REVIEWS FROM SALLY POWERS

$10,000 IN SMALL, UNMARKED PUZZLES         
PARNELL HALL         
Minotaur Books   January, 2012

Things are jumping in Bakerhaven, Connecticut. Well, at least for Cora Felton, The Puzzle Lady. Her niece Sherry has gone into premature labor and Becky Baldwin, the town's hot, sexy lawyer, needs Cora's help. Sherry's delivery runs into problems and Becky doesn't seem to want to be forthcoming about what her problem is - or who her client is for that matter. Since Cora can't help deliver Sherry's baby, she agrees to help Becky deliver a blackmail payoff. Even that isn't the straight-forward drop it was intended to be - Cora finds a dead body at the dump site, loses the payoff money and is totally cheesed off about everything and everyone. When her ex-husband Melvin shows up, that's just the icing on a very unpalatable cake.

Parnell Hall's Cora Felton series is a wonderful romp with a feisty old (forgive me Cora) lady who enjoys kicking butt (which she does big time in this adventure), driving Police Chief Harper crazy and generally causing chaos. If you've ever run into Parnell at a convention or seen his You Tube videos, you'll know what to expect. If you haven't, what are you waiting for? RECOMMENDED.

STAY AT HOME DEAD         
JEFFREY ALLEN         
Kensington PBO 1/12

There are both pluses and minuses in living in a small town like Rose Petal, Texas. Some days it's both a good place and a claustrophobic existence. On the day Deuce Winters discovers a dead body in his minivan it had started out as a good day. Deuce is a stay-at-home dad with a three-year-old daughter Carly, and a well-paid lawyer wife, Julianne.

Once Deuce realizes the dead man is Benny Barnes, someone he knows who was responsible for ending Deuce's football prospects in high school, things go downhill fast. Detective Willie Bell is a the cop who catches the case - a bad day thing since he's arrogant and dumb. Billy Caldwell is a local lawyer, equally arrogant and possibly dumber. He claims he was about to file a lawsuit on Benny's behalf against Deuce stemming from that high school football incident. Another bad day thing. If you add to that the fact that Benny married Deuce's high school sweetheart - never mind that Deuce had already moved on - and the fact that, despite anything Deuce can say, the townspeople consider him jobless rather than having a full-time job as a stay-at-home dad, it's hard to see where the pluses come into the picture.

Jeffrey Allen mixes in a private investigator who is a dwarf, a virulent PTA president determined to oust Deuce from his volunteer job as Classroom Dad and an Elvis clone with a truly outlandish toupee to create an entertaining, sometimes laugh-out-loud small town cozy. A very enjoyable debut to what promise to be a fun series.

DROP DEAD CHOCOLATE         
JESSICA BECK         
Minotaur Books PBO 4/12

"I guess you could say that the murder was partly my fault."

Now that's a promising start for a murder mystery.

The premise of Suzanne Hart's mother, Dorothy, running for mayor, goaded by the incumbent's blatant misuse of power and his bullying attitude, also augers well for a feisty, cozy read. Add to this an ex-wife committed to trashing Dorothy in public for stealing her husband (not true) and you have the makings for a fun read.

Suzanne's donut shop is a hub of activity where gossip is purveyed right along with the donuts and coffee. Good thing too, since Suzanne's mother is a prime suspect in the murder and she's dating the Chief of Police (with the ex-wife mentioned above) so an outside investigator, State Police Investigator Jake Bishop - who happens to be dating Suzanne - must be called in. It just keeps getting better!

Despite their faith in Jake, Suzanne and her best friend Grace and retired cop George get together to conduct their own investigation.

To round out this delectable mystery there are donut recipes for both baked and fried donuts. Yum!

Jessica Beck provides a strong mystery, wonderful characters and has an entertaining style. RECOMMENDED.

A KILLER READ         
ERIKA CHASE         
Berkley Prime Crime PBO 4/12

The Ashton Corners (North Carolina) Mystery Readers and Cheese Straws Society had barely started their inaugural meeting when they had a mystery guest... and then a murder.

Not quite what Lizzie Turner had in mind when she thought up the book club. Lizzie, a reading specialist with the Ashton School Board, invited Molly, a close friend and the town matriarch, her new friend Sally-Jo, and two of her literacy students, Stephanie and Angie, to meet to discuss mystery novels. Bob Miller, the former Police Chief, was coerced into joining by his nosy sister and he brought along a new neighbor, lawyer Jacob Smith.

As the first meeting begins, Angie, arriving late, announces that there is a man wandering in the hallway. The man asks to use the phone, ostensibly to call for a tow, and then behaves in a very shifty manner, refuses to give his name and leaves abruptly. Only to be found dead in his car when the book club meeting ends. Now all the book clubbers are suspects in his murder.

Naturally, Lizzie feels responsible and starts inquiries of her own, despite being discouraged by the new Police Chief, her old high school heart throb, Mark Dreyfus. The members of the book club all become involved in the hunt while Lizzie still has some unanswered questions about them.

Chapters of a mystery manuscript begin arriving in Lizzie's mailbox in the middle of the night and someone calls her, also in the middle of the night, asking questions about her long dead father.

Threaded throughout this engaging story is the story of Lizzie's work with underachieving students trying to find the key to get them interested in reading. The idea of using Janet Evanovich as a conduit to Shakespeare is sheer brilliance!

Red herrings abound, romance is in the air (in several directions) and a good time awaits readers in this first in a new series. Make sure to have a pencil and paper handy to keep track of all the mystery books these avid readers recommend.