Can't Wait Wednesday/Waiting on Wednesday #213: Bad Neighbors by Maia Chance

"Waiting on Wednesday" is a weekly event which had been hosted by Jill over at Breaking the Spine where we spotlight upcoming releases we are eagerly anticipating. I'm now linking up with "Can't-Wait Wednesday" hosted over at Wishful Endings. 

Synopsis from Goodreads:

Agnes Blythe and her glamorous Aunt Effie must take a break from restoring their inn to rake in the clues when a local mechanic is murdered in national bestselling author Maia Chance’s charming second Agnes & Effie mystery.

It’s leaf-peeping season in Naneda, New York, and Agnes Blythe has settled into helping her eccentric Great Aunt Effie restore the Stagecoach Inn. It seems nothing can shatter the golden idyll―or the ka-ching of cash registers―until a mechanic at Hatch Automotive is found bludgeoned to death with a wrench.

Sweeping into action, Agnes and Aunt Effie are on the scene, when a tourist-laden motor coach breaks down outside of town. The Stagecoach Inn isn’t exactly ready for guests, but Agnes and Effie agree to take in a group of seniors while they wait for repairs. But then, Agnes finds herself pulled into the investigation when she learns her new boyfriend, gorgeous Otis Hatch, is the Naneda Police Department’s prime suspect.

With bodies falling faster than the foliage, Agnes must leaf through the more viable suspects and clear Otis’s name of murder in Bad Neighbors, the charming second Agnes and Effie mystery from national bestselling author Maia Chance. 

Why am I waiting on this one? I read the first book in the series and enjoyed it. Been looking forward to the continuing adventures of Agnes and Effie. I loved the humor in the first book and the way the mystery was handled. I gave it 4 out of 5 stars. I wish it was out already because this would be the perfect time of year to read it. It's due out April 26, 2018 from Crooked Lane Books.

What book are you waiting on this week? Share it or a link in the comments so we can check it out and maybe add it to our TBR lists. Thanks for coming by and Happy Reading!

Review: Bad Housekeeping by Maia Chance

Bad Housekeeping by Maia Chance is the first in a new series of Agnes and Effy mysteries. Agnes is the mayor's 28-year-old daughter who has recently moved back home after being jilted. Effy is her great aunt who has recently inherited a fairly decrepit inn. Effy offers Agnes a job helping to remodel the inn. Agnes accepts.

Effy and Agnes find a woman murdered on the back porch of the inn. A woman who they both had had words with the day before. They are the prime suspects in the case, though framed. And they are desperate to find someone else for the cops to blame.

They begin their somewhat inept investigation around the small town mostly on their own. They find quite a few people had reasons to kill the woman. It becomes a question of finding a motive and the killer from among their suspect pool as well as staying alive and out of jail long enough to get their man - or woman.

If you enjoy humorous mysteries, you will most likely enjoy this one. Both Agnes and Effy are good strong female characters and the rapport they share is funny. Agnes is reduced to living at home again now that her professor fiance has dumped her for a fitness instructor. She is wearing old clothes from high school that have seen better days and are a bit tight. But her brain is working on all four cylinders. Euphemia, aka Effie, has moved into the soon to be demolished Stagecoach Inn and is trying to get it a stay of execution. Effy has style and grace and is a chain-smoking fiend.

The mystery itself is a good one. The pool of suspects while wide narrows as a few of them bite the dust. The suspense and pace of the mystery are well done. I had fun trying to guess who had done the dastardly deed and why. I was still surprised in the end.

I give Bad Housekeeping 4 out of 5 stars. It's a good humorous mystery. And being first in a new series, I'm happy there will be more to look forward to.

The expected publication date for Bad Housekeeping is June 13, 2017 from Crooked Lane Books.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book through NetGalley. This review is solely my opinion and freely given.

Teaser Tuesday: Bad Housekeeping by Maia Chance

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme hosted by The Purplebooker.
Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title and author so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

She didn't look sweet when she smiled like that. She looked like the love child of an antique doll and a crocodile handbag. (Describing Effie's smile) ~ 28% through on my Kindle

Bad Housekeeping (An Agnes and Effie Mystery) by Maia Chance is expected to be published June 13, 2017 from Crooked Lane Books.

What's your teaser this week? Share it or a link in the comments. Are you enjoying your book? Let us know! Happy Reading!

Waiting on Wednesday #174: Bad Housekeeping by Maia Chance

"Waiting on Wednesday" is a weekly event which has been hosted by Jill over at Breaking the Spine where we spotlight upcoming releases we are eagerly anticipating. I'm also linking up with "Can't Wait Wednesday" hosted over at Wishful Endings.

Synopsis from Goodreads:

When 28-year-old Agnes Blythe, the contented bifocals-wearing half of an academic power couple, is jilted by her professor boyfriend for the town Pilates instructor, her future is suddenly less than certain. So when her glamorous, eccentric Great Aunt Effie arrives in town and offers a job helping to salvage the condemned Stagecoach Inn, what does Agnes have to lose? But work at the inn has barely begun when the unlikely duo find the body of manipulative Kathleen Todd, with whom Agnes and Effie both have recently had words. Words strong enough to land them at the top of the suspect list. 

The pair have clearly been framed, but no one else seems interested in finding the real murderer and Agnes and Effie's sleuthing expertise is not exactly slick. Nevertheless, they're soon investigating a suspect list with laundry dirtier than a middle school soccer team's and navigating threats, car chases, shotgun blasts, and awkward strolls down memory lane.

In Bad Housekeeping, the first novel in the Agnes & Effie cozy mystery series by Maia Chance, danger mounts, deadlines loom, ancient knob-and-tube wiring is explored, and the ladies learn a thing or two about the awful, wonderful mistake that is going back home.

Bad Housekeeping is expected to be available June 13, 2017 from Crooked Lane Books.

Why am I waiting on this one? This is a first in a new series. I've read Maia Chance's historical mysteries and have enjoyed them. I like her sense of humor and it looks like parts of this mystery might be humorous as well. And it seems like it will be a good cozy.

What book are you waiting on this week? Share it or a link in the comments so we can check it out and maybe add it to our TBR lists. Thanks for coming by and Happy Reading!