Review: Murder, Pumpkins & Poison (A Hattie and Moose Cozy Mystery #10) by Greta Sinclair

Murder, Pumpkins & Poison: A Fun Southern Fall Farm-to-Table Cozy Murder Mystery

A Hattie and Moose Cozy Mystery #10

by Greta Sinclair

Published: October 13, 2026

Genre: Cozy Mystery, Cozy Animal Mystery, Cozy Murder Mystery

 

Blurb:

A picture-perfect engagement getaway. A farm-to-table feast gone terribly wrong. And a killer hiding behind Thistledown’s wholesome façade.

Private investigator Hattie Leiper is looking forward to a relaxing autumn weekend celebrating her best friend Gracie’s engagement. With cozy cottages, colorful leaves, and pumpkins everywhere, Thistledown Farm & Table seems like the perfect escape.

Until several guests suddenly become violently ill.

Then purchasing manager Preston Whitmarsh is stabbed, and his dying words point Hattie toward a suspicious trail of invoices—and secrets someone desperately wants to keep buried.

As Thistledown’s promise of real food, real farms, real people begins to unravel, Hattie realizes there’s more on the menu than farm-fresh charm.

With Moose, Cecil, and Mini Pearl lending their own four-legged assistance, Hattie must harvest the clues and expose a killer before someone else becomes the next victim.

Because at Thistledown, not everything labeled “local” is what it seems.

Bonus Recipes Included.

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My Review:

Murder, Pumpkins & Poison is the tenth book in the Hattie and Moose Cozy Mystery series by Greta Sinclair, and it is an excellent continuation! I have been hooked on this series since the very first book, and I am always keeping my eye open for the next installment.

I absolutely love Hattie’s four-legged helpers: Moose, Cecil, and Mini Pearl. They are completely adorable! The banter between the three of them is fantastic, especially when they are worried about Hattie or bickering over something—they act just like little kids.

In this book, Hattie and Bo are on a weekend vacation at Thistledown Farm & Table to celebrate Gracie and Tim’s engagement. Hattie’s mother and Gracie’s parents have come along to join the celebration. I also can't forget to mention Gracie’s Meemaw Biscuit—she is a real character and exactly the kind of person you would want for your own Meemaw!

The author's descriptions are beautifully done. The cozy cottages, colorful leaves, and pumpkins everywhere came to life so vividly in my mind; it felt like I was right there witnessing it all instead of just reading it.

Everything goes perfectly until several guests suddenly become violently ill. Later, a scream echoes through the halls as purchasing manager Preston Whitmarsh is stabbed. His final words leave Hattie with clues about a secret someone was willing to pay a high price to keep hidden. Hattie, Bo, and her furry sidekicks must work together to solve the crime before anyone else becomes a victim.

The many twists and turns kept me on the edge of my seat as I followed Hattie's investigation. What was so important that someone went to such extremes to keep Preston quiet? And who did it?

As with every book in this series, I highly recommend Murder, Pumpkins & Poison to all lovers of cozy murder mysteries. Grab your copies today and join Hattie and her companions as they solve each mystery!

Check out all the books in the Hattie and Moose Cozy Mystery Series I’ve read.

Murder, Music & Mischief #1

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Fiddling with Murder #2

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Amazon

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Dancing with Murder #3

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Amazon

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Murder, Relics & Rivalries #4

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Amazon

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Murder, Mistletoe & Spirits #5

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Amazon

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Heartstrings and Hijinks #6

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Amazon

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The Great Nashville Bake Off Mishap #7

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Murder at the Steeplechase #8

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Amazon

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Murder, Speed and Sabotage #9

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Amazon

BookBub

Murder, Pumpkins & Poison #10

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Connect with Greta Sinclair

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Book Blitz + #Giveaway: Skip Carter: Henchman for Hire by J. Von Swan @XpressoTours

Skip Carter: Henchman for Hire
J. Von Swan
Publication date: October 13th 2026
Genres: Action, Adult, Humor

From the award-winning author of the Wolf of Vanaheim series comes a story about the guy nobody roots for — until now.

Skip Carter isn’t a hero. He’s a former soldier, ex-con, and lifelong screw-up whose only real talent is taking punches and showing up anyway. So when a shady agency offers to rent him out as muscle for supervillains, he figures it’s just another paycheck.

But between ridiculous costumes, insane bosses, and jobs that always end in broken bones, Skip starts to realize the real losers are the guys stuck cleaning up after the chaos. And when a world-ending threat finally hits Skytropolis, he gets one shot to stop being the disposable henchman and start being the man his daughter believes he can be.

