If I could give this book a standing ovation, I would. I had a serious book hangover after I finished this one; actually, I finished the last page and went “Auuugghhhaaahhhhh!!!!” Thrilling, hilarious and entertaining, it was a great comeback for Mira and the Battle Lake gang. I love Mira, she’s smart and tough on the outside but so vulnerable and insecure on the inside (and dang it, girl you make some rotten decisions!) Mrs. Berns is always laugh out loud funny and like Mira, I want to be her when I grow up. The plot was fantastically creepy (dolls are creepy enough, but when you stuff corpses in them? *shudder*) and I never saw the end coming. Add in Kennie’s hairbrained money making schemes (which had me rolling with laughter!) and Chief Wohnt (gaaahhhh!!) and you’ve got a blockbuster book.

An excellent read and I definitely recommend this series for cozy mystery fans. I can’t wait for the next book (please Lord, let it be soon!)

March of Crime by Jess Lourey is the eleventh installment in The Murder-By-Month Mystery series. Mira James is at the Turtle Stew with Ron Sims, owner of Battle Lake Recall, discussing a series of articles he wants written. She is shocked when she discovers the “person” next to her is actually one of Ida Gilbertson’s life-sized dolls that she is displaying around town. When Mira attempts to flee the Turtle Stew without encountering Mayor Kennie Rogers (she might have another unusual business idea), she knocks over the doll and gets a surprise. They discover a corpse inside the dolls clothes. Chief of Police Gary Wohnt is happy to blame Mira for the crime (of course). Mira sets out to find the killer and avoid being locked up in the poky. It would be difficult to continue her career if she was in the hoosegow plus what are the chances of conjugal visits from Johnny.

March of Crime is different from the earlier books in The Murder-By-Month Mystery series. It fell outside the cozy category with the foul language, intimate relations and the crude references (phone sex line for example). I thought the pace was slow which made the book seem so very long (it was only 266 pages). I am amazed my eyeballs did not pop out from the number of times I rolled my eyes. The over-the-top characters (everyone seems “quirky” or eccentric) and Kennie Rogers idiotic business ideas were not humorous to me (my mother, though, laughed through the whole book). There is little action until the very end of the book. I felt like Mira opened her mouth on the first page (told from first person POV) and never stopped talking (what is called “verbal diarrhea”). March of Crime can be a stand-alone novel. Mira and her history is thoroughly discussed in the first chapter. The mystery is not one easily solved unless the reader is a master mystery sleuth. I will tell you that one clue is the key to solving it. My rating for March of Crime is 3 out of 5 stars (I gave it a 2 and my mother a 4). If you have a delicate stomach, I would suggest not reading the food descriptions (Minnesota Hot Dish for example). I did like Ida’s comment that dolls make people happy—I totally agree (I prefer Raggedy Ann). March of Crime is for readers who prefer zany over-the-top characters, hare-brained business ideas and ribald humor.

I really really love this series of mystery novels set in small town Minnesota. I’ve waited patiently (and by patiently I mean stalking NetGalley and Amazon and the author’s website) for each new release. And I’ve enjoyed every delicious moment of librarian sleuthing, senior citizen joking, boyfriend avoiding, festival attending, and the good guys overall trying to keep out of trouble while helping find the bad guys.

But this one failed me. Lourey wrote this installment just a little too much on the other side of lewd and bawdy. I’ve gotten to know the main character over the years, and she wouldn’t forget underwear, much less deliberately go without it. I didn’t like the contrived sensuousness at all.

The mystery was a little macabre for me as well. I just want to go back to the earlier books and enjoy a decent cozy mystery without wincing and scrinching my nose.

Maybe my tastes are tame compared to yours. Maybe you like when things get a little crazy and you were disappointed with earlier books, waiting for more crazy to happen. If so, read March of Crime, and you’ve got your wish.

March of Crime
A Murder-By-Month Mystery #11
Jess Lourey
Midnight Ink, September 2017
ISBN 978-0-7387-5263-1
Trade Paperback

This cozy series has been fun and frothy since the beginning and I continue to like them a lot, especially because they never seem to get stale, if you know what I mean. They have plenty of humor along with tension and Mira Ross might as well be called the Jessica Fletcher of Battle Lake, Minnesota, since people seem to drop like flies in her vicinity. No wonder this mild-mannered librarian has aspirations of being a private eye!

One thing that intrigues me about cozies is the myriad ways authors find to present a dead body without offending sensibilities and I think Ms. Lourey has outdone herself and everyone else this time. Lifesize dolls are kind of creepy anyway (to me at least) but when one turns out to be an actual corpse sitting proudly right next to Mira, well I ask you, how could she NOT want to snoop? Mira and her assorted crew of cronies and nemeses are soon hot on one trail or another and I chortled all the way to the end.

Reviewed by Lelia Taylor, September 2017.

I have read the first three books of this series back in the mid 2000’s and I loved them then but I had gotten away from them for a while, my bad! I cannot even describe how much fun I had reading this series again. Mira Ross is a 30-year-old woman who is fairly new to the small town of Battle Lake, Minnesota. She has already gotten the reputation of a “corpse” magnet with the police chief. She just has this awful habit of stumbling over dead bodies. She is trying to make financial ends meet by taking on about any small job she can come up with until she can get her Private Investigator license. Presently, she is working as the librarian at the city’s almost defunct library as well as writing a column for the local newspaper.

