The Man Next Door

A fun, suspenseful novel where three familial females all fall under the intrigue of an enigmatic new neighbor, a "hottie.” 

Author Sheila Roberts (The Best Life Book Club) brings together three California-based women in the same family, each in different stages of life in The Man Next Door.

Zona Hartman loses everything when her husband-turned-ex, “an overflowing septic tank of a human being” gambled away all of their savings—including the funds earmarked for their daughter, Bree, whose dreams of attending nursing school are now deferred.

Zona--a financially destitute, now twice-divorced 44-year-old--is forced to move in with her mother, Louise, a once-happily-married, now widowed, 68-year-old. Spry Louise has aspirations to finally write a mystery novel and is determined to find unlucky-in-love-Zona a good man.

When Louise falls and breaks her leg during a Hawaiian cruise, she returns home to convalesce and finally has the time to pursue both of her dreams in the form of a handsome newcomer to the neighborhood--a real “hottie”--about the same age as Zona. However, while Louise, ever the imaginative writer, tries to script the story of who the enigmatic man is--keeping tabs on his comings and goings--things take intriguing turns when, on the other side of the fence, shouting matches resound on a regular basis. Maybe the “hottie” is not such a good catch for Zona after all? But boy, what a story Louise might have to tell!  

“Fun” should be Sheila Roberts’ middle name as she charms readers with spunky characters, snappy dialogue, and a spirited, cleverly plotted storyline that successfully blends elements of rom-com, cozy mystery, and suspense.

The Man Next Door by Sheila Roberts

MIRA Books (HarperCollins, Harlequin), 18.99 paperback, 9780778360285, 368 pages

Publishing Date: October 14, 2025

To order this book on Bookshop.org, link HERE

Learn more about Sheila Roberts HERE

Pony Confidential

In this madcap, comic mystery, an old pony sets out to find and exact revenge on his former owner, a woman extradited for a 25-year-old murder.

Christina Lynch departs from historical fiction themed on love and espionage (Sally Brady’s Italian Adventure, The Italian Party) and trots out an inventively clever comic mystery, Pony Confidential. 

 

A dual storyline threads the narrative that starts when Californian, Penny Marcus, an unassuming third-grade teacher, is arrested. Penny is charged for a murder committed 25-years before, when she was 12-years-old and living in New York. Stunned, Penny is considered a “wanted fugitive.” She’s separated from her estranged husband and mentally ill daughter and extradited to her old hometown.

 

Decades before, Penny’s sensitive, loyal riding pony--who accompanied her on the day of the murder--incurred a “primal wound” when he was sold. Cast adrift from home to home, the willful, mindful pony suffered from simmering resentment: “You make us believe we’re beloved family members (I’m looking at you, Penny!) and then you put a dollar sign on our heads and send us off with anyone who coughs up the cash.” Now aging, cynical, and fed up with his lot in life, the jaded pony escapes his current owner. He sets off on a cross-country adventure, enlisting the help of other whimsical, talking animals to find and exact revenge on Penny. En route, however, new details emerge into the cold case that put Penny behind bars.

 

Lynch wrangles up a searingly fun, imaginative story that shines with plausible, madcap plotting and keen, edgy observations about the nature of people and animal welfare.

Pony Confidential by Christina Lynch 

Berkley, $28.00 hardcover, 9780593640364, 384 pages

Publication Date: November 5, 2024

To order this book on INDIEBOUND/Bookshop.Org, link HERE

 

NOTE: This review is a reprint and is being posted with the permission of Shelf Awareness. To read this review as originally published on Shelf Awareness (November 29, 2024), link HERE 

Mystery Magazine

I am pleased to share that Mystery Magazine has featured one of my comic mystery short stories in their latest issue (May 2024). 

In "My Son, My Son," a Southern woman (a wife and mother) becomes exasperated by her notorious small-time criminal son, her "do-good" of a husband, and the stifling nature of her hometown.

The issue of the magazine is available to read as an ezine (via Kindle), via select library platforms, and it can also be purchased in hardcopy from Amazon or direct from the Mystery Magazine website. 

Happy Reading! Click directly on links below to purchase: 

Mystery Magazine (May 2024) 

Kindle (digital copy) Newsstand

Amazon (paper copy) 

NOTE: Back in 2019, I had another mystery short published by this same magazine (when it was called Mystery Weekly). You can learn more about that story, "To Whom It May Concern" - a comic mystery about a corporate Client Intimacy Expert, with a very high opinion of himself, whose career snowballs into a life of crime - by clicking on the link HERE.

If you like the story (and the magazine), please consider leaving a review on Amazon...and I would also appreciate your leaving (hopefully positive) reviews for my other books/work on Amazon, as well. Reviews help (struggling) authors better promote their work. Thank you :)

Finlay Donovan Rolls the Dice

The continuation of a fun, comic mystery series where a dysfunctional family travels to Atlantic City and faces mayhem, mischief, and murder.

Fast action and clever wit course through Finlay Donovan Rolls the Dice, the fourth installment in a wildly fun, comic mystery series by Elle Cosimano.

 

Finlay “Finn” Donovan is a divorced, mother of two; a chronically blocked romantic suspense novelist who, over three books, has been up to her eyeballs in mayhem, mischief, and murder. She’s been mistaken for a contract killer. She’s kept her ex-husband safe, away from someone (other than her) wanting to kill him. And she’s gone up against the Russian mob. Along the way, Finn’s been wooed by a ‘hot’ police officer.

 

The antics continue when Finn and her tribe travel from Virginia to Atlantic City, NJ, on the pretext of a much-needed, get-away weekend. The trip covertly involves Finn tracking down a stolen car, negotiating with a devious loan shark, and rescuing the long-lost beau of Vero—her bilingual, live-in nanny, confidante, and crime-solving cohort. A posse piles into an old Buick and sets off on a zany adventure. The passengers include Finn and her two young children; their father, Finn’s jealous ex, Steven; Finn’s overbearing mother; and Vero. Once in Atlantic City, a murder suddenly upends the secret agenda. Will the clever ingenuity of Finn and Vero bring luck enough for them to hit a jackpot for justice?

 

Cosimano (Finlay Donovan Jumps the Gun, Finlay Donovan Knocks ‘Em Dead) ups the stakes, once again keeping readers laughing all the way through a maze of well-plotted danger. 

Finlay Donovan Rolls the Dice (The Finlay Donovan Series, Book 4) by Elle Cosimano

Minotaur Books/MacMillan, $28.00 hardcover, 9781250846006, 320 pages

Publishing Date: March 5, 2024

To order this book on INDIEBOUND/Bookshop.Org, link HERE

 

NOTE: This review is a reprint and is being posted with the permission of Shelf Awareness. To read this review as originally published on Shelf Awareness (March 22, 2024), link HERE 

The Mystery Guest

When a world-famous author dies at a five-star hotel, a neurodivergent maid sets out to find the culprit for his suspicious, sudden death.

The Mystery Guest by Nita Prose is a bright, dynamic continuation of her cozy mystery series that features Molly Gray, a lovable, learning-as-she-goes maid who works at the Regency, an elegantly sophisticated, five-star boutique hotel.

In the first book, The Maid, neurodivergent Molly struggled to navigate life after the death of her touchstone, her grandmother, “Gran,” who spent her life working as a maid. Molly, then a meticulous maid-in-training, became swept up in a murder investigation of a hotel patron that called her and her co-workers into question. In The Mystery Guest, Molly’s story picks up three and a half years later. Molly, now 29-years-old, has since been promoted to Head Maid at the Regency. 

The hotel is eager to redeem its image, hosting “world-famous,” reclusive author, J. D. Grimthorpe. He is intent on making a major public announcement. Standing before a gaggle of press people and adoring fans in the Regency Tea Room, he suddenly drops dead before the big reveal, sending Molly and those in her orbit into mayhem. Could it be that Grimthorpe was murdered? If so, why? 

Prose deftly employs a familiar cast of quirky characters plus adds a few new ones, each with dubious motives. As in the first book, “Gran” and her wisdom continue to influence Molly’s smart perceptions. Molly’s strong narrative voice mines experiences from the past that just might hold clues to her solving this suspensefully well-drawn, second-in-the-series mystery.

The Mystery Guest: A Maid Novel (Molly the Maid Book Two) by Nita Prose

Ballantine Books, $29.00 hardcover, 9780593356180, 304 pages

Publishing Date: November 28, 2023

To order this book on INDIEBOUND/Bookshop.Org, link HERE

 

NOTE: This review is a reprint and is being posted with the permission of Shelf Awareness. To read this review as originally published on Shelf Awareness (December 29, 2023), link HERE 

Peg and Rose Stir Up Trouble

The second in a delightfully fun cozy series where retired sisters-in-law investigate the sudden death of a man met on a dating website.

Laurien Berenson unleashes another warm and fuzzy cozy mystery in Peg and Rose Stir Up Trouble, the second book in her comical Senior Sleuths series set in the Connecticut suburbs.

