Gideon, struggling with writing a boring manuscript and with the cold, gray, rainy Washington weather, gets an offer he can’t refuse: a return to a disastrous Mayan dig that was scrapped years before after a scandal left an important priceless artifact missing. Invited by old friend and mentor Abe to investigate a skeleton found at the now re-opened dig, Gideon and Julie pack up and head for the Yucatán. Upon arrival, Gideon finds many of the same people from the first dig, as well as a host of new problems; an unauthorized excavation occurring surreptitiously at night where the artifact had gone missing years before, a recently translated curse that a New Age couple are convinced will come true, strange happenings, attacks and then a murder. Can Gideon unravel all the secrets before the curse comes true?

I enjoyed this one, what’s not to love about mayan ruins, archaeology, the lush rain forest, and an ancient curse? Made for an exciting read, with lots of twists and turns that kept me guessing. I would’ve loved to have seen the the sound and light show at Chichen Itza (as a gen X’er, I remember the Choose Your Own Adventure book I read 30 years ago and it brought back sooooo many memories) and you know, now that I think about it, the amazing descriptions of the locale is what helps bring these stories alive. As for the plot - dizzying. The pace never lagged, with something new popping up with every page and it really kept me guessing. In the end, the impossible to guess ending made for a satisfying read. I think this series is really hitting its stride and I look forward to the next Gideon adventure.

I first read this book over 8 years ago, and honestly, I have no memory of it, other than remembering that I read it. And usually I'll start a re-read and it will all come back to me but not this time. Although I wasn't enamored of the writing style the first time, I guess I've mellowed in my old age (heh) and the romantic storylines didn't bother me as much as they did previously and it did make for an enjoyable read. There were also a lot of surprising twists and turns that may not have been entirely believable, but they did make for good entertainment. And despite being nowhere close to being the main characters, Nell and Syd were the stars of this book. Nell because she was adorably direct the way only young children can be (palooka!) and Syd for being the straight talking voice of wisdom. Really, Syd is the one who held everything together, now that I think about it.

Overall I'd say I enjoyed this one more as a re-read than the first time, but I'd be even more excited if the author had split off into 2 series, one with Lori and Bill and one with Emma, Derek and the kids.


original review
I enjoyed the book, the characters were easy to like and the writing was enough to put you right in the middle of the gardens with Emma and the rest. I thought the mystery itself was a little too neatly tied up at the end, but I guess I don't feel is was the focus of the plot as much as the relationships were. I could have done without the overly cutesy epilogue, though. I didn't bother reading all of it, it became too maudlin to stand. Overall, an enjoyable read and I'll probably try other books in the series.

This was a cute and enjoyable book, the first one I’ve read in this series. I picked this one for the Transportation in the Title book bingo square, and it was a nice, easy read, just the right length to keep the pace moving.

Mae West runs an RV campground in Normal, Kentucky. When a dangerous killer breaks out of prison, a killer who vowed revenge on the jurors and everyone is on edge. After a Civil War reenactment, several of the towns people are found dead and despite being warned by her sheriff boyfriend to stay out of it, Mae is determined to find the escaped killer and protect her friends.

As I said, I haven’t read the others in the series so I can safely say that all references to past books were explained well enough that I didn’t feel lost. I also liked that the characters are so well drawn that I pretty quickly “learned their voices” and was able to remember who everyone was and their place in the series. As for the plot, I have to say that it’s not one that I’ve ever seen before, a lot of it was more like a game of cat and mouse and I really enjoyed it. The preparation for the reenactment (and the chaos that goes with it) seemed to take up a bit of time at the beginning, but made for a good introduction to the town and it’s people. But once the book got going, I was along for the ride and couldn’t put it down.

Overall, this was an enjoyable read with a great plot and I liked it so much, I plan on catching up with the other books in the series.

