Monthly Archives:: August 2014

Summary from Goodreads

As Molly Mathews an owner of a local book store prepares for their first annual Mystery Book Fair, Lizzie Turner ends up getting an unpleasant surprise when a book publicist makes a surprise appearance who is no other but the one and only Ashley Dixon - a girl from her college life she rather not remember.

The book fair goes smoothly, besides a few hick ups with ego’s and rivalry between the authors until Ashley starts digging her claws into Lizzie and her current beau and it’s college all over again. When Lizzie get’s an unexpected phone call from Ashley to mend the broken bridges between them after the embarrassing night at the book fair, the last thing Lizzie expects is for Ashley to end up dead. Now she is the prime suspect in the murder case when Lizzie’s cell phone ends up at the scene, and it’s up to her and the ladies of the bookstore in order to find the real culprit who has framed her.

Great story. I loved all of Lizzie’s friends, they had a lot of charm and it was a wonderful support network in her dark time of need. Lizzie herself is an awesome leading lady, she has a lot of heart and enjoyable to follow. I think her and her boyfriend police chief Mark make a cute couple even if in this one the fact that he is a police chief and it puts a bit of tension between them when she is found to be the prime suspect. But I totally give credit to Mark for handling it the way he did, I thought he was wonderful and supportive.

A fun read. I enjoyed the story leading up to the murder and the bit of history and hissy fits between Ashley and Lizzie, kind of build up a little bit of suspense for me as I flipped through the pages eagerly wondering who else would have it out for Ashley.

Guest Post

Summary from Goodreads

If you were to step into the pages Well
Read, Then Dead, Sassy Cabot or Bridgy Mayfield are likely to
welcome you with a conversation that goes something like this…

“Welcome to the Read ’Em and
Eat, your friendly neighborhood bookstore and café. Come in, sit
down. That sound you hear? Why that’s the Gulf of Mexico lapping
against the sugar-fine white sand of the immaculate beach that lines
the entire west coast of our island, Estero Island, here in Fort
Myers Beach.

Here’s a nice cold glass of sweet
tea for you while you decide on a snack. We have Miss Marple Scones
and Robert Frost Apple and Blueberry Tartlets. Aunt Ophie’s
Buttermilk Pie is the special for today. Oh, you noticed the books?
Sure, browse all you want. Interested in anything particular? We’re
happy to order. If you like to talk about what you’ve read, here’s
a list of our book clubs and what they are reading this month. They
meet right here in that corner. Pretty isn’t it?

The Potluck Book Club? Oh, that’s
a fun group. The books are food related, and we always serve free
samples of the food associated with the book.”

The Read ’Em and Eat is where Island
residents and tourists enjoy the relaxed and comfy atmosphere while
eating a Swiss Family Robinson Cheeseburger or looking for the
perfect beach book for an afternoon lounging in the sand. Nothing
could spoil the peace and tranquility. Nothing, that is, except
murder.

You can take a
leisurely visit to southwest Florida and enjoy the Read ’Em and
Eat, the quirky folks who stop by, and perhaps help catch a murderer.
All you have to do is read Well Read, Then Dead.

Summary from Goodreads

IF CATFISH HAD NINE LIVES and the Pony
Express
By Paige Shelton

I never intend to take on a
lot of research, however, when my cooking school mystery series
transformed into a haunted cooking school mystery series –
haunted by a changing cast of ghosts from the Old West – I knew
research was in my future. And, surprisingly, I’ve enjoyed every
second of it.

I’ve had the opportunity to learn
more about cowboys and criminals, old-fashioned business practices,
Lizzie Borden (I based one of my character’s stories on hers), and,
most recently, the Pony Express. The main ghost in IF CATFISH HAD
NINE LIVES, the fourth book of the series, is the ghost of a Pony
Express rider. It seems some letters Joe carried never did get
delivered, and the contemporary and living characters of Betts and
Gram are tasked to do something about that, even if the end result is
worrisome and unknown.

I became completely fascinated by the
history of the Pony Express. From the details about the mochilas –
the satchels that were placed over the saddles and carried the mail –
to the types of men, young and wiry, who were hired to ride the
horses at breakneck speeds over unreliable countryside. Speaking of
the horses, they were amazing animals, chosen specifically for their
speed and intelligence.

The Pony Express was created in 1860
to transport mail across the Western United States in a timelier
manner than was previously available. The route began in a stable in
St. Joseph, Missouri, and ended in Sacramento, California.

There were stops, stations, every ten
miles or so, where the horses and riders could be switched out. For
those ten mile stretches, the horses ran like the wind. The stations
were small structures that offered simple shelter. There was nothing
fancy about them. When I realized that some of the stations had been
reproduced at their original locations and that there was one
somewhat close to where I live in Utah I knew I had to explore.

The trip to what turned out to be the
middle of nowhere was a memorable experience. My husband and I were
in a car on a sometimes paved road, and the journey was challenging
and primitive. I could only imagine what the riders and horses had
gone through, how they had to push themselves over uncivilized
terrain and through sometimes wicked weather just to get to the next
station, just to get their cargo one more step closer to where it
needed to be. When we were at the station we looked around at the
faraway mountains and the never ending open space in all directions.
There were no cars back then, no cell phones, no AAA to help with
breakdowns. These people, from the creators of the Pony Express all
the way to the stable men who cared for the horses and the riders,
were brave adventurers who not only saw a task that needed to be done
but were able to see past what must have been enormous challenges and
obstacles to accomplish it. They were made of some strong stuff,
inside and out. I admire them all much more than I could have ever
predicted.

The advent of the telegraph and the
continuing growth of the railroad brought a quick end to the Pony
Express in October of 1861, only eighteen months after the first
horse and rider left St. Joseph. Though the adventure had been real,
when all was said and done the business had not fared well
financially. However, the bit of history the Pony Express gave us is
invaluable.

IF CATFISH HAD NINE LIVES was not only
interesting to write but turned out to be eye-opening too. As it
progressed I became honored to bring a small part of the history of
the Pony Express to its pages. It would be impossible to do true
justice to the many individuals who were part that amazing time, but
it is my hope that my readers enjoy the ride as much as I did. 

Oh my goodness, I really adored this book. I don’t really know where to start with my review. It’s been such a long time since I wrote a review, mostly due to health reasons but it was nice to finally kick back, relax and finish a book or two. Something that I haven’t been able to do in a while. If Catfish Had Nine Lives helped me get back slowly into the swing of things. It had mystery, ghosts, enjoyable characters, with a western type of feel to it.

Betts Winston has a gift. Like her grams, she can see and talk to ghosts and when the night sets it, even actually touch them. So when one of her ghostly guardian’s appears at the same time as one of the skit actor Norman dies, Jerome seems to think he was sent there because Betts is the one in trouble. Meanwhile, Bett’s brother Teddy ends up in his own line of trouble, and a woman comes asking about her family history when gram’s ghost Joe makes his presence known.

I loved this. The book was really hard to put down. I enjoyed how there was the murder mystery, but there was also other mysteries among it. Like Betts and gram’s trying to help the two ghosts solve the reason they are both there, so they can fore fill whatever it is they were sent there to do.It takes us back on a disappearance mystery that happened around a time of Pony Express and what may have happened to one of the riders.

The characters were enjoyable, the plot was really fun. Paige Shelton really knows how to weave a story that hooks you in and keeps you on the line until the very last splash.