Killer Beach Reads

Poppy Peters #1.5

by Leslie Langtry, Ellie Ashe, Diane Bator

22 summer themed short stories by bestselling mystery and romance authors! Enjoy mystery, romance, and lots of laughter under the sun with shorts from some of your favorite series. The perfect quick reads for vacation lounging or sipping frosty drinks poolside! **Recipes included!**

Stories include:
One Red Cent (Miranda Vaughn Mysteries) by Ellie Ashe
Brunettes Just Wanna Have Fun (Gilda Wright Mysteries) by Diane Bator
A Spot of Murder (Cookies & Chance Mysteries) by Catherine Bruns
Queenie Baby: On Location (Queenie Baby Mysteries) by Christina A. Burke
Done in the Sun by Mary Jo Burke
Hard to Control (Hard Targets) by Wendy Byrne
Lesson in Fear (Schooled in Murder series) by Tracy D. Comstock
Ice Cream Bombes & Stolen Thongs (Poppy Peters Mysteries) by A. Gardner
Barbecue & Bad Juju (Culinary Competition Mysteries) by Janel Gradowski
A Killing in the Market (Danger Cove Mysteries) by Gin Jones & Elizabeth Ashby
Dashed to Death (Misty Newman Mysteries) by Gina LaManna
Scout Camp Murder (Merry Wrath Mysteries) by Leslie Langtry
Heating Up the Night (Heroes of the Night) by Nicole Leiren
Killer Conch Shell (Health Nut Mysteries) by Patrice Lyle
The Pen is Mightier (Proverbial Crime Mysteries) by Dane McCaslin
Backyard Bar-be-Feud (Working Stiff Mysteries) by Kerri Nelson
Mr. Montana by Ellyn Oaksmith
Motion for Misfits (Jamie Winters Mysteries) by Kelly Rey
Mystic Mojo (Mystic Isle Mysteries) by Sally J. Smith & Jean Steffens
Blondes' Night Out (Barb Jackson Mysteries) by Anna Snow
Caper at Castle Rock (Amelia Grace Rock 'n' Roll Mysteries) by Anne Marie Stoddard
48 Hours in New York by Stacey Wiedower

Genres: Mystery, Cozy Mystery

476 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 12, 2015

About the author

Leslie Langtry is a USA Today Bestselling Author of the Merry Wrath Mysteries and the Bombay Family of Assassins Greatest Hits series. She lives in the Midwest with her family and is an active Girl Scout volunteer. Her dream is to someday invent calorie free cake.

Reviews

[Nancy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Too long

This wasn’t the most riveting collection of stories I have ever read. It took me forever to get through all of them. It just must not have been my taste in books.

[Ginny Muse · Rating 3 out of 5]

* On Location (Queenie Baby .5)

Author's Note: Queenie Baby: On Location is the short story prequel to the first Queenie Baby Mystery, Queenie Baby: On Assignment and fits chronologically in Diana's world before that book. It answers the question: What happened last summer?

- I only got this Killer Beach Reads book for the Queenie Baby prequel in it. It gives a bit of the back story to the first book. For me it was the weakest of the Queenie books I’ve read. Still fun, funny and lighthearted. But already knowing that later on I won’t like what some of these characters do made me not like them from the get go. And even characters that I do like later weren’t very endearing in this one. The sister’s actions were especially disappointing for me. It was kind of fun to read this short backstory, but I think I would’ve been fine to have not discovered that this existed in this collection of works.
(The book was due back at the library so I didn’t read more stories in it, but it might be fun to read more later.)

[Meg · Rating 4 out of 5]

While some stories were more compelling than others, this was a good read. I've found a couple more series to continue with, which is just what my tottering tbr mountain needed. =)

[She · Rating 5 out of 5]

A whole lotta great stories from some really good series. The only problem is if you like to read a series in order. Luckily I had purchased this for Christina A. Burke's book, so I had it when I was needing to read the next book in the Danger Cove series! Some of the stories made me want to read the entire series and some introduced me to new authors. Both of the stories I mentioned above are really good. I tend to recall best the stories I was most looking forward to reading. I'm sure this book will have something for everyone!

[Debbie Davies · Rating 2 out of 5]

A few (very few) of these stories were worth reading. These shorts were a real disappointment. They ranged from sappy, predictable romance tales to mysteries that kept you on the edge of boredom. The editing was poor which didn’t help the writing caliber of many of these stories. Killer Beach Reads killed my desire to keep turning its pages on the beach or anywhere.

[Kimberly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Took forever, but finally finished this. Started as a vacation book then as periodic bedside reading. A few of the stories were good enough that I might want to read the other works of the author, but some were not worth checking out.

[Rebecca · Rating 2 out of 5]

Too many boring stories in there.

[Shawn Lowe · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not my type of book. I thought it would be fun to have something to read that didn't require a lot of thought. I was wrong.

[Calo123 · Rating 2 out of 5]

Long, too long. Sortof sub-par stories too.

[kc · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good collection of short reads

[Sharon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Heaven can be described as lying on the beach with the hot sun warming the sand, sprawled out on a beach blanket, listening to the ocean, feeling the sea breeze, hearing the seagulls, and reading a great book filled with lots of cozy short stories. Well, heaven can be described like that to many but not to me. I can do without the sand and sea and especially the sun. All I need is the book filled with short stories and I’m happy.

Heaven to me is “Killer Beach Reads.” This is a book filled with 22 summer stories by some of my favorite authors, like Anna Snow and Catherine Bruns and some authors who are now on my favorite list, like Leslie Langtry.

