[Blog Tour Review & Giveaway]* A Question of Devotion: A Mrs. B Mystery (A Mrs B Mystery Book 1) by Anita Kulina

Then she saw it – a sheet of paper in the mailbox, underneath the mail. It was white with large black letters and said LEAVE IT ALONE.

Mrs. B has a quiet life, and she likes it that way. Morning pinochle games at St. Mary’s Senior Center. Afternoon lunches with Myrtle, Anne and Rose. Peaceful evenings with a cup of coffee and the classic movie channel.

But one day she wakes to a phone call, which leads to consequences she could never have foreseen. Secrets snowball and threaten to change the neighborhood of Burchfield forever. Someone has to make things right. It’s up to Mrs. B.
Summary & Cover taken from Goodreads.com 

The first book in the cozy Mrs. B mystery series was just as delightful as you would expect with an older sleuth in the leading role. I was a little partial to the her because I had a delightful teacher once upon a time that went my the name Mrs. B so I was already set to like her, but I ended up loving her just for who she was.
Mrs. B was a lovely character. She wasn't the bumbling kind of older sleuth at all, she was kind, intelligent and ultimately has a flare for solving crime. I loved that she didn't pretend to be anyone other than herself. In solving the mystery she isn't afraid to help out a friend indeed, making new friends (and enemie) along the way.
At 133 pages long this was a warm, feel good, all around well written first book in a delightful cozy mystery series from an author that was new to me, but one who I will be sure to check out further and hopefully read more from soon.
I would recommend this to any one. From fans of the genre to newcomers this is a great little intro to the world of cozies. There's plenty of laughs to be had and I can't see where Mrs. B's antics take her next.

*Note I'm posting this a few days late and would like to extend my apologies to the author an organizer of the tour. I was dealing with a private family matter at the time and got my post dates confused*

Excerpt:

Mrs. B did her best to focus on the pinochle game. They played another hand, and only bickered once when Don was dealing and Vic thought he had dealt Mike one too many cards and shorted Vic. Which, to no one’s surprise, turned out not to be the case. After the second hand they all got up, took a restroom break, got another cup of coffee—or in Old Mike’s case, tea—and went back to the table.
Mrs. B stood behind her chair for a second, to see if she could see what Myrtle was doing, but from that vantage point all she could see was the back of Myrtle’s head.
The deal and the rest of the game, as usual, were silent except for the bidding and an occasional exclamation or grunt if someone made an unexpected play. Vic tallied up the score and read it off. Then all four of them got up and walked toward the kitchen and then to the back of the room for lunch. The men headed toward long tables to the right. Mrs. B went to the left where the ladies congregated at little card tables, each with a centerpiece of cheerful pink plastic roses.
Sometimes I feel like a kid in a school cafeteria, Mrs. B thought as she made her way toward Anne, Myrtle and Rose, already sitting at one of the square tables toward the back of the room.
On her way, Mrs. B passed the mahjong ladies. Most of them spoke only Chinese, so they usually kept to themselves. Lily, who spoke English, waved her hand in greeting as Mrs. B passed.
Mrs. B said “Nee how” to everyone, the way Lily taught her to years ago. Two of the ladies looked up and said, “Ni hao!” The others waved and smiled.
At the lunch table, Mrs. B’s beige plastic tray made a comforting sound as it hit the tabletop. Myrtle looked good. Cheerful, even.
These three women were Mrs. B’s closest friends at the Senior Center. She met Anne Barker when she and Albert first moved to Burchfield. Anne’s cousin Mary owned the Burchfield Grill, where Mrs. B and Albert used to stop for fish sandwiches on Friday nights before the children were born. Anne had lived in Burchfield all her life and she seemed to be related, through blood or marriage, to half the people in the neighborhood. Glamorous by Burchfield standards, Anne had been a model in the days when artists drew clothing for newspaper ads. She still got her hair done every week at the beauty parlor, and her clothes were always the prettiest colors.
Myrtle Monaghan’s curly hair was, as usual, sticking out all over the place from under her pink hair band. Myrtle was normally sweet and full of sunshine. She grew up in Burchfield, too, in the little house where she raised her own family and still lived now.
Rose O’Malley—little, quiet Rose—moved to Burchfield when she got married, just like Mrs. B did. A private person, Rose was. None of the other ladies at the table had ever even met her before she started coming to the Senior Center, though of course
they would see her at Mass from time to time. Rose’s husband was retired from the police force and her son was a detective. That was all they knew about her. Rose looked like she might be Italian, but Mrs. B wasn’t even sure about that.
“We were talking about something on TV last night,” Anne said as Mrs. B steadied herself on the table with one hand and pulled out her chair with the other.
“Did you watch channel 13? It was one of those nature specials,” Myrtle said. Rose looked up and nodded at Mrs. B, then continued fussing with her macaroni and cheese.
“I was watching a movie,” Mrs. B said.
“It was all about walruses. They’re big, fat buggers,” Myrtle said.
“I think my first husband was a walrus,” Anne said. They all giggled.
The rest of the lunch was like any other of the numerous lunches they had shared together. Myrtle seemed perfectly fine. Why, Mrs. B thought. Why the sudden change? 

GIVEAWAY:

Dear readers! There is a book available for giveaway is for the choice of one Print or ebook.  Print is open to Canada & the U.S. only.

Leave your E-mail address (or e-mail me Kimberly at Turning,the.pages@hotmail.com) your name, e-mail address and specify whether you live in the U.S., Canada or abroad.

Giveaway ends April 28th!