 

Readers don’t need to be familiar with the first book, Peg and Rose Solve a Murder, where tough and feisty Peg Turnbull and sweet-natured, eternally optimistic Rose Donovan were first introduced. The once estranged sisters-in-law, now in their 60s, are unlikely friends after years of not speaking to each other. Peg is a widowed, Poodle breeder and a “popular and highly esteemed dog show judge,” while Rose, a former nun, now runs a woman’s shelter with her husband, an ex-priest.

 

When Rose gives Peg’s stagnant romantic life a push by signing her up for “Mature Mingle,” a dating service, her actions are met with disdainful skepticism. But when Peg meets and falls for “witty and urbane” Nolan Abercrombie, things take a surprisingly glad turn—until Nolan dies in a hit-and-run accident. When grieving Peg attends his funeral with Rose, the two notice that all the mourners are women around their same age. Why is that? Peg and Rose put their amateur sleuthing skills to work, piecing together clues into who Nolan really was. Might his death not have been accident? And if so, who might’ve wanted him dead—and why?

 

Cleverly sharp twists and turns--tracked by two, spunky retiree protagonists--will once again charm and delight cozy mystery lovers.

 

 

Peg and Rose Stir Up Trouble: A Senior Sleuths Mystery Book Two by Laurien Berenson

Kensington Cozies, $27.00 hardcover, 9781496735751, 288 pages, Publishing Date: July 25, 2023

To order this book on INDIEBOUND/Bookshop.Org, link HERE

 

NOTE: This review is a reprint and is being posted with the permission of Shelf Awareness. To read this review on Shelf Awareness: Reader's Edition (July 28, 2023), link HERE

The Sunset Years of Agnes Sharp

A clever, crowd-pleasing cozy mystery about a lovable band of geriatrics swept up into a dark, at times madcap, murder investigation.

A band of lovable geriatrics who share a house in the quiet English countryside find themselves swept up in a murder investigation that escalates in The Sunset Years of Agnes Sharp, a smart, clever cozy mystery by Leonie Swann (translated from the German by Amy Bojang).

 

The story is set at Sunset Hall, a dilapidated house in Duck End that belongs to Agnes Sharp, retired from the police force. Agnes now shares her domicile with five other, eccentric pensioners—three women and two men. The housemates long to stay independent and live on their own while battling memory lapses, hearing and vision loss, bad backs, hips, and more. However, when the body of a resident turns up dead in their garden shed, and a gun goes missing, their world is turned upside-down. Before the seniors can retrieve what they believe is the murder weapon, another aged woman is slain nearby. Can the two deaths be connected? This launches the housemates--and their pet tortoise--on a conniving, often madcap quest to find the killer while pitted against a host of obstacles, including their own limitations.

 

Swann’s perceptive storytelling resides amidst the offbeat—as evidenced in her other cozy, Three Bags Full, where a flock of ingenious sheep solves the murder of their shepherd. Via The Sunset Years of Agnes Sharp, Swann once again perfectly balances playfulness and poignancy. She exposes and celebrates the elderly and infirm--their predicaments and secrets--delivering a refreshingly fun crowd-pleaser sure to charm mystery readers of all ages.

 

 

The Sunset Years of Agnes Sharp by Leonie Swann (translated from the German by Amy Bojang)  

Soho Crime, $27.95 hardcover, 9780778387121, 360 pages

Publishing Date: August 29, 2023

To order this book on INDIEBOUND/Bookshop.Org, link HERE

 

NOTE: This review is a reprint and is being posted with the permission of Shelf Awareness. To read this review on Shelf Awareness: Reader's Edition (September 1, 2023), link HERE

Mrs. Plansky's Revenge

A fresh, dynamic cozy mystery where a strong, likable 71-year-old Florida widow is scammed of her life savings and sets off on a quest for justice.

Spencer Quinn is the author of the fun and wildly successful Chet and Bernie mysteries, a long-running series that features a talking dog and his human, crime-solving, private-eye partner. In Mrs. Plansky’s Revenge, Quinn launches a fresh, new dynamic series featuring an aging heroine who becomes embroiled in an exciting, adventurous mystery.  