Darkly funny, surprisingly heartfelt, and packed with action, Skip Carter, Henchman for Hire is for anyone who’s ever felt like the sidekick in their own story.

Goodreads / Amazon

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EXCERPT:

Mrs. Fuller glanced down her list. “Okay! Next we have… Mr. Carter.”

Peggy turned around in her chair and locked eyes with me. Her smile wasn’t just excitement. It was encouragement. A silent You can do this.

My chest tightened as I stood, smoothing the front of my suit jacket with sweaty hands. The room stared at me with pure, unfiltered child curiosity. No judgment yet. Just curious attention like they were hoping I might be someone I’m not.

I walked to the front of the classroom, facing a row of small faces that believed adults were all responsible, stable people with their shit together. And I realized, with sudden clarity, that I had no idea what to say.

I opened my mouth but nothing came out.

Awkward, uncomfortable silence stretched. The kind that crawls across your skin and whispers everyone is watching you screw this up.

I cleared my throat and glanced at Dr. Ramirez. He studied me like he was trying to place how he knew me from his emergency room.

“Uh. Hi, kids.”

A few of them waved like I was a minor celebrity. Someone whispered something and giggled.

“My name is Skip Carter. I’m Peggy’s dad.”

Peggy sat up straighter at that. Pride radiated off her like a heat lamp.

“I, uh… I used to be in the military.” That part was safe and true. Technically documented despite the dishonorable discharge. “And now I work in… private security.”

That sounded boring enough to pass. Mrs. Fuller nodded approvingly.

Jayden, the dog lover, raised his hand immediately. “Do you protect people?”

Every instinct screamed at me to lie. To say yes. To let that be the end of it. Protecting people was clean. Simple. Noble.

Instead, honesty slipped out like a bad habit.

“Not really,” I said.

Jayden frowned with confusion. “So then what do you do?”

I choked a little. “I… help make sure certain situations go the way they’re supposed to.”

That felt vague enough to dodge the truth while still being technically accurate. I had spent years perfecting that skill.

A girl with neat, black braids and a pink sweater raised her hand. “Do you stop bad guys?”

“No,” I said, and immediately regretted it. “I mean, sometimes other people stop them.”

She also frowned like I’d just told her Santa wasn’t real.

Another hand shot up. “Do you stop burglars from stealing stuff?”

I shook my head. “No.”

The kids started exchanging confused looks. The magic was leaking out of the room.

From the back, a voice cut through the air. “My mom says he’s a henchman.”

Some of the kids immediately giggled.

I looked toward the sound. It was Billy from next door. He was wearing a Captain Justice T-shirt and a smug expression. The kind of kid who repeated adult conversations without understanding why they hurt.

Peggy whipped around in her seat. “Shut up, Billy!”

Mrs. Fuller stepped forward. “Billy, that’s not appropriate–”

Billy wasn’t done. “She says henchmen work for supervillains and help them hurt people.”

Every pair of eyes swung back to me.

I felt heat crawl up my neck, into my face. The suit suddenly felt too tight.

Peggy stood up in her seat. “My dad knows all the superheroes!”

That part was technically true. Unfortunately.

Billy smirked. “Then does he know Captain Justice?”

I exhaled slowly. “Yeah,” I said. “I know Captain Justice.”

Billy’s eyes lit up. “Is he awesome in real life?”

I thought about Captain Justice and all the times he had knocked out my friends. About him swooping in to stop us even when the jobs were small. About the time he punched a henchman who was injured and trying to surrender.

“He’s kind of a blowhard,” I said.

Author Bio:

J. Von Swan is the award-winning author of the Wolf of Vanaheim series. He retired from law enforcement as a Sergeant in 2024 after the birth of his first daughter. During his career, he served on both the SWAT team and the mental health unit, experiences that now influence his writing and dark sense of humor. He now writes full-time and instructs law enforcement part-time at the community college.

J. Von Swan lives in Colorado with his family, where he spends his time enjoying the outdoors and imagining dragons that still need slaying.

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Release Blitz: Miracle Grow of the Mind by Carol LaHines @Clahines @RABTBookTours

 

Literary Fiction, Family Fiction

Date Published: October 13, 2026

Miracle Grow of the Mind is a funny, heartbreaking exploration of parenthood, disability, medical bureaucracy, Big Agro, food allergies, and environmental pathogens. When Amy and Michael’s son is born prematurely, they are thrust into a world of pediatric neurologists, sensory reintegration therapy, and endless evaluations.

