Book Review and Giveaway - Murder by the Millions (A Literary Dining Mystery) by Daryl Wood Gerber

My Review

Allie Catt  works as a caterer and part-time bookstore employee in Bramblewood, North Carolina, just outside Asheville.  She combines her two loves by catering book theme events.   She is working on a big party with a Great Gatsby theme.  The event host, Jason Gardner, even has a Gatsby-ish life.  When he ends up dead, Allie works to solve the mystery.

I wanted to read Murder by the Millions because I like Daryl Wood Gerber's cozy mysteries and absolutely loved the first book in this series.

This mystery was a delightful read too!  The Great Gatsby is my favorite classic novel, and I loved the party theme, the Gatsby allusions, and the little Gatsby quotes at the start of each chapter.  I love the book and catering/food tidbits that intersect in this mystery.  The food history information was  especially interesting.

The mystery aspect of this book is well done, with several suspects and an enjoyable detecting process to follow.

I like Allie Catt, her friends and neighbors.  I appreciate the Cast of Characters pages - very helpful!

I recommend Murder By the Millions for other cozy mystery fans.  You will enjoy this series!

Book Synopsis

In a beautiful mountain community near Asheville, North Carolina, caterer and personal chef Allie Catt serves up mouthwatering, literary-themed dinner parties inspired by her clients’ favorite  books. Her next event is sure to be a roaring success—if a murderer isn’t a killjoy . . .

If it were true that the best thing a girl can be in this world is a fool, then Allie Catt would be out of luck. Fortunately, Allie’s business is a smashing success. And following her Pride and Prejudice event, grander plans await . . .

Feast for the Eyes bookstore manager and Allie’s best friend, Tegan, is hosting a book club soiree and wants it to be a glittering affair based on F. Scott Fitzgerald’s iconic Jazz Age-set novel, The Great Gatsby. Soon, Art Deco table settings and visions of flappers are dancing the Charleston in their heads. Even Tegan’s prickly sister, Vanna, is on board. And surely, Allie’s tuxedo cat, Darcy, thinks it’s the cat’s meow.
Amid the planning, charismatic developer Jason Gardner arrives in town to buy some historic buildings on Main Street. He, too, has plans: to create a modern mall. Allie is more than concerned. She even wants to protest. But when Jason invites her to cater a lavish party, she finds him surprisingly likable. Then she’s summoned to his estate for a meeting—and finds him dead.

Once again Allie’s landed in the middle of a crime scene. Worse, one of her earrings is later discovered near the body. And when police learn she was upset about the mall, she’s suspect #1. Allie’s blossoming sleuthing skills once cleared Tegan’s name, but can she save herself—before a killer writes her a not-so-great Gatsbyesque ending . . .

Author Bio

Daryl Wood Gerber is the Agatha Award-winning, nationally bestselling author of the Literary Dining Mysteries, the Fairy Garden Mysteries, the French Bistro Mysteries, and the Cookbook Nook Mysteries, as well as the Cheese Shop Mysteries written under the name Avery Aames. She also writes standalone suspense novels and the Aspen Adams Novels of Suspense. Prior to her career as a novelist, she was an actress with roles in television shows including “Murder, She Wrote,” and she wrote for the popular TV sitcom “Out of this World.” Originally from the Bay Area, she now lives in Southern California, where she likes to cook, garden, and spend time with her frisky Goldendoodle named Sparky.

Author Links

WEBSITE: https://darylwoodgerber.com

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Purchase Links 

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Giveaway

Book Review and Giveaway - Death on Dickens Island: A Books on the Beach Mystery by Allison Brook

My Review

Delia Dickens has recently moved home to Dickens Island, a small town off Long Island, New York.  She has reunited with her 15 year old son, who was being raised by her parents, and she is living in her grandmother's old home and working in her father's general store.  When a family friend is murdered, she starts looking into the murder - only to discover another decades-old mystery.  

