Friday Five - Short Reviews for Series I'm Currently Reading

I'm taking a bit of a break from my usual Friday Linkups to try something a little different.  I'm in a list making kind of mood so I thought I'd start making random five lists.  Sometimes they'll be bookish other weeks not so much.  I'm working on catching up on series and decided to put a few reviews of them all together here.

1.  Ornaments of Death by Jane K. Cleland - I love this series about Antique store business owner Josie Prescott and this was a fun Christmas-y read - with a side of murder and intrigue of course.  Josie loves her life but has always missed having family so she's thrilled when a man from the UK contacts her showing that they are distant cousins and even more thrilled when he comes for a visit.  This leads into an investigation into valuable 17th century miniatures and just what is going on with her new found family.  I enjoyed this one and the ending was sweet and heartwarming.  I was glad to see Josie spending more time back at work and seeing more of Gretchen, Sasha and the rest of the Prescott team.  As usual I'm looking forward to the next book!  My Rating: Liked It! (3.5 Stars)

2.  Winter's End by Paige Shelton - This is the 4th book in the cozy-ish mystery series about Beth Rivers who after surviving a violent attack has moved to Alaska to hide and to recover.  This series tackles issues that are a bit more violent than we normally see in a cozy but not in a graphic way so I've never had an issue with it.  This book starts as winter is coming to an end in Benedict, Alaska and the community is starting to come out of hibernation.  A generations long feud between two family is also coming out of hibernation leading to a complex and interesting series of events including a murder.  I've enjoyed this series and I'm intrigued by a few long running story arcs which I was glad to see.  While I like Beth she did cross the line into too stupid to live behavior several times in this series for no real reason other than general nosiness.  This is a series best read in order and while Beth did drive me crazy a few times I did enjoy this one.  My Rating:  Liked It! (3.5 Stars)

3.  Button Holed by Kylie Logan - I'm a big fan of cozies and I love a unique career but a button collector is definitely a new one for me.  But who knew buttons could be so interesting - or help solve a murder.  Josie is an interesting main character - she's smart and a bit nerdy but also a little insecure.  I really love that she leans hard into her love for buttons and doesn't try to hide it.  The mystery involves the murder of a celebrity complete with assistants to assistants and paparazzi.  I figured out a few little things but was really surprised by the overall reveal.  I'm looking forward to reading more of this series and following more of Josie's adventures.  My Rating: Really Liked It (4 Stars)

4.  A Death Long Overdue by Eva Gates - It's been awhile since I've read this series and I'm so glad I've gotten back to it.  This was such a fun read.  I was so glad to catch up with Lucy, Bertie, Charles, Connor, and even Louise Jane who is up to her usual tricks trying to summon the spirits of those long past.  It was kind of fun to see what this graduating class of librarians had gotten up to since their graduation and how the may or may not have interacted with the victim.  I was hooked on the mystery and thoroughly enjoyed my time with Lucy and all the people in her world.  My Rating: Really Liked It (4 Stars)

5. Murder with Peacocks by Donna Andrews - This book was absolutely bananas in the most fun of ways.  I've absolutely fallen in love with the later books in the series and while I did read this book in 2011 I remember very little about it and decided I needed to go back and start from the beginning of the series.  Meg is having a summer of challenges with three very different brides with three very different ideas of what they want and she is Maid of Honor and general fixer for each wedding.  Throw in a dead body and the chaos is at max levels.  Oh and there's peacocks who have a tendency to shriek and molt, a dog with serious anger issues, and a kitten.  I thoroughly enjoyed this light quick read.  There are a lot of characters which can sometimes get a bit confusing but as long as you remember Meg and Michael and the names of the different brides you're pretty much good.  The series has definitely come a long way since this first book and I'm looking forward to reading the next book in the series.  My Rating: Really Liked It (4 Stars)