The Strange Situation at Emlee by MaryJo Dawson

I'm so excited to review the third Sally Nimitz novel!  This is by far my favorite book so far, as MaryJo Dawson creates a wonderful southern backdrop at an old plantation with diverse characters and strange occurrences.  I love the fact that she takes the time to explore in detail the backgrounds of the characters and she paints a great picture with her descriptions of their voices and her nailing of their accents.  Her story is about a family going back generations whose "ghosts" are coming out of their closets, but many of the family members want them left in the past.  It is a complex story that is a fun puzzle to solve.  It does involve a murder but there is no violence.  You hear about the murder that happens next door but you do not hear about it as it is happening.  There is no sex or romance. I highly recommend Sally's intriguing look at the strange happenings at Emlee House!

Rating: PG
No sex, no violence, D-mn-1, H-ll-2.

The Disappearance of Douglas White by MaryJo Dawson

The second Sally Nimitz book is an interesting psychological mystery.  There is no violent murder to solve in this book, which I loved because this was really just a good brain teaser that really made me think. Sally is asked to help find Douglas White, who has simply disappeared.  He is the brother of the police officer who investigated the death of her neighbor in the first book, and the family really is not sure if Douglas has disappeared of his own volition or if he has met with foul play.  Sally enlists the help of her two friends Anne and George and off they go to a town and area they are unfamiliar with to start another adventure. Douglas left on his own, but then somehow along the way disappeared.   It was fun to follow Sally as she uncovered each clue in the quest to find Douglas.  If you enjoy a good puzzle, this is a great clean read! And it only costs $2.99!

Rated: G
Only one swear word in the whole book (d-mn one time). No sex and no violence.

The Death of Amelia Marsh by MaryJo Dawson

The first of the Sally Nimitz mystery novels introduces you to Sally, a labour/delivery nurse and her friends and family.  Her husband has passed and they have 2 grown children, a son who lives close, who has a son who is the apple of Sallly's eye.  Her sister-in-law lives next door but they are not close which plays into the first book's storyline.  Her late husband's best friend George has become Sally's best friend (no romance there) and her best sounding board when she needs to work things out that are puzzling her.  In this story she meets a neighbor, Anne, an older lady and they become great friends.  She is always up for any adventure Sally throws at her.
    MaryJo's writing style is intelligent, witty, gripping and flows along quickly. I usually read her books in just a few days because I can't put them down.  Sally isn't your usual frazzled housewife who outwits the cops in solving the murder.  She is an intelligent middle aged woman who puzzles out brain teasing   problems.  When her neighbor is found dead in her apartment, her head bashed in, Sally notices not a thing has been disturbed anywhere.  Someone just walked in, bonked her in the head, and walked out.  the worst part was the old woman had requested to see Sally just after it happened.  Sally was the one who discovered the body, so she feels inclined to find Amelia's killer. This is an incredibly fun book to read, very clean, very thought provoking, yet easy reading.  Her job throws in a fun secondary storyline that I enjoyed having just spent a lot of the last year in the hospital.  Another plus, you can get this book free on the website Smashwords or kindle or paperback is just $2.99

PG
H-ll 4, G-d 4

Aunt Dimity Down Under by Nancy Atherton

This is my Very Favorite Mystery series!! Unfortunately I don't have all of the books and they aren't all available on Kindle for me to re-read to review them all so I can't review them from the first book but the series starts with Lori Shepherd learning that the loveable "fictional" Aunt Dimity that her mother used to make up bedtime stories about was in fact a real person.  Not only that, she left an extremely large amount of money and a lovely little cottage in England to Lori when she died. So Lori packs up and moves to England to live in the cottage. She finds a journal on a shelf in the cottage. When she opens it and begins to write, Aunt Dimity answers back in beautiful, flowing script.  Thus begins a long and beautiful relationship. Aunt Dimity speaks to Lori from beyond and helps her solve many problems, murders, and enjoys the ups and downs of Lori's life in England. So there is a little "supernatural" eliment to the cozy mystery series.
   This book finds Lori sad to find that two of the main characters of the series, her sweet neighbors the Pym systers (very old typical english ladies) are dying.  They ask a favor of her, sending her to New Zealand to find their long lost brother who was cast out of the family in disgrace. With the help of Aunt Dimity, Lori tries to heal a broken family and brings a new character into the village of Finch.  Also a long awaited wedding finally occurs!  There are some Tolkien nods in this as well! Fun book! Fun, Clean Series! Although I can't tell you exactly what is in all of them, I can atest to you that they are Clean! The First in the series is Aunt Dimity Dies.
 Rating : PG
Sex-zero
Violence-mild
Profanity-H-ll 3

Highland Games by Annis Ward Jackson

The fourth book of the Rachel Myers mystery series set in the Appalachian Mountains finds our amateur sleuth not hunting down a murderer, but trying to figure out if she is going insane or facing demensia.  Strange things are happening in her own home, things disappearing, moving around.... Her policeman/boyfriend Robby comes to her aid to help figure out exactly what is going on. It was a departure from the normal series but I really liked it. Definitely another one to put on your clean reads list, and for those Kindle owners only $2.99!
 Rating: PG
Sex-mild kissing
Violence-mild
Profanity-H-ll 5, D-mn 3, G-d 5 exclamations

A Ghost From the Shadows by Elizabeth Egan-Cox

Shanon Delaney comes to McArdle Bungalow to do publicity for a dinner theater but finds so much more! Her former flame Alex Blackthorne and a ghost! If that isn't enough, the ghost is a pirate! Set in Catalina, this engrossing tale involves solving a mystery of a pirate's treasure, a little romance, and some interesting interior design fun. This is the second book in the Shannon Delaney series (there are 4).  I enjoyed the first as well (A Ghost of A Chance). I just downloaded the 4th for my Kindle and will review it when I have read it.  I enjoy the author's style of writing and her sense of humor, while not going too far off track when involving a little supernatural element. A great clean read.
< Rating: G

Sex-kissing
Violence-mild
Profanity-zero

Blind Malice by Annis Ward Jackson

This is the first book in a series of mysteries set in the Appalachian Mountains of North Carolina.  The amateur detective is Rachel Myers who runs a nursing home but finds more than enough time to stick her nose into situations the police would rather she would not.  Rachel travels home to her father's funeral where she feels something was not quite right about his death.  It leads her on a path to finding things she did not know about her father's past.  This is a great read for mystery buffs!  The author is really good at weaving the story and setting up the characters so you care deeply about each one of them.  I love this series!  Just so you know, if you are an Amazon Prime customer and a kindle owner, you can borrow this book for free!
Rating: PG
Sex-none
Violence-mild
Profanity-D-mn 2, H-ll 7, G-d 4 exclamations, some other thanks be to, B-std 2