Michael also struggles with a mother suffering from dementia, who insists he is the grown-up version of a brother who died in infancy. When the Kafkaesque Bureau of Preschool Special Education threatens to make their son repeat kindergarten, the family must confront how they are living and decide which therapies—everything from Mel Finkelstein’s sensory reintegration sessions to pediatric neurologist visits—are worth the emotional toll.

“Everyone should read this miracle of a book. Carol LaHines is a fearless writer. With brutal honesty, laugh-aloud-humor, faultless dialogue, understanding, and ultimately with great empathy and compassion, she portrays all our misguided efforts to control our bodies, our children, and our lives.” —Sheila Kohler, author of award-winning novels including Bluebird, Cracks, and Becoming Jane Eyre

 

About the Author

 

 Carol LaHines’ debut novel, Someday Everything Will All Make Sense, was a finalist for the Nilsen Prize for a First Novel and an American Fiction Award. Her second novel, The Vixen Amber Halloway (Regal House 2024) was a gold medal winner in the Foreword Indies awards, a finalist for an American Fiction Award and the Pencraft Award, and a Shelf Unbound notable indie, and was featured on NPR and C-SPAN. Her fiction has appeared in literary journals including Fence, Hayden’s Ferry Review, Denver Quarterly, Cimarron Review, The Literary Review, The Laurel Review, North Dakota Quarterly, South Dakota Review, The South Carolina Review, The Chattahoochee Review, Sycamore Review, Permafrost, redivider, Literary Orphans, and Literal Latte. She is a Pushcart Prize nominee and the recipient of the Lamar York Prize for Fiction. Her short stories and novellas have also been finalists for the Mary McCarthy Prize in Short Fiction from Sarabande Books, the David Nathan Meyerson fiction prize, the New Letters short story award, and the Disquiet Literary Prize, among others.

Ms. LaHines’ eldest son Dylan was born with Pierre-Robin sequence. His condition, which can lead to breathing obstruction and is potentially fatal, went undiagnosed and was compounded by other egregious medical errors, as a result of which Dylan was medically challenged and severely disabled, at least as defined by society. Having navigated these labyrinthine, Kafka-esque corridors herself, she was moved to write this book as a testament to him and all the other families like hers who have coped with an indifferent medical bureaucracy. Miracle Grow is also laced with the satire, acerbic commentary, absurdist subplots, and the tragic-comic sensibility Ms. LaHines is known for.

 

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Release Blitz: Christmas in the Presidential Suite by Judith Keim @RABTBookTours

Women's Fiction with Romantic Elements

Date Published: October 13, 2026

Emily “Emmie” Withers is given a surprise gift from her deceased husband. It’s a ten-day stay in the Presidential Suite of The Beach House Hotel, presumably for her and their two daughters. But much has happened since his death, so Emmie goes to the hotel by herself, wanting to follow through on her husband’s generous gift. Knowing she’s feeling a bit lonely, Ann and Rhonda suggest that Emmie keeps busy by helping them with kids’ activities, including acting as Mrs. Claus to Ted McAllister, a handsome widower who’s agreed to be Santa. One thing is for sure, there’s no better place than The Beach House Hotel for family love.

 

A special spin-off book where characters have their own stories but end up at The Beach House Hotel in Florida with Ann and Rhonda. A chance to stay connected to the series in a different way.

 

About the Author

Judith Keim, A USA Today Best-Selling Author, is a hybrid author who both has a publisher and self-publishes. Ms. Keim writes heart-warming novels about women who face unexpected challenges, meet them with strength, and find love and happiness along the way, stories with heart. Her best-selling books are based, in part, on many of the places she's lived or visited and on the interesting people she's met, creating believable characters and realistic settings her many loyal readers love.

She enjoyed her childhood and young-adult years in Elmira, New York, and now makes her home in Boise, Idaho, with her husband and their adorable dachshunds, Wally and Kacy, and other members of her family.

While growing up, she loved the idea of writing stories from a young age. Books were always present, being read, ready to go back to the library, or about to be discovered. All in her family shared information from the books in general conversation, giving them a wealth of knowledge and vivid imaginations.

Ms. Keim loves to hear from her readers and appreciates their enthusiasm for her stories.

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Teaser: Ropacabana by Isabella Jordan @RABTBookTours @changelingpress

 

(Viva Los Regalos 2)

A Futuristic Paranormal BDSM Romance

Date Published: October 16, 2026

Publisher: Changeling Press

Welcome to the Ropacabana, the hottest club in Los Regalos! Here you'll find the best BDSM floor show with the most exotically beautiful dancers. For the right price you can have anything in the Ropacabana -- including star of the show, Salome.

