Book Review: Back to the Burgh & Beyond + Giveaway

 





Book Details:

Book Title:  Back to the Burgh and Beyond (The Owl's Nest Mysteries, Book 1) 
Author:  C.S. McDonald
​Category:  Adult Fiction, 208 pages
Run Time: 5 hours, 59 minutes
Genre:  Cozy Mystery
Publisher:  McWriter Books
Release date:  Sep 10, 2020
Content Rating:  G. C.S. McDonald's books are appropriate for YA readers as well as adults--no bad language or sexual content.
Book Description:

​Meet Alexa Owl. She's returned home to Pittsburgh after a divorce to start a new life and a new business, The Owl’s Nest Couturier Shoppe. Much to her surprise, she's getting more than she ever bargained for: Detective Bobby Starr, and he's no ordinary sleuth. Bobby is an angel who's returned to Earth in hopes of earning his way into the Guardian Angel Squad. He's been sent by none other than Saint Pete to acquire Alexa’s help to solve three cold case murders he left behind. Except, here’s the catch: he’s only been allotted four days to solve the first case! How in heaven’s name is she supposed to do that? Alexa is a professional seamstress—not a detective. Bobby insists the only way to solve the first case is to return to 1953, and Alexa’s not in love with that idea at all!

My Review
I actually read this series out of order. I started with book two and three and now am finally reading book one. This just goes to show you that you can read these books in any order. I have really enjoyed Alexa and Bobby and was sad when I finished book three. So, this is actually a nice reprieve to revisit them again with book one and where it all started. Winnie is still making me laugh. I never know what is going to come out of her mouth. 
Alexa sure found her knack for solving murder cases. She and Bobby worked well in how they assessed each case. Although, props do need to go to Winnie as well. She really was a great help Alexa on putting all the pieces together. 
The other books I read but this is the first one where I listened to the audio version. The narrator, Maren Swenson Waxenberg did such a great job of voicing all the characters, even Bobby's voice. I enjoyed the audio version that I may even go back and listen to books two and three on audio as well. Sadly, Maren did pass away. 
Buy the Book:
Audible
Amazon ~ B&N
Add to Goodreads


Meet the Author:

For twenty-six years C.S. McDonald’s life whirled around a song and a dance. Classically trained at Pittsburgh Ballet Theater School, The Pittsburgh Dance Alloy, and many others, she became a professional dancer and choreographer. During that time, she choreographed many musicals and an opera for the Pittsburgh Savoyards. In 2011 she retired from her dance career to write. Under her real name, Cindy McDonald, she writes murder-suspense and romantic suspense novels. In 2014 she added the pen name, C.S. McDonald, to write children’s books for her grandchildren. In 2016 she added the Fiona Quinn Mysteries to that expansion. She decided to write the cozy mystery series that everyone, including teens and tweens, can read and enjoy. Presently, the Fiona Quinn Mysteries includes nine books with a tenth slated for 2021. The books are also available on audio, narrated by Maren Swenson Waxenberg.

Cindy’s newest venture is The Owl’s Nest Mysteries. Once again, she has set her cozy mystery in Pittsburgh and the female protagonist, Alexa Owl, is much different from Fiona Quinn. The Owl’s Nest Mysteries has a little grit, a little time travel, a little romance, and a whole lot of cozy!

Ms. McDonald resides on her Thoroughbred farm known as Fly by Night Stables near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, with her husband, Bill, and her poorly behaved Cocker Spaniel, Allister. 

Connect with the author:  Website  ~  Twitter  ~  Facebook ~ Instagram


FELONIOUS FINALE (an Owl's Nest Mystery) Book Tour Giveaway

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Let's Get Buck Naked!

Image
Description Sadie Becker is not herself. A 40-year-old, divorced mother of two, Sadie wakes up one morning and realizes that she looks and feels like she did in her twenties. Suddenly she’s unable to walk around in her new town of Cougarville without men falling at her feet. Confused and alone, Sadie isn’t sure who to turn toÖexcept answers to her problems might reside with her broodingly handsome reclusive neighbor, Mathis.  An alpha shifter, Mathis lost the love of his life, and he knows he’ll never find another mate. But his innocent new neighbor clearly doesn’t know the danger she’s in, and he's the only one who can save her.  But when the attraction pulls too strong, will Mathis’ animal nature be unleashed and claim Sadie for his own?  Buck Naked  is a sexy, emotional thrill-ride that will hook readers on this fantastic new series.   Author Bio Evangeline Anderson is the author of the Brides of the Kindred, Alien Mate Index, and Born to Darkness series
Read more

Don't Say a Word: A Daughter's Two Cents

Image
  Edna and Leo, a perpetually warring, tyrannical pair in their 80s, begin wintering In Mexico, where they abandon their usual prudence to embrace adventure and a bevy of sketchy new friends. Soon, Edna adopts a pair of shyster builders whom she trusts over her own architect-daughter Elizabeth, and a farcical house results. Blithely indifferent to the calamities that result, the pair refuse all help from their too-compliant only child. Later, following her mother’s sudden death, Elizabeth’s wise, principled father attempts to fill his late wife’s shoes with a string of loopy, live-in housekeepers―with privileges, he hopes. Before it is over the Mexican escapade will bring down the kind of disasters commonly found in pulp fiction. Why can’t Elizabeth stop any of this from happening? No matter the madness, she cannot confront her parents any more than she ever could. In the end, the surprising way in which they come undone reveals just what they spent their lives trying to hide, thereby
Read more

Book Giveaway

Image
As a little girl, Jane has no one. Her mother, the powerful head of a Broadway theater company, has no time for her. She does have one friend-a handsome, comforting, funny man named Michael-but only she can see him.Years later, Jane is in her thirties and just as alone as ever. Then she meets Michael again-as handsome, smart and perfect as she remembers him to be. But not even Michael knows the reason they've really been reunited.SUNDAYS AT TIFFANY'S is a love story with an irresistible twist, a novel about the child inside all of us-and the boundary-crossing power of love. So it is a new year. I hope everyone is having a great one so far. Thanks to Hachette, I have 5 copies of Sunday's at Tiffany's to giveaway to readers. Open only to US and Canada. No PO Boxes. Leave a comment with your email address if you would like to be entered to win. Thank you Contest ends January 30th. I will pick the winners January 31st. Thanks and Good Luck
Read more