Seeking cozy comfort from Spring Into Horror reading

Well, it appears as if we're going to be spending a lot more time at home, folks, which makes for some great opportunities to read.

Whether you're catching up on that one about to topple over TBR or just need an excuse to buy more books, readathons are your best bet for the spring/summer season.

My reading list for Seasons of Reading's Spring Into Horror upcoming readathon(which starts April 1st) is more on the cozy side due to the truly terrifying headlines that are broadcast daily at this point. However, I do have one actual out and out thriller for some page turning thrills to enjoy:

THE SUSPECT: The third book in Fiona Barton's series that features reporter Kate Waters  takes us to Thailand, where a pair of missing girls unexpectedly take her out of the official lines of inquiry.

Seems that Kate's son Jake happened to be in Thailand at the time and actually stayed at the hotel where eighteen year old Alexandra O'Connor and her girlfriend were last seen by anyone.

Feeling as concerned for the parents of the missing young women as well as her own son, Kate finds that her best option is to head to Thailand(with a frenemy in tow) to get at the truth, despite how painful it could be to her personally.

Barton has a real knack for making uncomfortable subjects the most compelling to read and this book promises to be more of the same, with the kind of tense moments and startling scenes that make for  the type of rollercoaster ride sensation you'd get from watching a similarly themed film:

EGG DROP DEAD: The latest in the Noodle Shop Mysteries from Vivien Chien has Lana Lee taking her family's restaurant to the next level with a major league catering gig at a high end pool party.

The pool party in question is being hosted by Donna Feng, owner of the Asia Village mall where the Ho-Lee Noodle Shop has resided from the start. So when one of the staff members hired for the occasion winds up dead, Lana has enough to worry about without Donna insisting that she take a special thumb drive into her keeping before the cops show up!

Lana not only has a murder to solve but another mystery that could dive deep into Donna's past, which could affect her family's future in the food business. Can she spin all of these potential plates of disaster  in the air without any of them crashing down on her loved ones?

 I do love this series as it's quite the hidden gem among the numerous cozy mystery stories out. Fortunately, you don't have to be a foodie detective to find these books but your search for savory suspense will be well rewarded:

THE CEREAL MURDERS: I do have a number of Diana Mott Davidson's Goldy Bear mysteries on hand and the last one I read for Series-ous Reading was fun, so it only made sense to add this third entry to my reading pile here.

Goldy's latest murder case involves a student named Keith Andrews, who attends the same prep school as her son Arch. Keith, who happens to be the class valedictorian, meets his untimely end at the senior class dinner that our culinary heroine is catering and given the dubious honoring of finding the body.

With the help of her police detective beau Tom Schulz, Goldy discovers that Keith made quite a few enemies playing the blackmail game among his social circle of anxiously ambitious college bound classmates and their equally determined parents. Considering the college bribery scandals that made the news over the past few months, this story may prove to be rather timely indeed:

THE DONUT SHOP MYSTERIES:  After all, what goes on a breakfast menu right next to cereal? Donuts, of course!

I picked up the first two books in Jessica Beck's sinister sweet series, starting with Glazed Murder as Suzanne Hart gets a jolt early in her working day at  her Donut Hearts shop and not from a good cup of coffee.

When the body of a good customer, Patrick Blaine, is dropped off on her shop's doorstep, Suzanne is both outraged and motivated to track down the killer.

While both her overly cautious mother and rather handsome cop Jake Bishop would prefer that she stick to selling baked goods, Suzanne can't embrace that sweet serenity without knowing who dared to deliver death to her brand new start in life like that.

That delectable debut is followed up by Fatally Frosted, where Suzanne again faces a demise far too close for comfort. This time, a neighborhood gossip is found dead after eating a signature sweet from Donut Hearts, causing a forensic team to mess up her kitchen right before a big culinary event in town.

The last person in the world that she wants to rely on for help is Max, her former husband and professional flake. However, Max proves to be useful for once and with Jake also on the case, Suzanne is willing to deal with the men in her life for the benefit of all concerned.

This does sound fun and this series has the bonus of being recommended by Diane Mott Davidson(along with other cozy mystery authors such as Leslie Meier and Rhys Bowen). Yes, there are recipes for donuts and other edibles included, which are nice to check out even if you're not much of a baker(that includes me!).  Donuts are the one food that feels homemade even if it's not and combining them with crime fighting is almost picture perfect:

Last yet far from least on this TBR is The Book of Candlelight by Ellery Adams, which I've been saving for this very occasion. It's the third book in her The Secret,Book and Scone Society series and I'm just realizing that I have a large number of titles here, by my standards anyway.

I tend to stick to at least four books for readathons like this but considering the current situation, six might not be enough. No worries on that score as there are plenty more on hand in other TBR piles(oh,yes, I have a good many there!).

If you'd like to sign up for Spring Into Horror, there is a link in the second paragraph of this post and you don't need a blog to join in on the literary party here.While it would be nice if some of the problems we're dealing with at the moment could be capably handled by a plucky heroine from a mystery series(cozy or otherwise), the next best thing is to join them on a good literary adventure.

 What better way to relieve some of the stress and tension that the news is bringing us right now than to deal with some fictional fears?  Plus, it might be nice to imagine a smart and sassy lady coming to the rescue there: