Posts Tagged ‘Lesley A. Diehl’

Thanks for dropping by my stop on the tour for Dumpster Dying and Grilled, Chilled and Killed by Lesley A. Diehl.

I do love my cozy mysteries and these will have you in stitches.

Check out the books. Enjoy my reviews.

And don’t forget to enter the giveaway!

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Dumpster Dying: Book 1 in the Big Lake Murder Mysteries

Cozy Mystery
1st in Series
Creekside Publishing (December 31, 2016)
Paperback: 248 Pages E-Book 232 pages
ISBN-13: 978-0997234923
E-Book ASIN: B01MRWGBC8

My Review

The beautiful state of Florida. People are either born there, die there, retire there, or enjoy a lovely visit. For Emily Rhodes, it’s one of those, and maybe two, since she’s stuck her nose in a murder investigation.

When a prominent rancher is murdered and Emily’s friend is accused of the murder, she pulls out all the stops to prove her innocence, although there’s the risk of painting a target on her own back.

I can’t help but fall for Emily. She’s like me, no longer a spring chicken but still able to jig with the best of them. She’s salty, sassy, and no fool. Friends are very important to her, but don’t get on her bad side. She’s double tough. As Detective Lewis finds out when they tangle up in the case.

This was one laugh after another. There’s an eclectic cast of character’s and more shenanigans and manipulating going on than you can shake a stick at. And have you taken a gander at the cover art?. What a hoot! I’m a southern gal and if you put cowboy boots and a flamingo on the cover, you betcha I’m going to read that book!

Whether you love mysteries or cozy mysteries, there’s plenty to like here. And some fun moments to soften the story plot so it isn’t too dark.

And did someone ask whether there’s romance in this book? I detected some sparks flying and they weren’t from no fire.

4 Stars

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Synopsis

Emily Rhodes came to rural Florida for the cowboys, the cattle, and to do a little country two-step, not to fall head first onto a dead body in a dumpster. Ah, the golden years of retirement in the sunshine state. They’re more like pot metal to Emily, who discovers the body of the county’s wealthiest rancher in the Big Lake Country Club dumpster. With her close friend accused of the murder, Emily sets aside her grief at her life partner’s death to find the real killer. She underestimates the obstacles rural Florida can set up for a winter visitor and runs afoul of a local judge with his own version of justice, hires a lawyer who works out of a retirement home, and flees wild fires hand-in-hand with the man she believes to be the killer.

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Grilled, Chilled and Killed: Big Lake Murder Mystery
Cozy Mystery
2nd in Series
Creekside Publishing (December 31, 2016)
Paperback: 330 pages E-Book 224 pages
ISBN-13: 978-0997234930
E-Book ASIN: B01N9GUUKU

My Review

If it ain’t one dead body it’s another, as once again Emily stumbles over one. This time it’s a contestant in the local barbecue contest. It seems someone is taking things a bit too seriously.

Detective Lewis and Emily tangle up once again as she practices her snooping skills and he sniffs around her skirt. Yep, the romantic sparks from the first book have produced a small fire. There’s no denying they’re attracted to each other, whether they like it or not.

Half the fun was reading about Lewis and Emily. I kept thinking they’d hook up. Then the author threw in a red herring named Donald. He just might upset their apple cart.

There’s plenty of distractions as Emily tries to solve the case. She straightened out one thing that was looming over her from her past. Then, another huge one came knocking on her door. Not to mention hungry gators and giant pigs.

So much in this book reminds me of me. I live in a small southern town. Tended bar at a local pub, as does Emily. And had friends from all walks of life. I felt right at home in the pages of this book and had a grand time.

I’m not going to say you can’t read this without having read the first book. The author fills you in on previous events without slowing down the plot. But I’d recommend you hit the ground running and start at the beginning. You don’t want to miss out on the fun.

4 Stars

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Synopsis

It seems as if Emily is destined to discover dead bodies. This time she finds one of the contestants at the local barbecue cook-off dead and covered in barbecue sauce in a beer cooler. She should be used to stumbling onto corpses by now and the question of who killed the guy should pique her curiosity, but Emily decides to let Detective Lewis handle this one, at least until she figures his theory of who did the deed is wrong, wrong, wrong. Lewis’ denigration of Emily’s speculations is condescending enough to stimulate her dormant snooping skills. As the two of them go on their separate paths to find the killer, Lewis’ old partner, Toby the dirty, tobacco-spitting cop interferes in the investigation leaving Lewis with the wrong man in jail. Killers, bootleggers, barbecue and feral pigs—it’s a lethal game of hide and seek in the Florida swamp.

