Clouds in My Coffee by Julie Mulhern - #review #giveaway

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.

Books in the Country Club Murders Humorous Mystery Series:
THE DEEP END (#1)
GUARANTEED TO BLEED (#2)
CLOUDS IN MY COFFEE (#3)

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MY REVIEW

Last year, I was fortunate enough to read Ms. Mulhern's Guaranteed to Bleed and was struck by the accuracy of the 1970's setting.  This year, the trend continues with Clouds in My Coffee.  I remember the 70s as a decade of olive green, rust orange and awkward teenage years.

I know I love the cover of Clouds best of all.  Maybe it's because the more I read of Ellison & Co, the more 'real' they seem to me.  Or maybe it's because some morning's I'd like to take a soak in a huge cup of coffee.  But I digress.

On more than one occasion, my mind went to the Downton Abbey place for a similar feel of the setting and characters.  Although I'm sure the folks across the pond had a little more decorum than some of the people at the benefactor's party thrown by Ellison's mother.  So, maybe Dallas may be a better parallel.

This time around there are more attempts on Ellison's life than there are usually for a cozy heroine in several books, which makes for exciting action and a lot of drama.  There's also a lot of drama within Ellison's own family.  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.

I continue to love the character and the name of 'Anarchy Jones'.  And that he keeps being drawn into investigations amongst the country club set.  I mean, think about it.  'Anarchy' in the starched shirts.  I get a chuckle every time.

If those of her class don't start avoiding Ellison because of the murders and attempted murders that seem to happen in close proximity to her, I foresee a bright future for the widow.  What will she get into next?  I have no clue...but I want to be there for whatever it turns out to be!

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MEET THE AUTHOR

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Julie 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.

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GIVEAWAY!!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Click on the link to go to the tour page, where you will find links to more reviews, as well as guest posts by and interviews with the author.  You can also find out how to become a blog host for future book tours!

(Disclosure:  I received a copy of this book from the author and publishers, via Great Escapes Virtual Book Tours and NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.  This post contains affiliate links.)