In Mimi Granger’s (a pseudonym of Constance Laux) Death of a Red-Hot Rancher, Lizzie Hale peddles in romance. Well, romance novels anyway. As the proprietor of Love Under the Covers bookshop, she’s all about getting the right swoony reads in readers’ hands—even if her own love life has a less-than-stellar record. And Granger isn’t content letting Lizzie wind up in a romance novel of her own.

Instead, she sprinkles in a dead body, an aunt with more than a few secrets, and plenty of over-the-top sleuthing. It’s the perfect setup for a cozy mystery. And—though I’m sure Lizzie would rather stay away from a murder investigation—the result is a genuinely fun start to a series.

A large part of its success stems from Granger populating it with such rounded characters. Lizzie, funny and mildly frazzled, bounces into the book, unafraid to be assertive whether she’s banding out books or searching for clues. She’s backed up by her aunt Charmaine, who’s charming, even if she’s obviously hiding something in relation to the death of the town’s most-wanted bachelor Brody Pierce. And most fortunately for Lizzie, working at a bookshop provides a great backdrop for chasing leads—people just can’t stop gossiping around those shelves.

Of course, Granger gives them plenty to gossip about. Flirts, flings, and everything in-between abound, and Granger finds multiple moments to pepper in suspects and motives. As the investigation twists and turns, Lizzie takes a few over-the-top risks, but Granger has a way of making them so charming they end up being funny.

Ultimately, Death of a Red-Hot Rancher sizzles with humor, heart, and even a little romance.

A romance bookshop is such a fun cozy mystery setting, and I enjoyed this first installment of the series and how it plays with romance tropes.

A murder mystery with well developed characters. Interesting story with intriguing set. I love the cover!

This was a nice addition to the trend of owning bookstores/stories set in bookstores which seems to be on the rise lately. I like that it was a romance book store as compared to a regular bookstore; this gave the plot a little something *extra*. Our MC was really enjoyable and I love the lengths she went to for her family. I am looking forward to more in this series!

I received an advanced copy. All thoughts are my own.

Synopsis:

Love meets murder in this new cozy mystery series set in a quirky romance bookstore, with a heroine to die for.

Lizzie Hale may be the lucky owner of a successful romance bookshop, Love Under the Covers, but she’s decidedly un-lucky in love. Though she’s read almost every famous romance novelist, from Jane Austen to Nora Roberts, none have helped her figure out how to get–and keep–a man.

But Lizzie has bigger problems to worry about. Like murder.

When Brody Pierce, swoon-worthy ranch owner and resident bachelor, is found stabbed through the chest, hearts were heard breaking all over idyllic Tinker’s Creek. But when Lizzie’s aunt is implicated in the murder, she’s determined to clear her name. Lizzie quickly realizes that Brody was a hunk with many hidden secrets, and she’s soon leafing through a stack of suspects longer than Brody’s list of lovers.

With the killer still on the loose, Lizzie will have to find the truth before this act of passion ignites a fire she can’t put out. (Goodreads)

Review:

The characters are well rounded and well developed. Lizzie and

her Aunt Charmaine run a bookstore called Love Under The Covers and life is pretty good. That is until someone is found murdered and that someone is a ranch owner and handsome bachelor. When Lizzie’s aunt is a person of interest Lizzie has to figure out who did the deed. She will have some help from her friends to find the culprit.

The author is very talented in her descriptive writing and through much of the story I was right there watching all the action take place. The writing flows smoothly and the book is an easy read. The mystery was well plotted and the book was an easy read. I was not totally sure of the killer until it was revealed at the end.

This was the first book in the series and I thought it was good. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a well crafted cozy mystery. I am looking forward to reading the next book in the
series.

I voluntarily reviewed an ARC of this book provided by the publisher, Berkeley Publishing Company, and NetGalley, which I greatly appreciate.

Thanks to the publisher, via Netgalley, for an advance e-galley for honest review.

First off, nothings beats reading "first in a new series" in any cozy mystery description. Second, anything that involves a cozy mystery with a bookstore setting is an A+ in my book. Throw in a ranch owner for extra credit and you have a major winner in my eyes.

Anyways, looking forward to the next installment and learning more about this community. I really enjoyed the character development between Lizzie and the Tinder Creek gang! Was slow at times, but really picked up.

Would recommend.

This was fun!
A murder and mystery.
I really liked it
I can’t wait for the next book.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an arc in exchange for my honest review.

A cozy romance AND a ranch owner? Call me interested. When you throw in a dog...then I am sold. Although I did enjoy one half of the couple more than the other.

