There'll be Shell to Pay by Molly MacRae
The Haunted Shell Shop Mysteries are filled with absolutely everything I adore about the cozy mystery genre -- a picturesque location, a protagonist who is involved in something I'd like to learn more about, entertaining characters, a pirate ghost... By the time I finished this book, I was ready to buy figs for my next grilled cheese sandwich and start researching antique carved conch shells. The book opens with Maureen's arrival back at Ocracoke Island and her inherirted shell shop, but things aren't as she expected to find them. Half of her customers are whispering about murder and showing more interest in the walls of the shop than the shells she has for sale. That's before a tourist is found dead on the island. It's the second book in the series and the author makes just enough references to previous events to remind readers what happened in the first book (or fill in readers who are jumping in with this one) without giving away any important spoilers.
Runner 13 by Amy McCulloch
The Amerpersands are a series of extreme marathons, coordinated by a man who delights in making his courses as brutal as possible. Adri left the world of competitive runnings years ago, her reputation in tatters, but she's been lured back in with a promise that if she wins she'll learn the truth about what happened during her last marathon. If that means risking her life on a 250 mile run through the Sahara Desert, she's willing. I really enjoyed this thriller, which gave me a chance to vicariously experience something I'd never get near in real life.
A Catered Bake-Off by Isis Crawford
Before filming even begins, a baking competition inspired by a popular television show is plagued by suspicious accidents. I've got really mixed feelings about this one. It's the eighteenth book in the series, so I'm missing a LOT of backstory (I did read the previous book when it came out and had managed to completely forget it until I went back and checked my notes.) The plot is extremely fast paced, with more time spent on the investigation than the cooking competition. That's probably a good thing, but it was the detailed descriptions of the cooking that I found myself enjoying most.
A Whale of a Crime by Mona Marple
The first in a new series, this book has a great setting. The decriptions of the seaside bookshop and the smell of old books pulled me right in. Chapters alternate between several characters with an occasional long string of social media messages.... and that's where I found myself a bit lost. Either I missed a detail early on, or I was supposed to piece it together from the online messages.
