The Wits' End Series Box Set: A Doyle Cozy Mystery

By: Kirsten Weiss

Narrated by: Amy Deuchler

Length: 25 hrs and 5 mins

Publisher's Summary

Three cozy mysteries that are out of this world...

Running the best little UFO-themed B&B in the Sierras takes organization, breakfasting chops, and a talent for crime solving in this collection of the first three books in the Wits' End cozy mystery series.

In At Wits' End,  Susan discovers a corpse in room seven, a corpse with a very personal connection to her small-town sheriff. But is there a government conspiracy afoot? Or is the murder a simple case of small-town vengeance?

In Planet of the Grapes, Susan is a proud sponsor of a UFO festival that runs off the rails when a speaker is found bludgeoned by a bottle of wine. Susan may not have a clue, but she knows she wants a certain security consultant at her side when this killer goes supernova.

In Close Encounters of the Curd Kind, when Susan’s neighbor is murdered, she exerts all her willpower to stay out of the sheriff’s business. But her neighbor’s daughter, Clare, needs Susan’s help. Clare’s been experiencing lost time, a sure sign of alien abduction. Helping Clare is only neighborly...and totally not interfering.

Right?

The truth is out there...Way out there in this hilarious collection of quirky cozy mysteries. Beam up this boxed set today!

©2020 Kirsten Weiss (P)2021 Kirsten Weiss

great read

It was a fun read... soft murder mystery. the characters were likeable and I want more!!

Just loved it

I read book one and straight away added the whole series to my audible wish list. Before I could start collecting the author brought out this three book bundle and it was no more waiting, I just had to get it. So glad I did, I LOVED each and every adventure. There are lots of B&B cozy mysteries out there but they is nothing quite like this one, even the play on words for the titles are fun. I love the way the UFO theme is central to each book, without it being weird. Each book is backed up by a great cast of characters and anyone of them could be your neighbour or friend, the author has created a like able, down to earth, if a little bit quirky group that will have you chuckling along with them as the mystery unfolds and even has a dog, although I have never met a beagle that well behaved. I hope there are more books in this series to come.
I would give star ratings at the start of each review but as they all got five stars I didn't see the point.

Book one At Wits' End of
The cover is what attracted my attention to the book but it is the unusual ness of the story that held my attention until the end. By unusual I mean the setting of a ufo B&B, in a small town. It was written well, with plenty of UFO talk without it being weird or strange but highly amusing The mystery unfolded nicely and despite guessing who the killer was I didn't want the story to end.
Susan has inherited her Gran's slightly unusual B&B. The small town is famous for its strange sightings of ufos in the night sky and her Gran has capitalised on that by making her B&B a ufo themed retreat. Susan has never seen a ufo or little green men before and the only strange thing she discovers is the dead body in room number seven. The sheriff is taken off the case, as the dead man is her ex husband and the FBI is called in (or is it the men in black?). With the B&B filled with guests Susan is surprised to find she and her cousin Dixie are the prime suspects. Dixie because she was a troubled teen and had access to the room and Susan because The dead man refused to pay his bill. The dead man had a past with the town and a number of towns folk had plenty of reasons to kill him including a few of her guests. But which one and will he or she be caught before Susan or Dixie is arrested? Susan doesn't think so and sets out to find the real killer, with the help from her friends and day planner. The problem is by doing this she makes herself a target and maybe one of the accidents might just bring her investigation to a crashing holt.

Book two Planet of the Grapes
I normally have a break between books by the author so I don't get the story confused but I enjoy book one so much that I just continued into book two. This was just as much fun as the first and follows on.
Susan is the proud sponsor and the main reason that a UFO festival is being held in town, generating lots of business for the area and a good time for the locals by offering a wine tent, merchandise, guest speakers and lectures. But not everybody is happy with the festival, as clashes between alien and fairies break out. The festival organiser pulls out at the last minute, one of the guest speakers doesn't turn up and then another one turns up dead, Susan is asked to stand in. With Dixie in charge of the B&B and having a reason to be hanging around the festival Susan sets out to help the sheriff find the killer. But the killer has found her and after a few close calls Arsene joins the security team and won't let her out of his sight. The dead man wasn't very well like but when a second body is found Susan begins to question if the people or the festival is the target. Will they be able to work it out before anybody else is hurt?

Book three Close Encounters of the Curd Kind
I had worked out who the killer was and how they did it but it was still a lot of fun getting there with Susan and there was still plenty of surprise I didn't see coming.
With the B&B full Susan is surprised to find a paranormal medium and film crew is staying with her in a town know for it aliens. She is even more surprised to find that they are visiting her neighbour the Colonel, the last place she would have thought. It seems his daughter is back and having troubles. But things get worst when the Colonel dies and the signs point to murder. Susan has no plans to investigate but his daughter begs Susan to help her. She is experiencing lost time and seeing things and needs Susan to find out what is happening to her. Word of Susan's investigation quickly spreads and more sightings accuse causing mass panic that the aliens are coming back. Is it really that simple and why would an alien kill the Colonel or steal a man of lemon curd? Susan needs to ask these difficult question if she hopes to get to the bottom of what is going on.
I am a bit fan of Amy Deuchler as a narrator and was really pleased to see that she was the narrator for this series and she didn't let me down. She provides an excellent performance and an enjoyed adventure.
I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

Inoffensive mysteries to pass the time

Here is a haiku review:

Fun and silliness,
Solid characters and plot
Nothing groundbreaking.

Not as expected

I purchased this with the expectation that it would be a light, humorous Cozy Mystery, I was disappointed. It is none of those things really. It takes itself really seriously, but not in a Cozy way. The stories are too long winded (I say, stories, but I couldn’t finish them! The first book I skipped ahead to the last chapter after wading through the first 23. The second, I stopped at chapter 20)!

I don’t feel that the surfeit of incidences, characters and information, added to the main story. I shan’t finish this title anytime soon - in theory it would have been a good investment of a credit, but in practice, it really wasn’t.

The narrator is good.