one that makes me take a break from reading to actually google the content because it sounds so interesting.  It may sound cool or it may just be something I have never heard of before but usually it is because the author manages to get me curious and fascinated by the content.  Jennie Bentley has me turning to google.  Looking at pictures and reading up on history.  This series is just so impressive as far as depth and knowledge is concerned.

I have never been one for renovation and I have never been to Maine but this series is really giving me a taste for the history of both.  This fourth installment in the series tells stories of smugglers and the revolution.  There are hidden rooms and secluded islands.  There are also Russian immigrants and some other mysterious goings on but how the author brings them together and makes them so interesting is just pure writing genius.

To say I am enjoying this series would be an understatement.  There isn't one big thing that stands out above other cozies but just a great combination of characters, location, writing style and well researched content.   The story flows, is interesting and keeps you guessing.  I love the setting and would pack my bags straight away and travel off to see Maine if I had the money.  I would also be happy to go buy myself one of those amazing houses and try and renovate it.  The author doesn't make it sound easy but she definitely makes it sound rewarding.

Avery and Derek are great leading characters and I enjoy seeing their relationship grow.  Avery getting involved in the strange and mysterious murders always makes for great reading and I am just as clueless as she is and love unraveling it all with her.  This series is well worth checking out and I am pretty sure I will be reading the fifth installment very soon.  I can't wait to go back to Maine and see what delights await me on my next trip.  Even if the place seems to be getting a lot of murders lately I would still love to go there.

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44) Plaster and Poison by Jennie Bentley

The Blurb :

Ex-New York designer Avery Baker left the bustle of the big city to start her own home renovation business in Maine. But as she renovates an old carriage house on behalf of a soon-to-be wed friend, she stumbles across a lifeless body-a person known all too well by the blushing bride. The small town is abuzz with big suspicions, and Avery realizes she must unravel a matrimonial murder.

My Thoughts :

This review was actually scheduled to post automagically yesterday but for some reason the magic failed and the post disappeared.

As I mentioned in my previous review I decided to keep going with this series and read the third installment straight after the second.  I don't usually do this but I am very behind on this series and the majority of the books have been on my Kindle for a while.  I actually read the first book back in 2011 and despite enjoying it I haven't had the chance to go back to it till now.  I think my goal of catching up with all the series I am behind in has helped motivate me to get books like this back on my To Be Read list!

Anyway what can I say about this third part?  It was as good as the previous two and I enjoyed it.  The characters are friendly and mysteries are interesting but not too taxing.  It isn't hard to figure things out but it isn't boring going along for the ride as Avery sleuths things out.

This time around we get to know some of the characters better with a lot of history being brought out into the open.  Also the character count increases with some additional family members coming to town for the holidays.  Some twists and turns make the on-going story worth continuing although I hope that Avery stops doing the whole jealous thing in regards to Derek's ex.

Can't understand why Avery went off on a tangent in this book and spent so much time on a cold case.  It was a nice enough story/mystery but with everything going on in the present it seemed weird to have her trying to hunt down something that happened 100 years ago.

This series has been sitting on my shelf long enough and I am determined to get them all read asap.  So expect a review for the fourth book sometime soon.  I am really enjoying the series so far and I don't want to leave it to get all dusty again!

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43) Spackled and Spooked by Jennie Bentley

The Blurb :

Avery Baker and her boyfriend, Derek Ellis, are flipping a seriously stigmatized house rumored to have ghosts. Soon they'll have even bigger problems-and this renovation project might haunt them forever.

My Thoughts :

I actually read this book last weekend but for some reason I totally forgot to write my review.  So better late than never and all that ;)

The Do-It-Yourself Mysteries is a series I started reading back in 2011 and only got as far as the first book.  Since then some of the other books in the series have been on my Kindle/wishlist waiting for some attention and over the Easter weekend I finally got around to this second installment.

I was worried about going back to the series after such a long break and also if I would still like the series.  I remember enjoying the first book but after all this time there is the chance that my tastes have changed or I was mixing up my memories with another series.   Well I didn't remember much about the main characters but within a few chapters I knew all I needed to know.  They were lovely people who were enjoying their jobs and lives.  The discovery of a dead body was just a spanner in the works and the sleuthing began!

This turned out to be a great read and a super cozy mystery.  I enjoyed it and loved the renovation aspect. The characters are really easy to like and the location is definitely a place I would love to visit.  The plot flowed nicely and even though I thought it was pretty obvious who the murderer was, it was a worthwhile read to follow the story to the end.

It is a shame that it took me so long to go back to this series and it is only because of a a reading goal I have set myself that this series has been picked back up again.  So I am going to read the next part straight away so I can catch up a little more.  After all there are seven books in the series and this is only number two!

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32) Fatal Fixer-Upper by Jennie Bentley

The Blurb -

Avery Baker was once a New York designer, but inheriting her aunt's old Maine cottage has led her down a new career path—home renovation. Now, with help from hunky handyman Derek Ellis, Avery starts learning the ABCs of DIY. But when the designer-turned-renovator finds clues that lead to a missing professor, she wonders if she can finish the house—without getting finished off in the process.

My Thoughts -

Fatal Fixer-Upper is the first in the cozy Do-It-Yourself Home Renovation mysteries. At the beginning I wasn't sure if I was going to like the book. Avery, the main character came across as so naive and a little blonde and I was a little put off. However I decided to see how things panned out and I was pleasantly surprised by how the story developed. By the end of the book I was hooked and now I have another cozy mystery series to add to my reading list.

I like reading cozy mysteries and even though my first love is Paranormal Urban Fantasy I need a break from the Supernatural now and again. This cozy series really hit the spot this week and turned out to be a welcome change and an easy interesting read. The plot was clever and well thought out and the whole Do-It-Yourself angle was a nice twist and not too over the top.

So I look forward to reading more in this series. I see there are actually already four books so I have some catching up to do!