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About Author Lesley A. Diehl



Lesley retired from her life as a professor of psychology and reclaimed her country roots by moving to a small cottage in the Butternut River Valley in Upstate New York. In the winter she migrates to old Florida—cowboys, scrub palmetto and open fields of grazing cattle, a place where spurs still jingle in the post office, and gators make golf a contact sport. Back north, the shy ghost inhabiting the cottage serves as her literary muse. When not writing, she gardens, cooks, frequents yard sales and renovates the 1874 cottage with the help of her husband, two cats and, of course, Fred the ghost, who gives artistic direction to their work. She is the author of a number of mystery series and mysteries as well as short stories. The third book in the Eve Appel murders (from Camel Press) A Sporting Murder was awarded a Readers’ Favorite Five Star Award and her short story Gator Aid a Sleuthfest (2009) short story first place. She has fired the alligator that served as her literary muse when she is in Florida and is interviewing applicants for the position.

Author Links

Website / Blog / Twitter / Facebook / Facebook

Purchase Links

Dumpster Dying – Amazon 

Grilled, Chilled and Killed – Amazon

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Tour Participants

May 15 – The Ninja Librarian – REVIEW – Book 1, CHARACTER GUEST POST

May 15 – My Journey Back –My Reading Journeys – REVIEW – Both Books, INTERVIEW*

May 16 – Queen of All She Reads – REVIEW – Both Books

May 16 – Dee-Scoveries – SPOTLIGHT

May 17 – Valerie’s Musings – REVIEW – Both Books, INTERVIEW

May 17 – Babs Book Bistro – SPOTLIGHT

May 18 – A Blue Million Books – GUEST POST

May 18 – Book Babble – REVIEW – Both Books

May 19 – Sleuth Cafe – SPOTLIGHT

May 19 – Bookworm Café –  GUEST POST

May 20 – Texas Book-aholic – REVIEW – Book 1

May 20 – 3 Partners in Shopping, Nana, Mommy, & Sissy, Too! – REVIEW – Both Books *

May 21 – Books,Dreams,Life – SPOTLIGHT

May 21 – Island Confidential – CHARACTER INTERVIEW

May 22 – Laura’s Interests – REVIEW – Both Books, CHARACTER GUEST POST

May 22 –StoreyBook Reviews – REVIEW – Book 1

May 23 – FUONLYKNEW – REVIEW – Both Books*

May 24 – StoreyBook Reviews – REVIEW – Book 2

May 24 – T’s Stuff – REVIEW – Book 1

May 25 – Bibliophile Reviews –  REVIEW – Both Books

May 25 – Celticlady’s Reviews – SPOTLIGHT

May 26 – Rainy Day Reviews – REVIEW –  Both Books*

May 26 – Socrates’ Book Reviews – SPOTLIGHT

May 27 – Varietats2010 – REVIEW – Book 2

May 27 – Brooke Blogs – REVIEW Book 1, GUEST POST*

May 28 – Brooke Blogs – REVIEW Book 2*

May 28 – Cassidy’s Bookshelves – CHARACTER GUEST POST

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Thanks so much for visiting fuonlyknew and Good Luck!

For a list of my reviews go HERE.

For a list of free eBooks updated daily go HERE

To see all of my giveaways go HERE

Welcome to Teaser Tuesday hosted by Ambrosia  @ The Purple Booker.

Anyone can play along! Just do the following:
• Grab your current read.
• Open to a random page.
•Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

 

My Teaser for this week is from

 Grilled, Chilled and Killed

Big Lake Murder Mystery #2

by Lesley A. Diehl

33368727

 

c8df8-add2bto2bgoodreads2bblack

Genre: Cozy Mystery

 My teaser from page 88 in the paperback.

“When did the cure for hypothermia become a shower for two?”

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Read on if you want to know more.

Synopsis

This is the second in the Big Lake Mysteries (the first was Dumpster Dying) featuring Emily Rhodes, retired preschool teacher and bartender turned amateur snoop.

It seems as if Emily is destined to discover dead bodies. This time she finds one of the contestants at the local barbeque cook-off dead and covered in barbeque sauce in a beer cooler. She should be used to stumbling onto corpses by now and the question of who killed the guy should pique her curiosity, but Emily decides to let Detective Lewis handle this one, at least until she figures his theory of who did the deed is wrong, wrong, wrong. Lewis’ denigration of Emily’s speculations is condescending enough to stimulate her dormant snooping skills. As the two of them go on their separate paths to find the killer, Lewis’ old partner, Toby the dirty, tobacco-spitting cop interferes in the investigation leaving Lewis with the wrong man in jail. Killers, bootleggers, barbeque and feral pigs—it’s a lethal game of hide and seek in the Florida swamp.