One client wants just that but he only likes to watch. He wants Salome to put on a private show for him and he's picked out just the right stud, er, guy for her to play with. Ropacabana bouncer Tony Fontaine.

Tony doesn't like the idea of having to put on a sex show as part of his job, but he loves the idea of learning all of Salome's intimate secrets.

Salome is more than pleased with Tony as her latest assignment, except for his habit of trying to look beyond her exotic dancer persona. Can Salome keep it all professional? Or will she make the biggest mistake someone in her position can make and fall in love with him?

 

Excerpt

Copyright ©2026 Isabella Jordan

Salma Fuentes, known in Los Regalos as Salome, made her way offstage, tossing her crop onto one of the props tables as she went. Jerry, the stagehand, passed her a bottle of water. Ashley waited to help her into her short robe of crimson silk since all she was wearing at the moment were her nipple clips, four-inch stilettos, and diamond studded G-string. The backup dancers trotted along behind her, the applause beyond the curtains ringing out.

So went another night at the Ropacabana.

"Awesome show, Salome." Ashley smiled at her. "You looked so beautiful up there."

"Thanks." Salome nodded to the younger woman, hoping she could make it to the dressing room without being followed.

"Salome?"

Salome didn't stop, knowing Ashley wasn't likely to give up until she pled her case. "Yes?" Might as well get this over with.

"I was hoping to… um… talk to you if I could." The girl's tone revealed her anxiety. "If you have a moment, that is."

No matter how much ambition she could smell on Ashley, she just couldn't bring herself to be rude. She probably should have. Sure, her years in Los Regalos had made her cynical and jaded. Yet Salome wasn't so arrogant that she couldn't sympathize with the amount of courage it took for Ashley to approach her.

She was pretty sure she knew what the other woman wanted. It was always the same thing. Every year it seemed there was a new bright-eyed girl working backstage at the hottest club in Los Regalos wanting to be the new star.

She herself had once been one of those bright-eyed girls.

"I've just got a moment," Salome told her. "I have a meeting with Hamilton upstairs in ten minutes."

Ashley nodded, swallowing visibly in her nervousness. "Well, I was hoping you could give me some advice. I've been working backstage for the last year on all the shows I could get on with as an assistant. I guess I'm interested in doing more now. I'm hoping to become a dancer. You know, like you."

Salome smiled patiently at her, looking her up and down. As far as wereleopards went, Ashley was a fine specimen. A lovely girl with cocoa colored skin, gorgeous dark hair, and a thirty-nine inch inseam unless she missed her guess. Nice slender build but not too skinny. She had large breasts but not too large. They didn't look like they'd pull the rest of her willowy frame over with their weight.

Ashley's best features were big, dark eyes that were very trusting and open. Maybe a little too open. Ashley had always been a friendly girl, like a puppy. If Ashley had been a real bitch, Salome wouldn't worry so much.

She shook her head. Had the girl already been there for a year? In two more years Los Regalos would tear Ashley apart no matter what path her future took.

That or it would make Ashley a cynical asshole like she was.

"Why?" she had to ask the younger woman. "Why would you want to do what I do, Ashley? You're smart, right? You're educated."

Ashley nodded again, wringing her hands in front of her. "Well, I do have a degree from the real world but… there's not a lot I can do with that here."

"Sure there is." Salome sat on the edge of her dressing table for a moment, opening the bottle of water to take a long drink. "You could get an office job and work for one of the admins. You can make as much money there as you could doing this. Someone has to keep the books in this place. And trust me, you'd be a lot happier."

"Happier? Being a paper pusher? Sure, the money might be good but I'd die if I had to do that every day. Locked in an office, away from the shows? I could have done that in the real world. No, I came here to do more."

"You could still see the shows," Salome pointed out. "You could afford to come and see all the shows you wanted."

Turning to the mirror, Salome hurried to put herself together to meet with her supervisor. She didn't have time to change clothes or shower. There was really little point. He probably had a client he wanted her to fuck waiting up there right now. If she looked sweaty and disheveled, it was all for the better.

"You don't think I'd m-make a good dancer?"

Salome took a deep breath. Somehow she knew the girl wouldn't give up that easily. Turning back, she took in the girl's unease as she stood there, her little hands still busy knotting and unknotting.

"Ashley, I don't know if you can dance or not. I do see a woman who could do anything she wanted. I'm just trying to tell you to consider carefully what you choose."

The girl's eyes widened a little at that.

"How old are you?" Salome asked.

"Eighteen."

It figured. "I was your age when I started dancing up here."

"You're still so young and you're the star here."