Death Red-Hot Rancher by Mimi Granger is the first book a new cozy mystery series from a mystery author with many pen-names and many books published to those many pen-names, so I was super excited to dive into this new world. If you're looking for books for spooky season, and cozies are more your speed, I highly recommend considering this one for your list.

I'm a sucker for a book that stars a book-store owner and the most successful romance bookstore in the midwest? Sign me up. I loved the quirky-small town Ohio setting of this one and Lizzie's Aunt and adopted pup stole the show for me. A solid other cast of characters (and suspects!) rounded out the quirkiness of this town and made me want to spend time there, if for not other reason that the hot rangers and ranchers they seem to produce. (We'll ignore the fact that one of those hot ranchers does turn up dead..)

I think I'm finally beginning to understand the beats of a cozy now, and this one really worked for me. I'm looking forward to more in the series, because I HAVE to know what Lizzie and the gang get up to next.

As a new reader of Mimi Granger, DEATH OF A RED-HOT-RANCHER was an enjoyable introduction to the author's writing. A great plot and an excellent mystery, readers are going to have a tough time solving this one!

Brought to you by OBS Reviewer Daniele

Death of a Red-Hot Rancher is the debut entry in the Love is Murder Mystery Series by Mimi Granger (aka Kylie Logan). It meets all of the requirements for the cozy mystery genre, and the hook of a romance bookseller who is unlucky in love drew me in.

Bookstore owner Lizzie Hale runs the Love Under the Covers romance book shop with her over-the-top Aunt Charmaine, and she is quite successful, at least as a businesswoman but not so much in her personal life. When she finds local celebrity hottie Brody Pierce stabbed to death in his barn, Lizzie is afraid her aunt played a role and does all she can to find the murderer before the police hone in on Charmaine.

I love the premise of this series. The small-town Ohio backdrop is great – the gossip is strong. Even though I am not a huge romance reader, Lizzie’s Victorian house-turned-shop sounds like the perfect place to hang out for the day browsing the shelves and chatting with other book lovers. That said Lizzie really bugs me. She claims to be “smart, logical, and pragmatic”, but for a good seventy percent of the book, she makes tons of assumptions and spins countless theories without many facts to back them up. She is awkward and comes across as weak. Most of the book relies on her theories about her aunt’s relationship with Brody, and it is not until she finally clears the air with Charmaine that Lizzie becomes much more confident and appealing. I was so frustrated waiting for her to talk to Charmaine about what really was going on, and I knocked a star off of the rating as a result. There are quite a few interesting characters introduced here, but none are fully fleshed out. Charmaine is a little too much for my taste, but I really want to get to know Lizzie’s potential love interest baseball player turned park ranger Max.

As much as I grew weary of reading how handsome and sexy the victim was (and Max, too, for that matter), I do feel it was important to the investigation. He was quite the ladies’ man so former girlfriends provide lots of suspects. Add a disgruntled neighbor, a cousin who has always been in Brody’s shadow, and an obsessed librarian, and Lizzie has plenty to investigate. There are sufficient clues and misdirection, but questions that nagged me throughout the book kept me from being too surprised by how the mystery played out. Seriously, the last quarter of the book saved it.

The Love as Murder series has potential; I just do not know if Death of a Red-Hot Rancher convinces me to read more. I will probably give the next book in the series a go before passing final judgment. Recommended to cozy fans that also enjoy heavy talk of romance.

Lizzie Hale is enjoying running her romance bookstore. So what if her love life is a little non-existent, she loves getting to spend her days around books and interacting with her customers. Life gets much more complicated, however, when Brody Pierce dies. Brody owned the buffalo ranch outside of town, and Lizzie keeps finding evidence that her aunt may have been his secret lover. Lizzie worries that, if true, this secret will lead to her aunt being arrested for murder. Lizzie jumps in to the investigation to try to clear her aunt, but what does it mean when all the evidence she finds seems to point to her aunt?

There are plenty of book themed cozies, but this is the first one I’m aware of to feature romance novels as the specific bookish hook. I’m not a fan of the genre, but that didn’t hamper my enjoyment of this book. Lizzie is a great main character, and she is surrounded by charming family and friends I hope will be regulars. Part of the plot was driven by misunderstandings, which drove me crazy, but on the whole the plot was good with plenty of secrets to be uncovered before we reached the logical climax. I had lots of fun along the way and even laughed a few times. If you are looking for a lighter mystery, this is a debut to pick up.

Death of a Red-Hot Ranger was such a fun start to a new cozy mystery series that I will definitely be continuing with.

I think every bookworm can agree that there's something so enjoyable about reading books about books. Our protagonist, Lizzie, owns a romance bookstore and finds herself investigating the death of the local lady's man. I didn't find myself connecting to the town/side characters as much as I'd like to in this one however I really enjoyed the bookstore setting. I loved the descriptions of how the store was organized using different romance genre tropes and the many references to real romance authors.

