My Languishing TBR: J #AtoZChallenge2025 #Books #Bookreview

J is for JJ

I’m doing folklore and book review posts to reach and please a larger audience. Previous years have shown select interest in both and to minimise blogging throughout the year, I’m focusing my efforts on April.

Focusing on an A to Z of my TBR (to be read) list, each letter will have books starting with that letter on my list, a book I’ve read and reviewed (with the review!) and one of my books matching the letter with a link about more info about the book.

I chose the books this year quite randomly from my Goodreads Want to Read page. Some are quite creatively added to letters.

If you’d rather check out my folklore post for today, go here.

You can read reviews for from previous years for this letter here, here and here, and my year-end reviews here, here, here, here and, most recently, here and here.

My TBR

About the Book I’ve Read

I’m cheating a bit, using the main character’s name for this letter: JJ.

About the Book

Death by Ice Cream (Pismawallops PTA #1) by Rebecca M Douglass

What do you serve when all you have in the freezer is an ice-cold corpse?

JJ MacGregor and her best friend Kitty Padgett struggle to hold the Pismawallops PTA together, and new volunteer Letitia LeMoine isn’t making it any easier. But when Letitia’s strangled corpse turns up where the ice cream bars should have been, things get a whole lot worse. JJ has to shoehorn in a search for the killer along with all her other problems: divorce, a 15-year-old son with his first girlfriend, a desperate race to complete the Yearbook on time, and her own tendency to get all wobbly-kneed around the Chief of Police. JJ just can’t help asking a few questions. But a loud mouth and insatiable curiosity can be a dangerous combination. Especially when someone wants her stopped.

Check it out on Goodreads.

My Review

A LOL funny cosy mystery set in a small town on an island off the coast of Seattle (as that is the big city on the mainland). JJ is this bigger-than-life mama bear who would do anything for her fifteen-year-old son – even volunteer on the PTA where the work is as much fun as a root canal. Especially with one woman out to rule them all.

Only, this woman turns up dead. Not only does JJ and her best friend Kitty, along with the other members of the PTA look like suspects, everyone on the island disliked this woman enough to kill her.

Though it’s hilarious as JJ works out she has a dysfunctional marriage and starts divorce proceedings, figures out the police chief is kind of hot, realises that friendship can and should be deeper than just having children the same age, and that doing a yearbook from scratch in less than a week is a tough call – all while trying to solve the murder herself as accusations are made that she did it – the truth behind the murder is a dark subject with lots of ramifications.

A well-written mystery with enough relationship drama, sleuthing, romance and laughs to keep you hooked until the end.

About the Book

Death by Trombone (Pismawallops PTA #2) by Rebecca M Douglass

JJ MacGregor’s very bad day has just gotten a lot worse.

JJ thought starting the day without coffee was a disaster, but now there’s a dead musician behind the Pismawallops High School gym. His trombone is missing, and something about the scene is off key. JJ and Police Chief Ron Karlson are determined to get to the bottom of the mystery, but will they be able to work harmoniously or will discord ruin the investigation? With the music teacher as the prime suspect, JJ could be left to conduct the band, and then Graduation might truly end in a death by trombone, or at least the murder of Pomp and Circumstance!

Check it out on Goodreads.

My Review

JJ really gets into trouble this time: by falling over her own feet. Not only does she discover a corpse this way, but also gets herself hospitalised later on.

Her ex is a pain, but she has a brilliant lawyer.

Her feelings for Ron keeps her up at night and makes her even more moody than normal – at least Kitty and her son seem to be okay with it.

Who knew being involved with the PTA would be so dangerous? Suspected felons show up at her house to tell her to butt out of their business – sneaking alcohol and who-knows-what to teenagers partying in the woods behind the school gym. And merely asking someone to join up as treasurer for the PTA opens a whole new can of worms.

Lots of LOL moments, mystery, and JJ learning to trust Ron and her own feelings. Not to mention all the insane stuff she has to deal with as a mum and inquisitive concerned citizen.

About the Book

Death by Adverb (Pismawallops PTA #3) by Rebecca M Douglass

JJ MacGregor’s having a rotten summer. Her arm’s in a cast, her jeans are too tight, and her son is spending his vacation with his dad. To make matters worse, her relationship with Police Chief Ron Karlson is up in the air and they haven’t spoken since June. Maybe the only good thing is that she’s got a writing job at last. Wilmont Charleston-Rutherford want her to help him with his memoirs, and JJ doesn’t care if he’s making it all up. All she has to do to make some much-needed money is keep her mouth shut and fix some of the worst prose she’s ever seen.

