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Memos From a Madwoman by Mary Bowers

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



Stayed up a bit past my bedtime last night to finish reading Memos from a Madwoman by Mary Bowers. It's the 15th installment in her "Tropical Breeze" series of paranormal cozy mysteries.

An elderly resident of Tropical Breeze, Analise Love, has taken to wandering the streets and leaving behind scraps of paper with confusing messages on them. Her eccentricity seems harmless enough, but when Analise is found murdered in her home, paranormal investigator Edson Darby-Deaver feels her notes may hold the clue as to who killed her. Ed is busy, but he tabs his assistant, Dobbs, to investigate, and Taylor Verone gets pulled into the caper when even her mysterious black cat, Bastet, seems to take an interest in the case. After Taylor stores some items from Analise's house in her resale shop and the shop is broken into, even the police are forced to consider that Analise's murder wasn't simply a random burglary gone awry. Now it's up to Taylor and Bastet to bring a killer to justice.

This was perhaps the least "paranormal" book in the series, unless you count Bastet's involvement. Nevertheless, the story was compelling and kept me reading when I should have gone to bed. I enjoyed reconnecting with familiar characters and meeting new ones. The plot was interesting and well-paced.

Favorite lines:
♦ The two women returned to covertly watching the two sides of the triangle that were connecting while the hypotenuse was out of the room.
♦ "At first I couldn't place her. You know how it is when you see somebody out of context."
♦ Cats are elemental creatures living in a world that just happens to occupy the same space as ours.
♦ "I'm Taylor Verone and it's just your dumb luck I'm not the late Taylor Verone, having recently died of a heart attack. After killing you, of course. We could have walked into the light holding hands."
♦ You spend too much time with crackpots and the next thing you know your housekeeper is telling you to go talk to your cat. Because cats know everything, right?
♦ "Is your cat willing to testify about that in court?"

Fun and engrossing, four stars.

Color Me Dead by Mary Bowers

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



I began reading Color Me Dead, by Mary Bowers, last night and I finished it today. It's the 13th installment in the "Tropical Breeze" mystery series, featuring reluctant psychic Taylor Verone.

Taylor swears she has no psychic abilities, but when a recently widowed newcomer to Tropical Breeze witnesses Taylor's gift, she becomes a believer. Maida Rosewood's husband, Grant (a famous artist), committed suicide mere weeks ago, leaving Maida adrift. She and her daughter, Carmen (also an artist), clash more often than not, and Maida's gruff brother-in-law, Hank, is only in town for the reading of Grant's will. Taylor is exasperated when Maida calls her in the middle of the night, seeking some sort of psychic guidance for a decision she's on the fence about. Taylor talks her down and goes back to bed, but the next morning Maida is found murdered in her home. Shocked and somewhat guilty, Taylor launches her own investigation. While the police don't see a connection between Grant's suicide and Maida's murder, Taylor is convinced the connection exists. Will she be able to piece the clues together before anyone else ends up dead?

I love these stories. Taylor is a mature, competent woman, and I enjoy the paranormal elements even though Taylor herself would scoff at me. Familiar characters, such as Edson Darby-Deaver, put in appearances, which added to my enjoyment of the book. I had a few people I suspected, but it was interesting to find out for sure who done it and why.

Favorite lines:
♦ I kind of like Mondays. Not a lot of people do, but that's because it's the beginning of the classic Monday-to-Friday work week.
I'm with Taylor; I like Mondays! They're the busiest day of the work week, and I like to be busy.
♦ "You can sleep on the sofa-bed. We've got plenty of aspirin for that backache." // "I don't have a backache." // "You will after sleeping on the sofa-bed."
♦ "That woman is loopy." // "All the way around the bend and looking at her own backside."

A fascinating mystery with shades of paranormal and a mature, intelligent sleuth. Five stars!

Paradise Island by Mary Bowers

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



After cleaning house this morning, I took the time to sit down and finish reading Paradise Island by Mary Bowers. It's the 11th part of her "Tropical Breeze" paranormal mystery series. Main character is typically reluctant psychic, Taylor Verone, but this installment followed her friend, Edson Darby-Deaver for the most part.

When a lovely young widow contacts Ed, claims her dead husband is haunting her, and asks him to investigate, he is skeptical. Although Jessamine Pissarro offers him a tidy sum of money, he turns her request down. Later, Ed learns that Jessamine is dead by apparent suicide, and he can't help but feel responsible. He contacts the family and launches a belated investigation. Eagerly assisting him is the so-called Marvelous Dobbs, a paranormal investigator wannabe. Ed doesn't mind taking on the role of mentor, but when Dobbs notifies Teddy Force, Ed's overbearing co-worker on the reality show Haunt or Hoax?, the investigation turns into a three-ring circus.

It becomes even more of a sideshow when the dead husband's business partner and neighbor wants to do a seance and insists on none other than Taylor Verone. Ed is convinced that Taylor won't agree to such shenanigans, but Roy Angers offers to make a generous donation to Taylor's animal shelter, Orphans of the Storm. For that kind of money, Taylor figures she can put on an act. She doesn't expect to actually channel any spirits, but when she does, the results may put someone else in the sights of a killer.

