THE FURTHER ADVENTURES OF KIKI LOWENSTEIN, COLLECTION 1 by Joanna Campbell Slan

Title:  THE FURTHER ADVENTURES OF KIKI LOWENSTEIN, COLLECTION 1

Series:  Kiki Lowenstein Scrap-n-Craft

Author:  Joanna Campbell Slan

Publisher:  Joanna Campbell Slan

Publish Date:   04.15.2020

Category /Genre:  Cozy Mystery, Short-story Anthology

Recommended for:  14+

Grammar/editing:  received as an unedited ARC

Received from:  Joanna Campbell Slan

Goodreads link: The Further Adventures of Kiki Lowenstein, Collection 1

Date completed: 04.10.2020

Description from the publisher:

Quick, Clean Reads That Will Lift Your Spirits!

The Further Adventures of Kiki Lowenstein, Collection 1 –

Get your Kiki fix going with these charming short stories about Kiki Lowenstein and her friends. It’s a prescription for happiness! More than 736 pages long! Never before available in a collection. If you like quick reads, these are the just what the doctor ordered! You’ll read

• 1. How Kiki Got Her Christmas Tree – a bittersweet tale explaining why a Christmas tree will always evoke memories of Kiki’s late (Jewish) father-in-law
• 2. Black and Blue Christmas – a wealthy scrapbooker seems to have everything…but the attention of the man she loves
• 3. The Search for Gray Bunny – a stolen toy turns up in the most unexpected of places
• 4. The White Elephant – an unwanted gift holds bad karma
• 5. The Secret Santa – a grumpy customer is changed by Kiki’s kindness
• 6. The Thrifty Gift Giver – Kiki saves the day when there’s no money for gifts
• 7. The Missing Notebook — Kiki finds a lost “treasure” in an unexpected place
• 8. The TP Caper – a spurned high school student’s revenge goes too far
• 9. The Treasure Map – a young divorcée plots her way to love
• 10. The Penny Pincher – a miserly husband reconsiders his stance
• 11. Shark Bait – Kiki solves the disappearance of a young lover
• 13. Call for Back Up – Kiki learns an important lesson
• 14. The Empty Heart – an elderly widow finds a way to fill her empty heart
• 15. The Heartbreak – when someone claims to be the previous owner of her rescue pup, Kiki vows not to let anyone take her dog away 

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This collection is meant for someone who has read many of the Kiki Lowenstein books.  They can be read without having read the mysteries, but there is an assumption of relationship progression understanding.  For example, I had only read book two.  Kiki had met Detective Detweiller, but in reading these short-stories I’ve had a whirlwind through their relationship.

There are fourteen short stories listed in the blurb (#12 is missing in the count).  There are actually more in the collection!  I say, “Bonus!!”

These stories are wonderful addition forays into the lives of people you count as your friends – and if you are invested in a series, they are your friends.  They are vignettes that encourage us to take the time to appreciate those we love, to create positivity in the world around us, and to find that positivity that is out there for us to find.  I found this to be a mood lifter!

Now that’s not to say it was preachy, slow, or boring.  After all, Kiki, Mert, Dodie, and the rest of the gang won’t allow that to happen.  There is plenty of action, laughs, food, and Dr. Pepper.

The only semi-negative I would mention is that at times it seemed to be a ZenTangle commercial.  Since I had never heard of this particular off-shoot of paper crafting, I was compelled to do a bit of Googling.

Note:  While I received this book as a gifted ARC via Authors XP, my opinions are my own and are given freely.

Kiki Lowenstein Mystery Short story Collections:

1.      Further Adventures of Kiki Lowenstein Book 1

2.      Further Adventures of Kiki Lowenstein Book 2

3.      Further Adventures of Kiki Lowenstein Book 3

Kiki Lowenstein Mystery series:

Love, Die, Neighbor

1.      Paper, Scissors, Death

2.      Cut, Crop, & Die

3.      Ink, Red, Dead

4.      Photo, Snap, Shot

5.      Make, Take, Murder

5.2 Kiki Lowenstein and the Secret Santa

5.3 Kiki Lowenstein and the White Elephant

5.5 Kiki Lowenstein and the Empty Heart

5.6 Kiki Lowenstein and the Lucky Charm

5.8 Kiki Lowenstein and the Purple Passion

6.      Ready, Scrap, Shoot

7.      Picture, Perfect, Corpse

7.2 Kiki Lowenstein and the Lilac Festival

8.      Group, Photo, Grave

8.1 Kiki Lowenstein and Too Much Squash

8.4 A Halloween Close Call

9.      Killer, Paper, Cut

9.1 Kiki Lowenstein and the Cupcake Caper

10.  Handmade, Holiday, Homicide

11.  Shotgun, Wedding, Bells

12.  Glue, Baby, Gone

13.  Fatal, Family, Album

14.  Grand, Death, Auto

Also from Joanna Campbell Slan:

·         Adventures in Journaling

·         The Best of British Scrapbooking and Card-making

·         Bless this Mess: Motivation for Moms

·         The Coloring Club Cookbook

·         Dollhouse Décor & More

·         Dutch Me Deadly

·         The Glassblower’s Wife

·         I’m Too Blessed to Be Depressed

·         One Minute Journaling

·         Quick & Easy Pages

·         Scrapbook Storytelling

·         Second Chance at Faith (Second Chance #4)

Cara Mia Delgatto Mystery series:

1.      Tear Down and Die

2.      Kicked to the Curb

3.      All Washed Up

4.      Cast Away

Cara Mia Delgatto Short Stories series:

1.      Cara Mia Delgatto and the Haunted Flamingo

2.      Cara Mia Delgatto and the Thanksgiving Gift

3.      All Washed Up

4.      Cast Away

The Jane Eyre Chronicles:

1.      Death of a Schoolgirl

2.      Death of a Dowager

 

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