The Record Shop Mystery Series by Olivia Blacke

I love finding a new cozy mystery series. Vinyl Resting Place was the January pick for Cozy Mystery Book Club. I love how the choices are always the first book in a series so you don't have to get up to speed with several books to join in on the discussion. Plus I love getting a chance to discover new authors and get invested in a series. My last home run from the book club was the Grilled Cheese mysteries.

Vinyl Resting Place

Was this book written just for me? I mean, records, coffee, and a mystery, yes please. Not to mention the song title puns used for the special brews Juni created in the shop! Speaking of the main character... I loved Juni and her sisters and the mystery of her uncle and all his associates. I thought it was really well done in terms of characters. The mystery itself wasn’t what I was expecting because I thought the reader would get all the clues to try and solve the mystery themselves, and that wasn’t possible (unless I missed something?), but it was still a fun ride with good twists. I definitely want to read more in this series.

A Fatal Groove

I loved the premise of this series but the first book didn’t quite grab me. I’m glad I gave Blacke another chance though, because this book ROCKED. I feel like she hit her stride here, or maybe it’s just because more townspeople were introduced and the story felt more rounded than the first mystery. I think the clues were better in this one too, and while there were plenty of potential suspects, I felt like I got to the resolution along with Juni, which I didn’t get from the first book. Can’t wait for the next! My favorite parts of both the first and second book in this series are definitely the song title/coffee puns - they're SO good.

Rhythm and Clues

The third book was such a satisfying resolution (for now???) to this series. I think I liked the second book best of all, but this one nicely wrapped up that love triangle (a bit late for my tastes but hey) and had a really interesting crime. My favorite part of the second book was seeing more of the community, and this takes that idea and runs with it, showing more of the town and local businesses. I feel like there weren’t enough coffee/music puns, though, which is just one reason I hope Blacke continues this series eventually. Six months in Cedar River isn’t enough!

The Blanche White Series by Barbara Neely

 Happy Black History Month!

I wanted to share the Blanche White books all together. Barbara Neely created this realistic, "average" yet incredibly intelligent sleuth that is one of the most memorable characters I've read. She doesn't shy away from racism, sexism, misgynoir, and other important societal issues. She's a cleaning lady and a stand-in mother for her niece and nephew yet still has romance (without getting in over her head, which is refreshing) and adventures.

This series was brought to my attention thanks to Sisters in Crime having a Reading Like a Writer discussion about the first book, Blanche on the Lam. I was hooked on Neely's writing style plus Blanche's larger-than-life personality, so I had to read the whole series.

Each book is worth a read, getting better and better as it goes on. Check out my reviews for the whole series:

Blanche on the Lam

Blanche Among the Talented Tenth

Blanche Cleans Up

Blanche Passes Go