Title/Author: Clouds in My Coffee (The Country Club Murders) (Volume 3) / Julie Mulhern

Genre: Cozy Mystery
Publisher: Henery Press
Date of publish:May 2016
Pages: 256

   

 

 

 

When Ellison Russell is nearly killed at a benefactors’ party, she brushes the incident aside as an unhappy accident. But when her house is fire-bombed, she’s shot at, and the person sitting next to her at a gala is poisoned, she must face facts. Someone wants her dead. But why? And can Ellison find the killer before he strikes again?

Add in an estranged sister, a visiting aunt with a shocking secret, and a handsome detective staying in her guesthouse, and Ellison might need more than cream in her coffee…

Related subjects include: cozy mysteries, women sleuths, murder mystery series, whodunit mysteries (whodunnit), amateur sleuth books, book club recommendations, humorous murder mysteries, historical mysteries.

 

 

 

 

…this is becoming one of my favorite mystery series. It’s entertaining and well structured and light without being fluffy.
~I Wish I Lived In a Library

I loved the characters in this book, especially Ellison. She’s a widow and a mother of a teenage daughter…these are things that put this book in a different category from the average cozy mystery.
~A Chick Who Reads

This story checks all my boxes for a perfect escape. Awesome plot, terrific characters and set in a wonderful time. This truly is one of my favorite series!
~Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book

I love this story as it takes place in the seventies…
~Community Bookstop

Action packed, funny and a strong cast of characters that bring this non-stop story to the top.
~Shelley’s Book Case

I enjoyed the comparison and contrast of two sets of sisters: Frances (Ellison’s mother) and Sis, and Ellison and Marjorie. While there’s a lot of difference from the generational gap, some things about siblings and how they relate to each other are the same everywhere.
~Back Porchervations

Reader beware: reading books by Julie Mulhern may cause swooning, obsessive reading, and addiction.
~The Girl with Book Lungs

 

 

 

Poor Ellison, I am sure she would love to just take some time off and relax. Alas, this isn’t the book to do it. Her mother is usual over bearing self, both her Aunt and her Sister are visiting, each with secrets and baggage of their own, and oh yeah, it would seem someone is trying to kill her.

Once again the author has written a brilliant world for the reader to escape into. The early seventies is a fantastic backdrop for Ellison’s story and her characters are expertly crafted. The compare and contrast between Mother and Aunt Sis with Ellison and Marjorie is a great touch.

As with the previous books Ellison’s sarcasm, lost on most of the more oblivious people in her life, drive the story with its humorous touch. There is plenty of suspense and the occasional red herring. This my favorite book of the series. As with all the books it read great as a stand alone, and even better a part of the wonderful series.

I received copies of the books in this series in exchange for honest reviews

 

 

Mulhern is the USA Today bestselling author of The Country Club Murders.

She is a Kansas City native who grew up on a steady diet of Agatha Christie. She spends her spare time whipping up gourmet meals for her family, working out at the gym and finding new ways to keep her house spotlessly clean–and she’s got an active imagination. Truth is–she’s an expert at calling for take-out, she grumbles about walking the dog and the dust bunnies under the bed have grown into dust lions.

 

 

Author Links: Webpage / Facebook / Goodreads / Twitter

 

 In Her Own Words:

To start with can you tell us a little about yourself and the project we are seeing today?

I’m Kansas City native who grew up on a steady diet of Agatha Christie. I’m also a USA TODAY bestselling author.

I spend my spare time whipping up gourmet meals for my family, working out at the gym and finding new ways to keep my house spotlessly clean–and I’ve got an active imagination. Truth is—I’m an expert at calling for take-out, I grumble about walking the dog and the dust bunnies under the bed have grown into dust lions.

Clouds in my Coffee is the third book in the Country Club Murders. Ellison Russell and her daughter, Grace, are joined by Ellison’s Aunt Sis, and Ellison’s sister, Marjorie. One might say Ellison has a full house. One might also say that houseguests, like fish, start to smell after three days. Unfortunately, no one has said that to Sis or Marjorie.

But unwanted houseguests are the least of Ellison’s problems—someone is trying to kill her. Lucky for her, they’re inept.

What does it mean to you to be called an author?

The opportunity to tell stories and have people read them is overwhelming to me. That people actually like them and tell me so makes me incredibly grateful.

What is the first book that you remember reading?

I remember Nancy Drew—so many Nancy Drews. I loved their yellow spines. I loved that Nancy sped around River Heights in a convertible. I especially loved that she was a smart, independent young woman.

If you could have lunch with 3 authors (past and present) who would they be and what do you think you would all talk about during lunch?

Lunch? Will there be wine? I’d pick my three favorite writing friends – Susan Boyer, Gretchen Archer and Phoebe Fox. We live in different parts of the country and seldom see each other. Lunch would be an incredible treat.

We would talk—and laugh—about our books, our kids, publishing, and our next books.

What would your dream library look like?

The ideal library has books, books and more books, a good reading light and comfortable chairs.

Name three fun facts about you or your work.

Here’s a Clouds fun fact – the last time Gretchen, Susan, Phoebe and I were together, there was a bottle of Kinky Liqueur. We agreed to name characters after that bottle. The character in Clouds is Kenneth Keye LeCouer.

Another fact? The pond in which Ellison sinks the car is real. I fed ducks there as a kiddo and took my kids when they were little.

Number three? I had planned to set Ellison’s mother’s gala at Corinthian Hall but when I toured I realized there wasn’t a ballroom. That’s why the benefactor party is at the museum and gala is at a hotel.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kansas_City_Museum

 

 

The Deep End (The Country Club Murders) (Volume 1)

The story opens with Ellison Russell finding the body of her husband’s mistress. The Country Club crowd she associates with secretly, or not so secretly, assumes she is the one who did it and the fact that she keeps finding bodies doesn’t help dispel their opinions.  It doesn’t help that her husband is missing, her daughter is lying to cover for him and her house keeps getting broken into.

It was impossible not to feel for Ellison as her broken marriage becomes open season for her acquaintances and the suspects list keeps growing. The characters in this story a true to life and keep the story moving at a good pace. The clues to the mystery a re delectably strewn throughout the story so that when it becomes obvious who the killer is it is an “Of Course!” moment.

This is a great start to the series and I look forward to seeing how Ellison’s relationship with her mother evolves with her new found back bone.

Guaranteed to Bleed (The Country Club Murders) (Volume 2)
Ellison seems to make finding dead bodies a habit. This time she has discovered the body of her daughter’s friend Bobby. His dying words send her on a mission to find the young woman he was in love with and if she can find his killer so much the better.

Ellison’s relationship with her daughter Grace is in a rough patch as she deals with the death of her father and the pains of growing up. When Grace discovers that one of her friends harbors a horrible secret, Ellison must come to the rescue and when she discovers that there may be ties to Booby’s death she is faced with a moral dilemma.

This story was heartbreaking. The author did a terrific job of fleshing out the teens in this book. Each of the main characters has secrets and fears and they build a great story against a horrific crime. All the fantastic characters from the first book are back, Detective Jones, Hunter, Aggie, Mr. And Mrs. Walford and the whole country club bunch, even so this second book in the series would stand alone quite well.

 

 

 

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May 9 – I Wish I Lived in a Library – REVIEW

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