Salome didn't miss the enthusiasm in the girl's voice. Enthusiasm was a great thing but there was something Ashley didn't quite grasp. "I'm twenty-five. I've been here for eight years and yes, I worked hard to get where I am. But where I am isn't exactly what you might think."

"What's to think about? Everyone knows who Salome is. Everyone comes here to see you dance. You look so gorgeous up there, so sexy. That's what I want. I don't mind dancing nude or suggestively. It's an art, a celebration --"

"There's a price," Salome warned.

 

About the Author

Isabella Jordan is the alter ego of an otherwise stressed out web designer, programmer, and internet junkie. When she's not trying to perfect her own personal caffeine IV drip, she enjoys spending time with her family, doing volunteer work, and writing. She loves creating new stories of all kinds and chatting with readers and friends.

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Book Blast + #Giveaway: ME, MOM & THE MONSTER by Corinne Brown @GoddessFish

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Corinne Brown will be awarding a $10 Amazon/BN gift card to a randomly drawn winner. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

Blurb: 

"The results of your predictive testing are here, and they show that you did inherit the gene for Huntington's disease."

Those words, delivered by the neurologist to 57-year-old Mae Brown, forever changed her life and the lives of her family. Me, Mom & the Monster is a soul-stirring memoir that follows the path of this farming wife, businesswoman, mother and grandmother who lived a life with a monster of a disease. Interwoven with Mae's story is that of her third child, Corinne, whose life is intrinsically connected to her mother's diagnosis. Told from alternating voices of Corinne and her mother, this is a candid account of the harrowing effects of living with a fatal, genetic disease. Me, Mom & the Monster captures the authenticity and vulnerability of a mother and daughter who find themselves entwined in a long dance with a neurodegenerative disease.

 

Purchase ME, MOM AND THE MONSTER on Amazon

 

Read an Excerpt

 

MOM

I remember hearing stories of distant aunts and uncles who were afflicted with the Devil’s Dance—a colloquialism used in some circles to refer to those who were afflicted with HD. They were said to have the Devil’s Dance because of the chorea—a movement disorder causing involuntary spasmodic movements—that looked like an awkward, uncontrolled dance. Chorea is a primary symptom of HD. The Devil’s Dance was whispered about because of the shame, stigma and fear of this disease no one knew much about.

Times were different back then. There was no genetic testing or genetic counselling. Families just waited to see if symptoms would appear in them or in loved ones. Not much was known about the genetics of this disease or what the probabilities were of being affected if a parent had the disease. All I knew was what I heard about family members being sheltered and, in some instances, locked up so they wouldn’t harm themselves. They were deemed to have the Devil’s Dance, and not everyone behaved the same way. There was shame among afflicted families. There was also incredible fear.

This was in the early to mid-1900s in a remote community in northeast Newfoundland, where not many people talked about HD. Partly because there wasn’t much known about it, and no one in these small towns knew what to do anyway, especially if the afflicted person had rage tendencies and dramatic outbursts. My aunt Edna, who, along with my aunt Marg, helped in raising me after my own mother died, often became quite violent and would hit her husband, and hit him hard. She was sent away periodically for shock therapy because that was the preferred “treatment” of a disease that no one knew much about. I had an uncle who took his own life after he started exhibiting symptoms.

I suppose they call it the Devil’s Dance because those who are afflicted can’t keep still, legs going, feet going, torso bending. And the devil part? Well, that probably doesn’t need much explanation or observation. Only the devil could conjure such a tragic infliction. Some days I do feel like I’m in hell, to be honest. Fitting, I suppose. Not like I have a choice to dance with anyone else except with this devil of a disease.

 

About the Author:

Corinne was 10-years old when she told her teacher that when she grew up, she was going to be an author. A few decades may have passed since then, but the author dream was realized with the publication of her debut novel, Me, Mom & the Monster in the summer of 2026.

Corinne, a native Newfoundlander, grew up surrounded by books, newspapers and magazines. Her environment must have had some impact since she graduated from Memorial University of Newfoundland with a Bachelor of Arts and then went on to pursue a Journalism diploma at Mount Royal University in Calgary, Alberta.

Although her initial intention was to write fiction, Corinne says the story of Me, Mom & the Monster needed to be told first. She says sharing the intimate story of being part of a Huntington’s disease family opened the space for other ideas.

When she isn’t creating characters, and envisioning scenes and scenarios, she finds comfort in being outside. She lives in Surrey, British Columbia, Canada where she is continuously adding to her To Be Read stack and where she is currently writing her second book.

Connect with Corinne Brown

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Giveaway:

$10 Amazon/BN GC

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