All 22 of the short stories here are set in the hot summer time with loads of protagonists that have lots of different jobs, none of which is being a private investigator but they all end up becoming one by investigating a murder.

The first story pulled me into the book right away. In “Scout Camp Murder” I was introduced to my new favorite cozy author, Leslie Langtry. Ms. Langtry’s main character is Merry Wrath a former spy who was thrown out of the CIA, moved back to her hometown, and became a Girl Scout Leader of 14 little girls. Is it really her fault that some of the foreign agents from her spy days are out to get her? No. But with the help of her best friend, who is also her co-leader, and the 14 little scouts and their parents, Merry always gets out of trouble even though she finds dead bodies in many places including her Girl Scout camp.

I enjoyed this story so much I immediately read two books in the Merry Wrath series to see if a full book would be as good as a short story. They were.

In “A Killing in the Market” (Danger Cove Mysteries) by Gin Jones & Elizabeth Ashby a financial planner returns to her hometown and finds herself in the middle of a murder. A pepper farmer, who is allergic to red, green, and yellow peppers, is killed when one of his home-grown peppers is forced in his mouth. The financial planner helps find the murderer and makes a love connection while she’s at it.

“A Spot of Murder” by one of my favorite authors, Catherine Bruns, follows the main characters in her Cookies & Chance Mystery Series. Here fans of the series learn a little more background information on the bakers. Once again the women also get involved in a murder and help find the killer. Great little side story to the very good Cookies & Chance Mystery Series.

“Killer Beach Reads” also has some romance stories included. Usually I’m not a real fan of romance stories. I mean how can you believe all that love at first glance stuff? Reading about a former spy who’s now a Girl Scout Leader, now I can definitely wrap my mind around. Actually, I did like the romance stories in the book. The stories were basically cozies with hunky men filling in the story line. Okay, every so often you need man to round things out.

The best part of a book of short stories is that it gives you a chance to sample some authors you’ve never read before. You might even find a new favorite series.

Summer is here, the ocean is inviting, and the sand is, er, sandy. Grab your sunglasses, a beach blanket, a bottle of cold water, and a copy of “Killer Beach Reads” and enjoy this big book of cozies. It has over 600 pages with plenty of stories to chose from. No need to read them in order, I didn’t.

Pick up a copy of “Killer Beach Reads” you’ll definitely have a good time reading the 22 stories in this wonderful book as you laze about in the summer sun.

[Barbara Hackel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I kept saying, "Just one more" because I couldn't stop reading!

This collection of mystery and romance short stories is a gold mine of great reading! While I usually shy away from short stories, these are long enough to make you feel like you aren't being rushed through a Cliff Notes version of a real story. The authors chosen are sensational (ALL of them but especially you G!) and their works in this collection make me want to read and reread other books they have written! To say this is a bargain at the price is an understatement! Any one of the stories would be worth the price. you pay for all 22 stories. So what are you waiting for? Grab your copy and run to your favorite reading spot. You won't be able to stop reading...

[Mehrunisa Salim]

Motion for Misfits: 4 stars
As curt would say "Only Jamie". Only Jamie can find a dead body on a vacation, and somehow know it. I liked how involved and supportive Curt was. Also I have to say in this series, I have noticed, Jamie is never the one to SOLVE the mystery. She usually gets lucky or unlucky, based on your perspective. The one thing that really frustrated me is we are a good ways in with, literally, no progress in Curt and Jamie's relationship. Seriously, this is just ridiculous.

[Cara Keith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some Good, Some OK

This book is a lite read of little mysteries. The book started out with some good little stories but as it progressed, the short stories seemed to become more trite and predictable. I had a 3 Star rating in mind, and then I came to the final story, 48 Hours in New York, by Stacy Wiedower! A great read and a bump up to 4 stars!
48 Hours in New York is intriguing and a bit mysterious, though not really a mystery... but is more a cleverly composed, charming, quirky, heartwarming and fun story about a chance romance in NYC. I loved it!

[Clare · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read!

This was such a great selection of stories, I was hooked! It was so nice to read some of my favorite characters in a different way. They were all familiar stories yet different!

[Lester Allen · Rating 5 out of 5]

So many stories so much fun and excitement.

Where to start. They are all fun and exciting and just a for taste to others in the series. They are quick reads but worth the time. Great for the beach or when you have a few minutes. And don't forget there are to come

[Kristine · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great collection of short stories from authors such as Leslie Langtry, Janel Gradowski, and many other of the Gemma Halliday Publishing authors. These are all fun, quick stories. I look forward to reading more from these talented authors.

[Sheri · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read it!

The best thing about anthologies is that you get an introduction to series characters and an author's style. Or if it's a known character , you get a backstory on the main character or one of the sidekicks. It's been the impetus to further explore.

[E · Rating 4 out of 5]

interesting Collection

I started reading this book a few years ago & finally finished it today. Some of the stories are really good, some are ok & some I wish I’d skipped. Overall worth it to pick up a copy for the good ones.

[Pamela · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good

Really enjoyed this collection of short stories, some were by authors I know and love. Others by authors new to me, I love finding new authors

[Mari Hinton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great mysteries

What a great beach or pool side read. Loved all the different stories which had me hooked and looking for other books that they have wrote

[Arthur Umlas · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good collection.

Here is a group of short stories that makes you want to go from one story to the next. However you can set it aside at any point you wish.