This is the first book in the series and if I didn’t already know how great Kathi Daley writes, I probably wouldn’t go further into the series. I liked main character, Tess (and I liked the other characters, except for Bree who acts like she's 13) but this plot was bizarre and convoluted. My estimation is the plot wasn’t developed enough to span the book because there was a lot of detail spent on things that really didn’t matter to the plot and the things that really mattered to the plot felt like they were added as an afterthought. Just ok

I liked this one a lot better than the first book, it was more like the Kathi Daley books I’ve come to love. This one had a really intriguing plot; a man looking for his birth mother turned out to be more than meets the eye after it becomes obvious that someone else is looking for the same woman. Although there was a dropped clue or two, it quickly turned into one of those books that you can’t put down until you finish it. There were some subplots that kinda felt like they came out of left field, having had little to no groundwork in the first book. And that's not necessarily a bad thing, it’s just that it could have been weaved in a little more subtly. But overall, the main plot was riveting and before I knew it,I had finished the book and I’m looking forward to seeing where this series goes.

Why these books aren't a Hallmark series, I don't know. It fits the Hallmark theme perfectly; a quaint small town where everyone knows everyone else, romance in the air for the main character, her friend and her family and just enough mystery to keep you interested. I can just see Candace Cameron Bure and several love interests who all look alike - you know what I mean, same low fade haircut, just enough beard to not look like heavy stubble but not enough to look like a lumberjack. Get on this, Hallmark, I need another cozy mystery movie series.

Anyway, this was cute, and the mystery was heartwarming - while delivering mail, Tess is given a misdelivered Mother's Day card without a return address that was sent to the recently deceased owner from her estranged son looking to heal the rift that pulled them apart. Tess, with Tony's help, tracks down the location where the card's sender was hoping to reunite with his mother so that Tess and Tony can notify him of his mother's death.

This was a sweet book and I really enjoyed it. My only issue with this series (as I've read so far) is that important scenes are only related after the fact to other characters while scenes that really don't have much bearing on the story get more attention. For example, there's several scenes about building planter boxes but when it came to the big moment, meeting the Mother's Day card's sender, it was cut off as Tess and Tony were approaching the man and then later related to Bree after it happened, which was a bit of a let down. I read this whole story and you're going to steal the big payoff?

Overall, this was a quick, light and feel-good read and the story really drew me in. I'm going to give this series a new genre - RoCo = Romantic Cozy. While the theme of the book is firmly cozy mystery, a lot of the suspense comes from the will-they-or-won't-they-get-together romantic tension. There's no real romance other than hand holding and kisses on the cheek, but it's a prominent theme to the books, at least so far.

Spoiler

And why was Tess so shocked when Mike took Bree out for a date? Is mean, I know she's oblivious to literally everything but really, Tess. Get a grip.

This one was just...okay. The plot didn't really grab me and for a lot of the book, they were just spinning their wheels until Tess got her aha! moment.

I picked this one up on Netgalley because like everyone else, I'm obsessed with the idea of a grilled cheese restaurant. This one was a great start to a new series, and although it took me a bit to get into at first, once the introductions were out of the way and the investigating got going, it was hard to put down. And there's recipes at the end!

The eclectic cast of characters quickly became like friends, I'm going to enjoy getting to know them as the series goes on. The plot, who killed Lyle and why, was a real banger; lots of twists and turns and a big pile of suspects. In the end, I never guessed whodunit, so I must've overlooked the clues. Add in the happy endings for a couple of the characters and this was a stellar read, heartwarming and endearing.

A great start to a new series, I'm already looking forward to reading the next book!

I know I read this one, I remember the end but apparently never marked it as done.

I love this series. I mean, I love a paranormal cozy mystery but there aren't many out there that skillfully and successfully combines a great mystery with the thrills of an action movie and the chills of ghoulish ghosts like this series does.

I've read this series since book 4 (and went back and read the earlier books) and I like how each book has gotten more intense; there was one a few books back involving a train that had me sweating bullets just like this one did! I loved that there were some real twists and turns that kept me in the dark until the very end, and I loved meeting the other ghosts. There's always a sprinkle of history in the books, and this one involved both the treatment of mental health back over 100 years ago, as well as women's rights. Both were handled well, integrating neatly into the story while providing both context and plot points.

Moving into October here in a few days and this book really helped get me in the mood to spend the month with ghostly fun and now I'm really looking forward to the Halloween reading challenge. Bring on the scary!