What Mystery Book Should I Read and Review for September?

Hey everyone! I don’t know about you, but when I think of September, I tend to think of mystery stories. I don’t really know why, but it’s why I have five mystery stories for you to check out and vote on which you think I should read!

Choice #1: The Silver Shawl by Elisabeth Foley

A girl has disappeared…but did she go of her own accord?

In turn-of-the-century Colorado, in the little town of Sour Springs, a young woman has disappeared from the boarding-house where she lives. Her distraught fiancé is certain that she must have been kidnapped.

The case takes a new turn when a city detective appears on the scene, looking for a woman who matches the description of the missing girl. Was Charity really kidnapped, or did she have a reason to flee?

Mrs. Meade, a gentle but shrewd widow lady who lives across the hall in the boarding-house, feels that there is something wrong with the story of Charity’s disappearance…but can she unravel the mystery before it is too late?

If you’re a fan of Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple and Anna Katharine Green’s Miss Amelia Butterworth, you’ll love this quick trip back to the mountain West of the Edwardian era, with a shrewd lady sleuth to apply her wits to its puzzles.

This story looks like fun, and I look forward to seeing how the author resolves the conflict!

Choice #2: The Great Lab Escape by Perry Kirkpatrick

What do you do when you discover you’re the first cat to learn to read? 
You run! 

Before Mia was the remarkable detective cat, she was a test subject at Caput Laboratories. When she begins to notice words jumping off the page, she’s determined not to spend the rest of her life in the lab. 

Everything goes awry when her plan to intentionally fail her test backfires —badly. Can she make her escape with only her wits and her newfound reading skills? And will she make it in the big world outside the lab’s walls?

It’s a mystery with a CAT detective, guys! I love cats and I love mysteries, so I had to put this one on the list.

Choice #3: The Cozy Cat Caper Mystery books 1-3 by Paige Sleuth

Welcome to Cherry Hills, where small-town life can be deadly.

This box set includes the first three books in the Cozy Cat Caper Mystery series. If you enjoy light, fun, cozy mysteries without excessive violence, bad language, or graphic scenes, then grab this three-book collection today and join Kat Harper and her two crime-fighting felines in their quest for justice!

Murder in Cherry Hills (Book 1)

How do you solve a murder when the only eyewitness can’t talk?

Kat Harper has barely settled back into small-town life in Cherry Hills, Washington, when she spies her neighbor’s tortoiseshell cat Matty sitting on her doorstep. But Matty’s not making a social call. The newly orphaned feline has just witnessed her owner’s violent death.

But who would want to kill the elderly Mrs. Tinsdale? Was it one of her fellow animal rescue volunteers? A money-hungry daughter? A local veterinarian with something to hide? Or someone completely unexpected?

If Kat wants to put the murderer behind bars, the amateur sleuth is going to need Matty to lend a furry paw to her investigation. But how do you convince a cat eyewitness to reveal “whodunit”?

Framed in Cherry Hills (Book 2)

What happens when big trouble comes to a small town?

Cherry Hills resident Kat Harper doesn’t expect her first meeting with the Furry Friends Foster Families animal rescue to kick off with the mysterious absence of another member. But it soon becomes clear why Willow Wu is a no-show; she’s been arrested for a crime that nobody can believe.

Kat’s convinced someone framed Willow. But who would do such a thing? A crooked small-town cop with big dreams? A local teenager looking for revenge? Or the disgruntled caterer who lost out on a lucrative job?

With this case hitting so close to home, Kat’s determined to find the guilty party. And if she can cajole her cat Matty into lending another helping paw, the amateur detective might just succeed.

Poisoned in Cherry Hills (Book 3)

Animal rescue can be a deadly business.

Murder is the last thing on Kat Harper’s mind when she shows up for the Furry Friends Foster Families benefit dinner. But that’s exactly what she gets when one of the guests drops dead. Now the focus of the evening has shifted from cat adoptions to catching a killer.

Between an old childhood rival, a sister in line to inherit everything, and a couple with opportunity aplenty, there’s no shortage of suspects. Kat’s going to need all of her sleuthing skills if she hopes to identify “whodunit” this time . . . especially when her cats Matty and Tom turn the case on its head and force her to question everything that happened that tragic night.

Yup, yet another mystery story with cats! I’m curious to see how the author will write this, since it sounds like the main character is a human but her sidekicks are cats.

Choice #4: Nobody’s Safe by Carole Jefferson

During a restoration of Silver Peak’s historic opera house, where luminaries such as Buffalo Bill and Sarah Bernhardt graced the stage in its heyday, workers discover an old, ornate pedestal safe that’s been sealed in the walls. How long has it been there? And why would someone hide it in the opera house? Sadie can’t wait to examine the rare antique to discover what treasures might be inside. If the safe is as valuable as she believes it to be, it could be sold to subsidize the opera house’s restoration. But when threatening notes arrive, Sadie must race the clock to unlock its secrets before it’s too late.

I like that this one is a different, non-murder sounding type of mystery!

Choice #5: Deadly Deception by Gilbert Morris

The first two Danielle Ross mysteries, Guilt by Association and The Final Curtain have enjoyed wide recognition. Deadly Deception finds the private investigator faced with one of the greatest tests of her career when she agrees to take on the case of a vengeful, terminally ill crime boss.

I didn’t realize this was the third in a series, but I’ve read enough Gilbert Morris books to know they’re usually stand-alones. This will be my first mystery of his, though, so I’m curious to see how he writes mysteries!

The day of the deadline, I’ll write the winning book in the comments!

Have you read any of these books? Do any of them look good to you? Let me know in the comments below! God bless! ~ Kay Adelin