Mimi Granger did a great job crafting the mystery. I found the cast of characters to be manageable and not overwhelming to keep track of who's who which is something I do find I tend to struggle with occasionally in mysteries like this.

If you enjoy cozy mysteries, romance novels, smart animal companions, or books that involve books, I think you'll really like Death of a Red-Hot Rancher.

Thank you to Berkley, NetGalley, and Mimi Granger for providing me with an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review. Death of a Red-Hot Rancher is out TODAY, September 14th, 2021.

This was such a fun read! Love Under the Covers is a bookstore that I wish was real (and local!) and I really enjoyed the atmosphere of it. Things start looking decidedly less rosy when she stumbles over a dead body while returning a credit card. The body happens to belong to Brody Pierce who every woman in town is in love with and every man wants to be. And Lizzie thinks might be her aunt's secret boyfriend.

The mystery unravels nicely as Lizzie gets pulled into the investigation to defend her aunt and find out just what happened. The addition of Violet, Brody's dog who now seems to belong to Lizzie made for a good companion and a nice change from the usual cat cozy.

I enjoyed this mystery. It was a quick easy read and even with the first book setup it was well paced. I'm looking forward to seeing where this series goes.

Dollycas’s Thoughts

In this new series by Mimi Granger, we meet Lizzie Hale. Lizzie owns Love Under the Covers, a well-known romance bookshop in Tinker’s Creek Ohio. Lizzie may excel at recommending romance novels but she definitely does not excel in her own romantic relationships, And there is a handsome hunk in town that has all the ladies swooning. Even Lizzie thinks he is pretty easy on the eyes. Brody Pierce is a tall drink of water who gained his fame and fortune in Hollywood starring in a truck commercial and now owns a bison ranch just outside of town. Brodie stopped by Love Under The Covers for a special purchase and was surrounded by women the entire time he was in the store. Distracted he left his credit card behind when he exited the store.

Since Brodie hadn’t returned for his card a few days later Lizzie makes the trek to his home to return it and oh! my! what a magnificent home it is. The barn is spectacular too. When Brody didn’t answer the door she wandered over to the barn and found Brody . . . dead on the floor . . . stabbed in the chest . . . with his loyal dog Violet howling by his side.

But Brody was a man with many secrets and a good lineup of suspects that could have wanted the man dead. Even Lizzie’s Aunt Charmaine is on the list. Lizzie can’t stand for that so she starts her own quest to clear her aunt and find the real killer knowing she could be their next victim.

Lizzie was such a fun new protagonist and I was really taken with her bookshop, an old home she has set up with different sub-genres of romance novels each having its own room. Each is unique in its furnishings with places for people to relax and escape right into a new story. She is a smart savvy businesswoman who has definitely found her niche. She has a great sense of humor which is handy when working with her aunt Charmaine. Ms. Granger has surrounded these ladies with a great supporting cast including “a large dog of questionable parentage”, and a delightful park ranger that is assisting in the murder investigation.

I knew from the title that the red-hot rancher was going to die, but when Brody was killed I was sad. He was an interesting character that I would have liked to have gotten to know better. We did learn a lot of things about him while trying to catch his killer. He was clearly a man with a checkered past.

Because Lizzie read more into one incident she was scared her aunt had something to do with the man’s death. That was my only drawback in this book. An honest conversation would have cleared that matter up quickly and Lizzie could have still been caught up in the case. Other than that I really enjoyed following along as clues came together to create a very exciting ending.

Death of a Red-Hot Rancher has set this series off to a wonderful start. I love the small-town atmosphere and Lizzie’s place in the community. Mimi Granger is a seasoned author that has written under many pen names so she knows her stuff. I am excited for this series to continue so I can visit Tinker’s Creek and its residents again soon.

