**Review** Sweet Mystery ~ Under the Moonlight #3 ~ MaryAnn Kempher ~ Donna's Review ~

Title: Sweet Mystery

Series: Under the Moonlight #3

Author: MaryAnn Kempher

Genre: Adult, Mystery/Romance

Release Date: July 24, 2014

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Amazon US | Amazon CA | Amazon UK | Amazon AU

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Candy Dashwood was young, beautiful, and accustomed to getting exactly what she wanted, by any means necessary, including sex and blackmail. Does that make her murder less important? Or her killer less guilty? Her mother doesn’t think so. She asks private detective Jack Harney to help find Candy’s killer. 

When all signs point to her police officer lover, the case seems cut and dry. So why does the evidence seem so flimsy? And why are the police so unwilling to dig any deeper. 

Jack uncovers a web of sex and deception in which nothing is as it seems, and the list of potential killers grows every day. Can he put the pieces together and discover who really killed Candy, or will her killer get away with murder.

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Most of the cast of characters from Forever Doomed are back in Sweet Mystery. Jack Harney has moved back to Reno and opened a detective agency with his friend Curt Noble. Nene and Gaga Albright have their bakery/candy store across the hall and live upstairs. Scott Hamilton has opened his bike shop and his brother Alex is helping him run it. Katherine O'Brian is still infatuated with Starbucks coffee. Amy O'Brian and Jack have split up and she has moved to Seattle.

When a woman, Candy, who works for the police department is murdered a cop, Mark, is charged with her murder. Mark asks Jack to investigate in order to clear his name. Candy's mother Yvonne also asks Jack to investigate. Detective Nolan doesn't think Mark is guilty either but he has 7 other open murder cases. When Jack asks him for information on the case he reluctantly gives Jack his notes and crime scene photos. 

The mayor is looking into funding renovations of the area surrounding the detective agency. Plans call for a visitors center, park, and new businesses. Aggressive tactics are being used in order to get people to move and owners to sell. 

As Jack investigates he begins to suspect everything is related. All he has to do is find the proof.

Meanwhile, Curt is helping pet store owner Daisy find out who is stealing her birds. He is also falling for her.

Sweet Mystery is another cozy mystery. It has murder, corruption, romance, humor, and plot twists. Like the first two books in the series, it moves at a good pace and is an interesting story. I enjoyed the quirkiness of the characters. None of them are perfect. They are normal people. I look forward to the next book in the series. Will it be Curt and Daisy? Jack and Amy? Or Yvonne and ____? Guess I'll just have to wait and see.

I did find quite a bit of spelling and grammatical errors. They were slightly annoying but didn't distract from my enjoyment of the story.

4.5

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MaryAnn Kempher writes mystery with a dash of humor. These books will test your crime solving skills and keep you guessing, and smiling until the very end. 

Her books can be read out of order, but she recommends you start with her first, Mocha, Moonlight, and Murder which is a romantic mystery set in Reno NV, then Forever Doomed, which is a murder mystery set on a cruise ship. 

Sweet Mystery is her most recent release and another “I did not see that coming.” murder mystery. 

MaryAnn lives in Florida with her husband and two children. Her influencers include Janet Evanovich and Agatha Christie. 

She is currently working on book number four.

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**Review** Forever Doomed ~ MaryAnn Kempher ~ Donna's Review ~

Title: Forever Doomed

Series: Under the Moonlight #2

Author: MaryAnn Kempher

Genre: Adult, Mystery/Romance

Release Date: December 1, 2013

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Detective Jack Harney agrees to do an old Army buddy a favor. Curt Noble had some personal business to attend to, he didn’t say what. What he did say was he needed someone to temporarily take over his duties as head of security on the struggling cruise ship Forever. Jack hesitates, but he owes Curt his life so agrees. He’s told the worst mischief he can expect to encounter will be the occasional shoplifter, or drunk. Instead, one week into the cruise, a beautiful red head and a member of the crew are ruthlessly murdered. Are the two murders connected? It’s up to Jack to find out. He must find the killer before the ship returns to Tampa’s port, or worse, before another dead body is found. 

Jack can handle a murder or two, but that's not all on his plate: Cookies, cakes, and custard are being sabotaged, an ex-girlfriend is on board for a large wedding and she wants to "talk", and a murder suspect is trying really hard to get into his tan Dockers. Can Jack remain focused and catch a killer, or will someone get away with murder, not to mention serious brownie abuse. 

Forever Doomed will keep you guessing until the very end.

Katherine, Scott, and Amy from Mocha, Moonlight, and Murder are back. Katherine and Scott are now engaged. All 3 are on the cruise ship, Forever, because Scott's brother Alex is having a cruise ship wedding. Scott's entire family is aboard. They don't care too much for Katherine because she is the reason he got shot 6 mos ago. Plus, his ex-fiance is Alex' bride-to-be's best friend.

