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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For a list of my reviews go HERE.
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