Buried in a Book by Lucy Arlington

I always like a mystery where the characters aren't 20 somethings (oh when did I get so old), and in this new series Lila Watkins (mystery solver) is 45, her soon to be love interest/cop is in his 50s, and they are both vital  and there's a spark almost immediately..

Lila is a survivor, on the day she gets laid off from her job at the local newspaper, she makes one phone call and gets a job as the intern for a small publishing company.  Unfortunately, on her first day at work a homeless man is found murdered in the lobby while Lila is out getting coffee.  Then her son and his friends drive her car onto the football field at the high school and wreck the car and the field.

So what does Lila do?  She decides to sell her house to pay for the damages and moves in with her mother the next day.  Say what?  Seriously? 

I think this could be a great series, but hopefully the next one will have more continuity and make more sense.  I want to like them, but these characters do really stupid things and aren't very believable. 

Written in Stone by Ellery Adams

 Written in Stone (A Books by the Bay Mystery) has a story within the mystery.  It also has older main characters, which is nice.  I don't have anything against twenty somethings, but it's nice to see older people finding a life partner and solving the mystery.

In Written in Stone Olivia Limoges gets summoned to visit Munin Cooper, a reclusive old woman also known as the Witch of Oyster Bay, who warns Olivia that death is coming.  Munin gives Olivia a homemade memory jug with tokens encrusted in the pottery which has clues to secrets in the community and possibly to Olivia's mother who died when Olivia was very young.  Shortly after they meet, Munin is found dead of a supposed snake bit.

Although Olivia is preparing for the Coastal Carolina Food Festival, she doesn't believe that Munin's death was accidental and she and the rest of the Bayside Book Writers investigate. As they start to identify the jug’s contents and unraveling secrets from the past, they also come face-to-face with a murderer.  

If you like cozies, I recommend this series by Ellery Adams.