I really enjoy these stories. They're lite and fun for the most part, with a bit of creepiness thrown in to avoid being cutesy. Reserved, repressed Ed is a hoot, and he's the perfect foil for Taylor's more assertive personality. He's even the perfect foil for Teddy's overwhelming presence. Of course, Taylor's mysterious black cat, Bastet, puts in an appearance, and it's comical to see how many otherwise rational people tend to wait with bated breath for Bastet's reactions to certain situations. The plot was intricate for a novella, but it wove together seamlessly. Best of all, none of the main characters was placed in dire danger at the end.

Favorite lines:
♦ Social media, I'm afraid, is the modern version of the public restroom wall, where people enjoy scribbling capricious and slanderous things as if there could be no consequences.
♦ "...you can't expect somebody else to make you happy. It's not their job. It's yours. You choose. You want to be happy? Go ahead. You want to be unhappy? If you do, nobody else will really care; you'll only be hurting yourself. Everybody else just steps around you and goes on with their life, because what else can they do? There you are, determined to be unhappy, and they don't want to be."

Fabulous, five stars!

Waltz Macabre by Mary Bowers

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



Last night, I finished Waltz Macabre by Mary Bowers. It's the 9th installment in her "Tropical Breeze" mystery series, featuring Taylor Verone and Bastet, her strange cat.

Taylor's friend, Barnabas, asks her to come to his book store to help him. It's an accepted fact in Tropical Breeze that the Bookery is haunted, but Barnabas has always existed peacefully with his resident ghosts. However, a new spectre has moved in and is causing havoc with the others. Taylor refuses to believe she has anything to offer Barnabas, and she puts Edson Darby-Deaver on the case. In return, Taylor agrees to keep Ed's co-star, Teddy Force, out of his hair. To accomplish this, she invents a haunting centered around a recent murder in Tropical Breeze. The laugh is on Taylor, however, when it turns out there may be an actual haunting involved. Keeping abreast of each investigation leads Taylor to believe the hauntings are connected. Since Bastet is refusing to help her, it's up to Taylor to solve the mystery.

This story leaned towards creepy. Barnabas was obsessed with some sheet music he'd purchased at an estate sale, and his playing of it seems to have triggered all of the paranormal activity. Taylor still clings to her conviction that she is not psychic, even though she channels a deceased woman at a seance. I liked how a past murder dovetailed neatly with the current one.

Favorite lines:
♦ Whether he knows it or not, he comes back from his run looking like something that just fell out of bed in a red-hot romance novel.
♦ He had thrown his heart at her feet and she'd hopped right on and clog danced.
♦ "She's a cat. She probably laid there for hours waiting for me to wake up, just so she could scare me."
♦ The joy was too awesome to be contained by his fur, and he seemed about to burst out of it.

Very enjoyable. These books are just right for an evening or two of light reading. Four stars!

Castle Moon by Mary Bowers

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



I continued my tear through "Tropical Breeze" cozies by reading Castle Moon. This 7th installment was in Taylor's first person pov again. Yay!

Taylor is a practical woman, and she is still in denial about having any special abilities. The last thing she wants to do is go ghost hunting in a creepy old castle with her friend, Edson Darby-Deaver. However, when the owner of Castle Moon, Oliver Moon, makes her an offer she can't refuse, Taylor reluctantly agrees to accompany Edson on a fool's errand. Part of the bargain was that Taylor has to bring along her cat, Bastet, but Bastet immediately abandons Taylor to hang out with one of the three secretaries that are employed by various family members. Since Taylor has known Jeralyn since she was a teen, she doesn't mind that Bastet has temporarily shifted her affections.

Oliver is convinced that the castle is haunted by one dour old relative or another, and he claims that the spirit tried to kill him. He wants Taylor and Edson to remove the ghost. Taylor finds herself far more taken aback by those living in the castle, including Oliver's sisters: the insipid Fawn and the brash Maxine. Then there's Oliver's great-nephew, Horace, who likes to lurk and eavesdrop. Taylor has to keep reminding herself of the reward for staying and going through with this farce. During their investigations, Taylor loses time and learns later that she was able to touch certain family items and relate their history. It seems as though she's been possessed, but she refuses to believe it.

When a family member is found dead, no one knows if it was murder or suicide. Taylor is convinced it was murder, and when another member of the household dies under mysterious circumstances, Taylor and Bastet, along with Edson, will have to call upon all of their cunning and skills to catch a killer before anyone else dies.

I enjoyed this installment. There were several subplots going on, which included jealousy, romance, and secrets. Characterizations were wonderful, and the atmosphere was just creepy enough.

Favorite lines:
♦ Cats always seem to either under- or over-react.
♦ "Personally, I prefer a cozy mystery...The ones you can read while eating lunch and not lose your appetite. Sure, there's murder but they're nice murders. Then justice triumphs and you're happy because you didn't like the victim anyway."
♦ "Not everybody who reads Harry Potter books is a kid."

Least favorite line: "It's the kind the owner can reprogram periodically, and the default installation code of 1111 has been changed."

Very good story, four stars!

The Fortune Teller by Mary Bowers

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



Last night I finished reading The Fortune Teller by Mary Bowers. It's the fifth installment in the "Tropical Breeze" mystery series. This story once again focused on Taylor Verone, and it was written in her first person pov.

In the days leading up to Halloween, Tayor holds a fundraiser for her animal shelter, Orphans of the Storm. It's a theme party, complete with haunted house and a fortune teller. When the fortune teller is running late, Taylor goes into panic mode, but just as she's about to take on the role herself, the woman appears. Unfortunately, however, all of her predictions for her clients are of gloom and doom. Taylor is not pleased, but she does become concerned when the woman who played the role of fortune teller disappears. When Eden is found murdered and her time of death makes it impossible for her to have been at the party, Taylor finds herself at the center of another investigation. After another young woman in town disappears, the clues seem to be pointing at a newcomer in Tropical Breeze--a former computer hacker who claims he's trying to go clean and start over. Is Victor really on the up and up, or has he come to town for more sinister reasons? After another vision from Bastet, Taylor is more determined than ever to find out who dunnit.

The story was interesting, with lots of nifty plot twists

Favorite line: ...he had a way of looking at you appraisingly, as if he knew all about the Twinkies you ate back in 1960, after your mom told you not to.

Well done...four stars.

The Gallery of the Dead by Mary Bowers

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



Last night, I finished reading The Gallery of the Dead, which is the third book in Mary Bowers' "Tropical Breeze" mystery series. I'd like to say it features Taylor Verone, who runs the local animal shelter, but this book did not. Hm.

Unlike the previous two books in the series, which were written in first person pov (in Taylor's pov), this book "opened at the close" (which I hate) and was told in a series of journal entries by Edson Darby-Deaver (whom we met in book 2) and via interviews with Terry Force (whom we also met in the previous book).

Following their adventures at Cadbury House, Edson has reluctantly joined forces with Teddy for a new paranormal reality show, in which Teddy will investigate alleged hauntings, while Ed, the skeptic, will search for a more pragmatic explanation of things. Their first show is to be filmed at The Royal Palm in Tropical Breeze, site of a tragic suicide exactly 100 years ago. Ed feels out of his depth. Teddy overwhelms him, and the other members of the crew are equally mystifying, including Carmilla, the vamp, and Porter, the obnoxious bulldog. However, Ed has signed a contract, and he intends to see this farce through. Adding to his list of concerns is the fact that Teddy has revealed a psychotic stalker is after him. When the woman manages to get a job at The Royal Palm and lunge at Teddy with a knife, it's Misty, the owner of the Palm, who ends up falling over the gallery railing to her death, much like the century-old suicide.

Now, the focus isn't on ghosts so much as it is finding a killer before she can strike again. Ed relies on his contacts in Tropical Breeze, including Taylor, her cat Bastet, and Bernie, who runs the local paper. Will he put the clues together in time to prevent another murder?

This story was...confusing. ( Spoiler alert )

Favorite line: I do not have all the answers, but I am not afraid of the questions.

I was very "meh" about this book. Average score, and that's being generous.

Murder in Tropical Breeze by Mary Bowers

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



Stayed up about ten minutes past bedtime (gasp!) to finish an ebook last night. It was Murder in Tropical Breeze by Mary Bowers, and it's the first installment in the "Tropical Breeze" mystery series. Main character is Taylor Verone, a mature, semi-retired woman who runs the local animal shelter (Orphans of the Storm) and its affiliated secondhand shop, called Girlfriend's.

Taylor is called out of bed in the middle of the night to rescue a litter of motherless kittens. She is surprised to see her elderly friend, Vesta Huntington there. Taylor is even more surprised to learn that Vesta had passed away hours earlier. Vesta appears to her again, insisting that she was murdered and asking Taylor to find the culprit. Vesta had called upon Egyptian goddess Bastet, and when Taylor dons a necklace with a feline pendant that belonged to Vesta, the goddess comes to her in the form of a black cat.

There are no shortage of suspects, and it's up to Taylor to figure out who may have killed Vesta, and how. Everyone in Tropical Breeze has a theory, including Vesta's attorney, whom Taylor is kinda/sorta dating.

Hm. I liked the paranormal elements. I liked that an animal shelter was featured. I liked that our main character was a mature woman. Other parts were somewhat blah. Taylor would become subsumed by Bastet and not even know what she was doing. That was a bit off-putting. Characters were solid, even the annoying ones, and the plot was at least cohesive.

Favorite line: She was as grim as if she'd been prematurely buried and had just now clawed her way out to look for the guy who did it.*
I have no idea why that line sent me into gales of laughter, but it did!

An okay story, neither great nor terrible--average rating.