The very colorful and I do mean “colorful” Mayor Kenni Rodgers, “think aging southern belle with a Midwestern accent” not to mention her sense of style and resourceful western wear that she designs. She is all bling from her Stetson snowcap to her pink plastic Barbie western boot dangling earrings. She has stuck poor Mira with some of the most off the wall ways to raise money to keep things going at the library during as while Mira is also trying to keep a low profile from the police department as well get to the bottom of this latest who-dunnit that she’s found herself embroiled in. Her best friend is the sassy senior Mrs. Berns who is also her assistant at the library and she is up for anything. Mira makes a comment that she would like to be more like Mrs. Burns, but then she decides she would love to be Mrs. Berns! I cannot say I would blame her one bit.

The dialog between Mira and Mrs. Berns had me laughing so hard I had tears in my eyes. I just keep going on about the shenanigans that they pulled to get to bottom of this latest crime. This is an adorable series and I am so glad I got the chance to read this latest installment. If you love to laugh as much as I do than this book, series will not let you down. I would like to thank Midnight Ink Press and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this e-galley for my honest review

Jess Lourey is quickly coming to the end of her Murder-by-the-Month cozy mystery series. Fans of humorous situations and quirky local-color characters will find much to love here, but the crime and resolution are more than rewarding as well. Easily enjoyed by those new to the series, March of Crime will entice readers to explore the other months in the series.

March of Crime by Jess Lourey is the 11th book in the Murder By Month Mysteries series, and my first book by this author. I loved this book! I laughed out loud through the whole book. Where have I been, that I have not read this series before. Not only is this book really funny, it has a great mystery as well. Just what you need for the perfect escape of your real life. I found this book to be a quick read, with a well developed plot and characters. I am looking forward to reading the other 10 books in the series. If you love humorous cozy mysteries, I strongly recommend this book.

This review is based on the ARC provided by the author and/or the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinion.

This was my first chance to read a book from this series- but I don't think I missed a thing. Mira, after finding herself sitting next to a corpse dressed as a doll, also finds herself under suspicion. Like Mira, I found the life size dolls created by Ida, senior with too much time on her hands, creepy. I wasn't a fan of Chief Gary (who would be?!) but I did like that the Mayor and Mrs. Berns helped her out. Loved the small town Minnesota setting (and the sly humor). Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. I'm going to look for Lourey again.

A very entertaining read. One of the funnier parts is when some of residents of this small Northern town want to open up a Minnesota phone sex line. "Use your strongest Minnesota accent, and get Minnesota kinky." Too funny...think Fargo. 😂 Oh yeah, and the book centers around a very bizarre murder.

March of Crime: A Murder-By-Month Mystery
By Jess Lourey
Midnight Ink
September 2017

Review by Cynthia Chow

In the year since she moved to Battle Creek, Minnesota, Mira James has encountered at least one murder every month. Mira is justifiably concerned that the combination of her, living in Otter Tail County, ensures for lethal results. That never became clearer than in the previous month, which still has Mira in a devastating state of bereavement. She’s not in the best state of mind to be promoting the town in the Battle Lake Recall as a fun and safe place to live, but the new puff-piece in the local paper comes with a sustainable salary. Or it would be in addition to her other jobs as a librarian, an attorney’s private-investigator-in-training, and her (now) affectionately ironic recipe column. Mira is finding herself feeling comfortably at home, if only she would just stop finding victims…

Police Chief Gary Wohnt would also appreciate an end to Mira’s streak of corpse encounters, but they’re both doomed for disappointment. Mira had thought that Ida Gilbertson’s pet project of creating life-sized, realistic-looking dolls was super creepy, and that was before Mira discovered that underneath one’s clothing was a very human, very dead, body. Self-medicating with chocolaty Nut Goodies only goes so far, but when the death count rises and Gary is intent on locking her up for everyone’s safety, Mira unwillingly finds herself once again delving into the seedy side of Otter Tail County. In this case that seems to be the Battle Lake Senior Sunset nursing home, where there are creepy wealthy volunteers, a black market for doctor-prohibited sweets, and a bingo altar at the bed of a comatose patient. Paving the way for Mira is a foster kid providing the aforementioned black market items, not to mention the irrepressible, outstanding Mrs. Berns.

This is a series that has evolved so much since its debut in 2006. By this 11th novel, Mira and her friends have grown and matured in unexpected ways, especially considering its highly comedic core. Already troubled by the crimes of her father, Mira now suffers considerable PTSD from the year of Battle Creek murders. Having endured so much loss, she’s understandably fearful to admit her love for her boyfriend Johnny Leeson, as experience has shown that to love is to lose. Countering the darkness are Mrs. Berns and Mayor Kennie Rogers, the latter of whom has transformed from nemesis to friend. An irritating friend, one whose rotating business schemes are as morally questionable as they are bizarre, but Kennie may have finally stumbled onto a scheme that is as profitable as it is uniquely Minnesotan. The Murder-By-Month mysteries have become some of my all favorites, blending together laugh-out-loud moments with subtle scenes of genuine pathos. Everyone should have a Mrs. Berns in their lives, one who delivers gems of true wisdom when not living life to the fullest without a care of what others think. The next month of Mira James’ stay in Battle Creek looks to be the one that will test her true character and strength, and it just can’t come soon enough.

It was hard to get into this book with not having read previous books in the series. I highly recommend not reading this book if you are new to the series as I am.