Recent widow, Mrs. Loretta Plansky, is discerning and spry; a 71-year-old tennis-player. She and her husband, Norm, were a sophisticated couple who made millions with their unlikely invention of a “toaster knife,” a knife that actually toasts bread while you slice it. In order to retire, Loretta and Norm, parents of two adult children, sold the business with high hopes of living a leisurely Florida lifestyle of ease and comfort. However, things didn’t quite go according to plan. Norm died, and then Mrs. Plansky, hip replaced, decided to downsize. She moved from their large home into a new residence, an “itty-bitty” condo on Little Pine Lake—situated only a few miles from keeping tabs on her pesky, temperamental, 98-year-old father, who resides in an upscale assisted living community. Mrs. Plansky’s children and grandchildren don’t live nearby, but they climb out of the woodwork, gracious and attentive as can be when they need something—mainly money. 

When tired and spent Mrs. Plansky receives a frantic, distressing phone call from someone whom she believes is her grandson--he needs $10,000 to post bail for a DUI arrest--she gives him what he asks for without question. Mrs. Plansky later learns, however, the call was a fraud perpetrated by overseas criminals who proceeded to wipe out her entire nest egg. When the police and FBI conclude they don’t have enough evidence to solve the whodunnit, Mrs. Plansky becomes intent on taking charge and seeking justice. 

Quinn’s (Bark to the Future, Of Mutts and Men) briskly plotted nail-biter takes unexpected twists and turns nicely balanced by Mrs. Plansky turning to the ghost of her husband. He serves as a silent, tender touchstone empowering her amidst a courageous, complicated quest for retribution. Fearless Mrs.Plansky barrels past her comfort zone and the limitations of her years, setting off to Romania where she plunges head-long into danger. Her age never becomes a detriment. Rather, she works it to her advantage, employing great ingenuity to solve a crime that elevates her into an immensely likeable, wholly appealing heroine.

 

Mrs. Plansky’s Revenge by Spencer Quinn

Forge Books, $26.99 hardcover, 304 pages, 9781250843333

Publishing Date: July 25, 2023

To order this book on INDIEBOUND/Bookshop.Org, link HERE

 

NOTE: This review is a reprint and is being posted (in a slightly different from) with the permission of Shelf Awareness. To read this review as published on Shelf Awareness for the Book Trade (June 5, 2023), link HERE

A shortened version of this review was published on Shelf Awareness for Readers (July 28, 2023). Link HERE to read that review.

 

The Locked Room

A police investigation during the Covid-19 pandemic--a quest to solve a series of stymying suicides--unearths the past and puts a noted forensic archaeologist and her 11-year-old daughter in grave danger.

Dr. Ruth Galloway is a (fictional) forensic archaeologist--a smart, captivating British heroine created by author Elly Griffiths--who always finds herself embroiled in murder and mystery.

Over the course of 13 novels, this bright, British amateur sleuth and college professor has dealt with discoveries such as child remains (The Crossing Places), unidentified corpses from WWII (The House at Sea’s End) and secret underground tunnels (The Chalk Pit) ... among other life and death dilemmas. She’s traveled to Italy (The Dark Angel) and despite being an avowed atheist, she’s even dealt with aspects of religion (The Woman in Blue). Readers have grown along with Ruth Galloway, seeing her through life changes and challenges that have included romance, motherhood, grief and loss. It’s most fitting, then, that Griffiths has set her latest Ruth Galloway mystery, The Locked Room, (the 14th in the series) during the early days of the Coronavirus pandemic. 

 

Just as Covid-19 is about to turn the entire world upside-down, Ruth and her 11-year-old daughter, Kate, are suddenly forced into lockdown at Ruth’s old childhood home, a cottage in Norfolk, where Ruth had been trying to tie up unresolved fragments from her late mother’s life. Forced into isolation, mother and daughter are befriended (at a safe distance) by a seemingly kind, nurse neighbor, Zoe, a frontline worker. In the midst of them all sheltering in place, Ruth’s on-again, off-again love interest, DCI Harry Nelson (and his team) enlists Ruth’s help in trying to solve clues from a decades-long investigation of stymying suicides by local women. Amidst the investigation--and limitations imposed by the lockdown--clues from the past, including prior ties to an old pandemic and spooky folklore, weave their way into dark danger that ultimately puts Ruth, Kate--and Zoe, a woman who might not be all she appears to be--deep into hot water.

 

A cast of recurrent, familiar characters and their dramatic personal dilemmas--along with chillingly authentic details of pandemics, past and present--add to the suspense of Griffiths' well-conceived, brilliantly executed cozy that delivers a shocking plot twist.

 

The Locked Room: A Ruth Galloway Mystery Series (Book 14) by Elly Griffiths

Mariner Books, $18.99 paperback, 9780358671398, 384 pages

Publication Date: June 28, 2022

To order this book on INDIEBOUND, link HERE