Of course, keeping her mouth shut isn’t JJ’s strong point. When she loses her temper so does her boss, and she’s back to job-hunting. That’s bad enough, but when Wilmont Charleston-Rutherford turns up dead, everyone remembers JJ fought with him. About the time the police are wondering if JJ might have tried to avenge the English language, her sewer backs up, and the dead man’s missing daughter shows up on her doorstep—only to disappear again before morning. JJ has her work cut out for to find the girl, the killer, and a new septic tank before anyone else dies—but at least the murder has her talking to Ron again.

Check it out on Goodreads.

My Review

A man dies after butchering the English language, dog-earing library books, and treating everyone – especially women – awfully on the island. And everyone has motive to have killed him. Especially JJ. Not that the police really think she did it, but they have to ask. To top it off, the man’s teenage daughter disappears – and she only trusts JJ, so she can’t help herself: she has to look for the girl and figure out how and why the rich slime ball died.

Of course, this is when the septic tank decides to malfunction and JJ has to move in with Kitty and her family for a couple of days. At least Brian is in Texas…

JJ figures out her messed-up feelings around relationships and Ron, does PT for her newly released arm over the phone with her mum, and spends quite some time at the festival to raise funds for the PTA with Kitty and some volunteers.

There’s loads of action, drama and danger – along with LOL moments. And the reason for the murder… With so many other reasons, this one is as bad as the guy who died.

About the Book

Death by Library (Pismawallops PTA #4) by Rebecca M Douglass

JJ McGregor and the Pismawallops PTA are back in action! JJ has a new job at the library, which allows her to pay her bills. That ought to make her happy, but with all those books to shelve, the PTA to run, and a 16-year-old son to raise, there’s never enough time to spend with her sweetheart, police chief Ron Karlson. That’s especially true with Thanksgiving on the horizon and her mother coming to visit, not to mention the PTA’s Holiday Bazaar looming ahead. The PTA has to swing into action in a hurry when a grumpy member of the school board threatens plans to build a badly-needed swimming pool on the island. His objections turn out to be nothing compared to the claims of a stranger who says the land the pool would be built on is actually hers. The board meeting dissolves into chaos, and JJ leaps into action in an effort to get to the bottom of the incipient land war. Before JJ can find what she needs in the reference section, things turn deadly in the library stacks. Now JJ needs some answers fast, before she loses her job—or her life. She’s determined to find out everything about the victim, and for once the library doesn’t hold all the answers. JJ and Kitty may have to face the ultimate a visit to Mrs. Halsey, the oldest—and crankiest—person on the island, where they may learn more than they bargained for.

Check it out on Goodreads.

My Review

JJ is a magnet for trouble. Sometimes, it’s out of concern for others (like ending up prisoner in Mrs. Halsey’s house, cleaning the place alongside Kitty), and other times it’s because her inquisitive nature leads her into trouble. I think this is my favourite in the series, probably because of all the family drama and, of course, the main setting being the library.

About the Book

Death by Donut (Pismawallops PTA #5) by Rebecca M Douglass

Election day’s almost here, and the island’s new pool is on the line. JJ should be all in with the campaign, but when a prominent Island businessman drops dead at her feet in the Have-A-Bite Bakery, someone has a mystery to solve. JJ’s fiancé—police chief Ron Karlson—is out of town. Who else is there? JJ is missing her sweetheart, tired of the winter rains, and distracted by everybody’s questions about when the wedding’s happening. Even more worrying, her foster-daughter’s father has failed to show up on schedule. No wonder JJ’s struggling to wrap this one up before someone else bites into the wrong donut. There’s no time to lose, because something truly essential is on the saving the bakery—and JJ’s favorite espresso brownies!

Check it out on Goodreads.

My Review

So many mysteries going on to keep the mind busy. I enjoyed trying to figure them all out and laughing at how JJ got herself into trouble by merely breathing.

I liked how much she cares for everyone – even annoying Moira and scary Mrs Halsey.

Everyone pushing, mostly gently, for her to choose a wedding date was a good way to make her realise what she really wants and not to be scared of commitment. Her mum asking when she should come over and bake the wedding cake was hilarious.

The death that triggered the whole adventure was rather scary. Who knew a peanut allergy could go so horribly wrong?

I liked the way the themes (peanut allergy, homophobia, professional jealousy, mental health) were addressed and used throughout the story.

A good end to this cosy mystery series.

My Book

Special Edition of Irascible Immortals: Smoke on the Water

Remember that you can request all of my books from your local library!

I hope you enjoyed this. For more books I’ve read and reviewed, check out either my Pinterest board about reviews or my Goodreads profile. Alternatively, you can check out my reviews on BookBub. Have you read any of the books? Loved or hated any of them?

If you’ve enjoyed this review, you can support my work by buying me a coffee. It helps sustain my reading journey — from the books I buy to the time spent wandering through stories and writing them into reviews. Thank you for being part of it.

*FYI, my reviews are my honest opinion and if something bothers me, I tell it straight. How else will anything change? My opinions are based on being a voracious reader and book buyer, not an attack on the author.*