Amazon

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How about you? Got a tease? Tell me!

stick out tongue photo: rr-sticking-out-tongue roadrunner-stick-out-tongue.gif

 

Thanks so much for visiting fuonlyknew!

For a list of my reviews go HERE.

For a list of free eBooks updated daily go HERE

To see all of my giveaways go HERE

Welcome to Teaser Tuesday hosted by Ambrosia  @ The Purple Booker.

Anyone can play along! Just do the following:
• Grab your current read.
• Open to a random page.
•Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

 

My Teaser for this week is from

 Dumpster Dying

Big Lake Murder Mystery #1

by Lesley A. Diehl

33325056

c8df8-add2bto2bgoodreads2bblack

Genre: Cozy Mystery

 My teaser from page 80 in the paperback.

“Us. I said ‘us’ and I think you misinterpreted what I meant.”

“How could I? It’s a simple enough word. It means you and me.”

~~~~~

Read on if you want to know more.

Synopsis

Emily Rhodes came to rural Florida for the cowboys, the cattle, and to do a little country two-step, not to fall head first onto a dead body in a dumpster. Ah, the golden years of retirement in the sunshine state. They’re more like pot metal to Emily, who discovers the body of the county’s wealthiest rancher in the Big Lake Country Club dumpster. With her close friend accused of the murder, Emily sets aside her grief at her life partner’s death to find the real killer. She underestimates the obstacles rural Florida can set up for a winter visitor and runs afoul of a local judge with his own version of justice, hires a lawyer who works out of a retirement home, and flees wild fires hand-in-hand with the man she believes to be the killer.

Amazon

~~~~~

How about you? Got a tease? Tell me!

stick out tongue photo: rr-sticking-out-tongue roadrunner-stick-out-tongue.gif

 

Thanks so much for visiting fuonlyknew!

For a list of my reviews go HERE.

For a list of free eBooks updated daily go HERE

To see all of my giveaways go HERE

MURDER IS ACADEMIC large banner640

Every good cozy mystery needs an attention grabbing, fun, title and quirky cover art.

You get both of these with Murder Is Academic.

I have lots to tell you in my review, so please read on and enjoy.

Warning: You won’t be able to resist this book!

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Murder is Academic
by Lesley A. Diehl

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I enjoyed the book….Well written, will keep you guessing…
~rantin’ ravin and reading

Lesley keeps you hooked from the start. From the murder until finding out who did it, you are on the edge of your seat.
~Shelley’s Book Case

I love a good mystery and this was no exception. It was light and fun …
~The Book Junkie

Diehl writes with wit and an eye for detail and creates believable characters that I would want to hang out with.
~Bea’s Book Nook

 

Murder Is Academic
(Laura Murphy Mystery Series)

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File Size: 1626 KB
Print Length: 223 pages
Publisher: Lesley A. Diehl (March 29, 2014)
Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
 ASIN: B00JCV6XG8

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MY REVIEW

Murder Is Academic tickled my funny bone and had me using my brain pan.

Laura and Annie, two college professors, just landed their canoe. While waiting for their ride home, Laura wanders over to examine something she spotted while on the lake. It’s a shirt or something, in an ugly plaid color. She gives it a tug and finds something even uglier. There’s a body attached.

As they wait for their ride to arrive, a stranger approaches them, wanting to know what they’re doing at the construction site. Laura doesn’t know if his reason for being there is legit or maybe he’s the killer so she tries out some Judo on him.

This was the first time I laughed out loud while reading this book. I could just see Laura, twisting and yanking this guys arm around and not having much affect. Guy is tall, broad-shouldered, and immovable.

Once her friend Der, the police detective arrives, the victim is identified as the President of the college and the questions begin. The funniest one was from Guy. He wanted to know if Laura was being arrested for murder, and if not, would she have dinner with him.

 I have four characters I’m attached to. Laura’s friend Annie is funny and caring, someone I’d like to pal around with. Der, the cop, is Laura’s best buddy, and his sarcasm and charm are equally appealing. But there’s no hanky panky with these two. They’re just friends. Enter Guy, the sexy biker from Canada. He’s alpha male and has cast his lure at Laura. I was glad she took the bait. These two started out suspecting each other and I liked where they ended up. Now Laura, she felt so real, so alive. We shared many things in common, including sticking our heads in the icebox to relieve the hot flashes. She’s now a favorite character of mine. And there’s on e character that comes in a bit later in the story that I wanted to hug. You’ll know when you meet.