Jack Harney is a Tampa Police Detective temporarily acting as Head of Security on Forever. He has been assured there are never any problems bigger than a rowdy drunk or a shoplifter. Boy is he in for a surprise! He has to deal with three murders, stolen diamonds, sabotage of Chef Phillipe's baked goods, antiquated security cameras and systems, witnesses who aren't much help, lustful attraction to a murder suspect, and all the regular goings on aboard ship. Oh yeah, he also has to contend with Amy! Seems Jack and Amy dated back in Reno and he wanted a future together but Amy broke his heart. He moved to Tampa to get away. Now she wants him back!

Poor Jack! If something can go wrong, it will. Jack is a good detective but he simply doesn't have much to work with. He perseveres and saves the day. As if you had any doubts! ;-))

I really liked Mocha... but I liked this book even more. It has a good story line, interesting (and some eccentric) characters, plot twists, humor, murder, lust, sex (with no details)--what more could you want from a cozy mystery. I highly recommend this book. I couldn't put it down. I am definitely reading the next book, Sweet Mystery.

5 Stars

MaryAnn Kempher writes mystery with a dash of humor. These books will test your crime solving skills and keep you guessing, and smiling until the very end.

Her books can be read out of order, but she recommends you start with her first, Mocha, Moonlight, and Murder which is a romantic mystery set in Reno NV, then Forever Doomed, which is a murder mystery set on a cruise ship.

Sweet Mystery is her most recent release and another “I did not see that coming.” murder mystery.

MaryAnn lives in Florida with her husband and two children. Her influencers include Janet Evanovich and Agatha Christie.

She is currently working on book number four.

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**Review** Mocha, Moonlight and Murder ~ Under the Moonlight #1 ~ MaryAnn Kempher ~ Donna's Review ~

Title: Mocha, Moonlight and Murder

Series: Under the Moonlight #1

Author: MaryAnn Kempher

Genre: Adult, Mystery/Romance

Release Date: December 3, 2014

*****

Amazon US | Amazaon CA | Amazon UK | Amazon AU 

*****

A midnight food run nearly gets 28-year-old Katherine O’Brian killed. She’s the only person to see the man who brutally murdered a local woman and the killer is hell-bent on making sure she doesn't talk.

Enrolled at the local community college, she meets Scott Mitchell; literally, tall, dark, and handsome. Scott left a broken engagement behind when he moved to Reno and the last thing he needs is more drama. But when he and Katherine are paired for a project, that’s what he gets. It can be very distracting when someone is out to kill your lab partner. There’s definite chemistry, but with a growing friendship and Katherine’s life in danger, romance will have to wait. Together, they’ll try to figure out what the police haven’t been able to—the identity of the killer, before Katherine is his next victim.

Scott and Katherine will face jealousy, misunderstandings, lust, and rivals, not to

mention attempted murder—and all before their first real date.
*****

Katherine O'Brian is divorced, working to complete her college degree, and estranged from her sister. Scott Mitchell is single after breaking his engagement, working to complete his college degree, and on good terms with his family. They meet in a class and are assigned to be partners on a class project.

Late one night, Katherine decides she needs to walk to a nearby convenience store for junk food. On the way, she witnesses a man putting a dead woman in his trunk. The killer sees her but she is able to get away.

Katherine's sister Amy comes back to Reno and moves in with Katherine. They work to repair their relationship and correct misunderstandings.

As Katherine and Scott work on their project, a real friendship develops. They both want to take the next step but are afraid of losing their friendship if it doesn't work out. So, they both date others but their hearts aren't in those relationships.

As the story unfolds, Katherine has several 'accidents'--falling down waxed stairs, being attacked and more. She begins to realize these are not random events. Katherine and Scott try to find clues to the murder in order to identify the killer and keep Katherine safe.

I enjoyed the book. It had some twists and turns that were unexpected which kept it interesting. They were unexpected but certainly reasonable. The story moved along at a good pace and never dragged. The characters were likeable and interesting. The friendship that developed between Katherine and Scott was refreshing. They could be friends and care about each other without sex being involved.

I've got a few...not problems but peeves about the book. The timeline is not realistic. It takes too many months between the murder and...well, I won't add a spoiler. Plus, they present their class project to the class between Christmas and New Year's Eve. Schools are not in session at that time. Katherine was a bit bitchy to Scott on several ocassions when it was uncalled for.

I do recommend reading this book. It was was time well spent. I look forward to reading more books by this author.

4.5 Stars

*****

MaryAnn Kempher writes mystery with a dash of humor. These books will test your crime solving skills and keep you guessing, and smiling until the very end.

Her books can be read out of order, but she recommends you start with her first, Mocha, Moonlight, and Murder which is a romantic mystery set in Reno NV, then Forever Doomed, which is a murder mystery set on a cruise ship.

Sweet Mystery is her most recent release and another “I did not see that coming.” murder mystery.

MaryAnn lives in Florida with her husband and two children. Her influencers include Janet Evanovich and Agatha Christie.

She is currently working on book number four.

Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads | Pinterest

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