Lizzie Hale owns Love Under the Covers, a romance bookstore, in Tinker’s Creek, Ohio. Lizzie finds local hot shot bison rancher, Brody Pierce stabbed to death in his barn. She worries that her free-spirited aunt will be accused of the crime, so Lizzie sets out to find Brody’s killer. Death of a Red-Hot Rancher by Mimi Granger is the beginning of A Love is Murder Mystery series. Lizzie Hale loves to read romance novels, but they do not help her with her own love life. Lizzie’s mouth has a way of saying the wrong thing when she is with a handsome man. Men seldom want a second date after enduring her babbling commentary or when Lizzie begins talking about romance novels. Lizzie’s aunt, Charmaine is a quirky, free-spirited woman. I am a fan of the aunt. She is fun, outgoing, and friendly. We are introduced to a host of secondary characters. It can be difficult to keep them all straight. I enjoyed the descriptions of Tinker’s Creek, Ohio. It sounds like a cozy small town that reminds me of Upper Sandusky (from when I was a kid). The whodunit is straightforward. I thought it was obvious who would die right from the beginning. The killer can be discerned before Lizzie finds the victim dead (my mother says I have read too many mysteries). I did enjoy the slight twist before the reveal. Lizzie uncovers a variety of secrets while (some humorous) investigating Brody’s death. One secret reminded me of my favorite CSI episode. The clues are there for readers to find in order to solve the crime. Death of a Red-Hot Rancher is easy to read, and the story moves along at a steady pace. At times, though, it felt more like a romance novel than a cozy mystery. I loved Violet, Brody’s shedding dog. She is a smart, sweet pooch. Death of a Red-Hot Rancher is a lighthearted cozy mystery with a departed rancher, funny money problem, big bison, a desolate dog, a quirky relative, a loving letter, and a sleuthing bookstore owner.

Thank you to Netgalley and Berkley Publishing Group for the ARC.

🌟🌟🌟🌟💫 4.5/5 stars

First off, the title of this book, Death of a Red-Hot Rancher, is amazing and I love it so. It never failed to make me laugh. Luckily the book lives up to that title. I have always enjoyed Hallmark Mysteries, many of which have been based on cozy mystery series, as well as Murder, She Wrote, but have never found a cozy mystery book that I have loved..until now. Death of a Red-Hot Rancher is hilarious with lovable characters and the perfect setting.

The book centers around Lizzie Hale, the owner of my dream romance book store. When she stumbles upon the body of Brody Pierce, the town crush, she decides she must solve the mystery before her beloved aunt is accused of the murder. She uses her knowledge from hundreds of romantic suspense novels and the help from the new Park Ranger to answer the question of: Who killed the hot rancher?

This was amazing and I read it in a day. Lizzie is sweet and funny and I loved all of the references to famous romance authors and tropes. Her bookstore, Love Under the Covers, sounds AMAZING and I need it to exist. Basically, I loved this book so much that I will now fall into a Cozy Mystery hole trying to find one that I love as much as this. I need the sequel.

ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Death of a Red-Hot Rancher is the first in a cute new cozy mystery series! Lizzie is owns a romance bookstore in small Timber’s Creek, Ohio. When a red-hot hometown hero is found murdered, the whole town is worked up. Lizzie is one of the few women to not be head-over-heels for Brody Pierce and so she starts sniffing around the clues she comes across. With so many suspects, will Lizzie be able to help solve the mystery?

Your typical cozy mystery outline, with cute characters—I would definitely check out the next one in the series!

3.5 Stars

Lizzie Hale, like every other woman in Tinker’s Creek, Ohio, can’t help melting when she sees the handsome Brody Pierce. The former actor is now a bison rancher and comes into Lizzie’s romance bookstore to buy a greeting card. He left his credit card behind, but when Lizzie goes out to his ranch to return it, she is shocked to find him dead inside his home. Lizzie thinks someone close to her may have been involved with Brody so she decides to launch her own investigation into the murder of the town hearthrob before her loved one is accused of the crime.

This is the first book in the new Love is Murder series and has a cute premise. Lizzie owns a romance bookstore and knows all about the various romance authors and their works, but has no luck in her real life love life. Lizzie is a curious and smart amateur sleuth who is even more likable when she works with law enforcement park ranger, Max Alverez, who used to be a professional baseball player. Because of her track record in the romance department, Lizzie doesn’t want to admit to her growing attraction to her partner in crime-solving. The scenes with these two characters are the highlight of the book for me. When Lizzie is on her own, however, she tends to jump to conclusions and acts according to her false assumptions. Most of the misunderstandings that occur through three-fourths of the book could have been avoided with one honest conversion with the person she was trying to protect and that becomes frustrating.

The plot is interesting, but not all aspects of the book clicked for me. There are times when the story doesn’t flow smoothly and is a little disjointed. It doesn’t help that many of the side characters all blend together and don’t stand out enough to be memorable. The book had ups and downs, but overall is entertaining. I think the series has the potential to be really good.

~ Christine

There are many ways that this book really, really worked for me. The way the mystery unfolds; how the M/C works with local law enforcement to solve it. The setting is also cool, it’s in Ohio and the local rancher is a bison rancher who made good in a series of Western commercials. Overall, I enjoyed the writing and the author’s voice.

And then there’s the fact that apparently everyone in town is white (though the park ranger has a Spanish last name) and every single romance mentioned is by a white author. You can shout out Kathleen Woodiwiss but not mention a single AOC or author who writes queer romance? Non-romance readers probably won’t blink at it. This romance reader side-eyes it.