I wanted to read Death on Dickens Island because Allison Brook's Haunted Library series is one of my favorites.  I was excited to see that she has a new cozy mystery series!

Wow!  What a start to a cozy series.  I read this book in a couple of days because I couldn't put it down.  I loved the setting - a quiet, sleepy little island with Victorian homes and lots of small town charm.

I really like Delia, who has just come back home to reconnect with her past - including, very importantly, her fifteen year old son Connor.  She also reconnects with her high school sweetheart, who broke her heart years ago.  He's now the trusted town vet - but can she trust him with her heart again?  We also meet her father, who runs an old fashioned general store, her aunt and uncle (often at odds with each other), her mother (now living in NYC), and her ghostly grandmother, who only appears to Delia in the secret room - a little library - of her home.  There is even a lovable rescue dog, a Bearded Collie named Riley.

The initial mystery is set up early on, and it deepens and becomes more complicated (and more dangerous) as Delia investigates.

I really look forward to future books in this series.  I enthusiastically recommend Death on Dickens Island for other cozy mystery readers.  It has a charming small town, an intrepid amateur detective, a ghostly relative (who helps with and adds to the mystery), and even a secret room!

Book Synopsis

A divorced sleuth in her thirties must bring peace back to her small town after a murder tears neighbors and family members apart in this series debut from Agatha Award nominee Allison Brook, perfect for fans of Cynthia Riggs and Eva Gates.

Delia Dickens has come home to Dickens Island, a small island in the Long Island Sound, after a twelve-year stint in Manhattan. She’s looking forward to helping her father revitalize the general store that the family owns as well as curating a small book nook. Most importantly, she wants to reunite with her fifteen-year-old son. But Dickens Island isn’t the peaceful town Delia remembers–and she might be in more danger here than she ever was in the big city.

Delia’s Aunt Reenie and Uncle Brad, both prominent community leaders, are at odds over the sale of a farm and its future use. This has created friction, not only in their marriage, but amongst the citizens of the town. When a young woman, new to the town council and friendly with Brad, is found murdered, everything escalates and reaches a new boiling point.

With Reenie and Brad both suspects in the case and at each other’s throats, the townspeople start to take sides. When the ghost of her grandmother visits her, Delia learns how past events have impacted the present, and it is up to her to expose the farm’s sordid secrets in order to catch a murderer and restore peace to her beloved island.

Author Bio

A former Spanish teacher, Marilyn Levinson writes mysteries, novels of suspense, and  books for kids. Her books have received many accolades. As Allison Brook she writes the Haunted Library series. Death Overdue, the first in the series, was an Agatha nominee for Best Contemporary Novel in 2018. Other mysteries include the Golden Age of Mystery Book Club series, the Twin Lakes series, and Giving Up the Ghost. Her suspense, Come Home to Death, was released in April 2024, and her suspense, Dangerous Relations, will be republished in 2025. Death on Dickens Island is the first book in her Books on the Beach series.

Marilyn’s juvenile novel, Rufus and Magic Run Amok, was an International Reading Association-Children’s Book Council Children’s Choice and has recently come out in a new edition. Rufus and the Witch’s Drudge, the second book in the series, has been released, and the third, Rufus and the Dark Side of Magic, will be out later this year. And Don’t Bring Jeremy was a nominee for six state awards. Her YA horror, The Devil’s Pawn, came out in a new edition in January 2024.

Marilyn lives on Long Island, where many of her books take place. She loves traveling, reading, doing crossword puzzles and Sudoku, chatting on FaceTime with her grandkids, and playing with her kittens, Romeo and Juliet.

Author Links

Website/Newsletter Sign Up: http://www.marilynlevinson.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/marilyn.levinson.10

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/161602.Marilyn_Levinson

X: https://twitter.com/MarilynLevinson

BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/marilyn-levinson

BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/allison-brook

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/marilynlevinsonauthor/

Purchase Links: Amazon

Giveaway