The Running Bibliophile

Murder Ties The Knot (A Haunted Souvenir Shop Mystery, #4) by Christy Fifield takes place in Keyhole Bay, Florida and souvenir shop owner Glory Martine tries to pick up a quilt from a vendor in Alabama. However, the vendor and her husband aren't home and are missing and two dead men are found at their house the next day. This cozy mystery series has been a favorite of mine, but I have to say that this installment is my least favorite. There really isn't much to the mystery sections of the story, and the rest of the storyline just felt a bit flat and forced to me.  As far as suspects go, there really weren't too many. In fact, two men randomly show up in the driveway while Karen and Glory were waiting for Beth and Everett. The men take Karen's cell phone and force Glory into their truck only to drop her off at the end of the driveway and put the cell phone in the mailbox. It was very anti-climatic and not quite believable. I felt like Fifield was trying to add other s...

Back to School Murder (A Lucy Stone Mystery, #4) by Leslie Meier opens with Lucy Stone temping at the local newspaper office when she hears that a bomb threat has been called into the elementary school. When a teacher realizes one of the students is unaccounted for, the vice principal rushes back into the school to save him. However, she's found murdered a few days later. Who would want her dead? What I loved about this particular edition in the Lucy Stone Mystery series is that there were a lot of red herrings. I felt sure that a specific character was the murdered for most of the story, but as Back to School Murder progressed, I changed my mind and ended up being completely wrong on everyone I suspected. Leslie Meier did a fabulous job with all the suspects and keeping me guessing. One of the situations I found believable was that Lucy was feeling unappreciated and unattractive, and when she received a bit of attention from another man, she feel for it and felt bad about it aft...

When Back Bay Bank in Keyhole Bay, Florida makes a risky loan to a local husand and wife, and it goes belly up, the corporate bank sends in senior auditor Bridget McKenna to investigate the shady dealings the local branch is involved in. When Bridget turns up dead, Glory Martine knows something is fishy about her death. The Haunted Souvenir Shop Mystery series is one of my new favorite cozy mystery book series. Although the plot lines are very typical, the way the series is written sucks you in and makes you fall in love with the characters. The third installment, Murder Sends A Postcard , by Christy Fifield is no different from its predecessors. I absolutely love all the characters and feel like I'm right there with Glory as she goes through her day. It's as if I'm part of the book too. One thing that I thought was dead on in the description in Murder Sends A Postcard (A Haunted Souvenir Shop Mystery, #3)  was how distrustful most everyone was of the character...

Once in a blue moon comes along a book that causes you to forget your surroundings . . . Murder Hooks A Mermaid (A Haunted Souvenir Shop Mystery #2) by Christy Fifield is one of those books. Much better than the first book in the series, Murder Buys A T-Shirt (A Haunted Souvenir Shop Mystery #1) , I finished the sequel in less than 24 hours. If I hadn't had to get up in the morning to work, I would have stayed up all night to finish this book. Instead, I had to settle for finishing it tonight. I became so immersed in Murder Hooks A Mermaid that I completely tuned out the television and actually forgot where I was because I felt like I was one of the gang and was doing everything that Glory Martine was doing. I literally had no idea what time it was when I finished the book. People don't just come back for no reason. No truer words could have been said by Bluebeard . . . "People don't just come back for no reason." This immediately made me leap to a...

A while ago, I was looking for an inexpensive book to read that would fill the void of finishing another cozy mystery book series, and I came across Murder Buys A T-Shirt (A Haunted Souvenir S hop Mystery # 1) by Christy Fifield. It took me quite some time to actually pick it up to read, and I am so very happy I picked it up because I think I have a new favorite cozy mystery book series. The main characters in Murder Buys A T-Shirt (A Haunted Souvenir Shop Mystery #1) are all very likeable, especially Glory Martine whose point of view the story is told from. However, the character that steals the show is her pet bird, Bluebeard. Although this is a cozy mystery, the mystery wasn't too big of a mystery. I didn't mind it too much because the story line and characters were so engaging. It made me feel as if I were part of the friend circle and actually lived there. I loved the fact that the story took place in a town called Keyhole Bay, which is just outside of Pens...