While Der is questioning suspects and chasing down leads, Laura does her own investigating. With no love lost between the President and the faculty, they’re all suspects. And as the list narrows, the killer gets more desperate. Now she is being threatened and Laura and Guy are bracing for the eye of the coming storm.

There are a few things I need in order to enjoy a mystery.

There has to be multiple suspects to sift through . I like following the trails, coming up on dead ends, and moving on to the next.

The characters have to be flawed and well-developed, especially the amateur sleuths. That’s what makes the book funny. Comic relief is a must.

The motive can’t be obvious or the killer will be easy to sort out.

And the ending has to make sense and not be rushed. I like the case wrapped up and explained without feeling like it all happened in the last pages.

In Murder is Academic the author gave me plenty of suspects, not too few and not too many, which made sniffing out the clues engaging.

The characters, especially Laura, Guy, Der, and Annie were captivating, loveable, and fun to hang with. They felt like old friends.

There was more than one motive. I felt like I was being given subtle clues right about from the beginning and my attention stayed sharp.

And now for the ending. I wanted more than one answer. As I was reading, I found I wanted to know more about Annie and her ill husband, More about Der besides what’s happening on the job, and definitely more about Laura and Guy. And, of course, I wanted to know who the killer was and why he did it. I got plenty of answers and came away happy.

Must not forget about the romance. The author having Laura and Guy hook up right from the beginning was exciting. I like when the romance is developed in the beginning and there’s no wishy-washy stuff. Then it’s just more fun to read how the romance grows, and the mystery still remains the main focus. Laura and Guy were icing on the cake.

I laughed out loud so many times while reading. I couldn’t wait to find out who did what and why. I was eager to read the next page and the next, and so on. That’s why I’d recommend this book to anyone. Friends, family, the stranger looking at me funny when I laughed out loud in the waiting room. Anyone who’d listen. I can not wait for more!

5 STARS

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Synopsis

Laura Murphy, psychology professor, thinks there’s nothing she likes better than coffee and donuts on a summer morning until she says yes to dinner with a Canadian biker and finds herself and her date suspects in the murder of her college’s president. Laura’s friend, the detective assigned the case, asks her to help him find out who on the small upstate New York college campus may be a killer. The murder appears to be wrapped up in some unsavory happenings on the lake where Laura lives. A fish kill and raw sewage seeping into the water along with the apparent drowning suicide of a faculty member complicate the hunt for the killer. And then things become personal. The killer makes a threatening phone call to Laura. With a tornado bearing down on the area and the killer intent upon silencing her, Laura’s sleuthing work may come too late to save her and her biker from a watery grave.

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LES DIEHL

About The Author

Like me, my protagonists choose to live their lives close to nature.
From the deep, green river valleys and tree-covered mountains of upstate New York to the palm-treed pastures of the Big Lake Country in Florida, these women have found their homes and their hearts in rural America.
These plucky snoops are joined by a transplant from Connecticut, Eve Appel, who moves to rural Florida to set up a consignment shop with her best friend and partner, Madeleine Boudreau.

All these amateur sleuths yearn for the simple, artless existence of hard work coupled with rustic pleasure.
That’s why they live away from big cities, but murder and violence have a way of stalking us, even our plucky heroines, who think they’ve avoided life’s perils.

Lesley A. Diehl author of cozy mysteries featuring sassy, country gals who enjoy snooping www.lesleyadiehl.com

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Tour Participants

May 15 – rantin’ ravin’ and reading – Review, Guest Post, Giveaway
May 16 – Shelley’s Book Case – Review,
May 17 – The Book Junkie – Review, Giveaway
May 19 – Bea’s Book Nook– Review,
May 20 – fuonlyknew ~ Laura’s ramblins and reviews – Review
May 21 – deal sharing aunt – Interview, Giveaway
May 22 – Victoria’s Pages of Romance – Guest Post
May 23 – Traci Andrighett’s blog – Review
May 26 – Melina’s Book Blog – Review, Guest Post, Giveaway
May 27 – Cozy Up With Kathy – Interview
May 28 – Socrates’ Book Reviews – Review
May 29 – Back Porchervations – Review, Interview
May 30 – Community Bookstop – Review
May 31 – StoreyBook Reviews – Review

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Thanks so much for visiting fuonlyknew