Memories and Murder by Lynn Cahoon

There's been another murder in South Cove, California. Just the day before, Jill saw the man treating his girlfriend, Paula, who works at the Senior Project, in a way that is all too familiar. So it's not particularly surprising that she's considered a suspect.
It's interesting that this case overlaps with another since Jill's Aunt Jackie has been getting calls from Uncle Theo, a man who supposedly died years ago. Is he still alive or is it someone trying to scam Jackie out of money?
This book was a little more complicated than most Tourist Trap Mysteries - not only is there a murder and a scam, there is a little C story about the mayor and his run for re-election; I have to wonder if Cahoon is setting herself up for the next book.

Three and a half stars
This book came out November 12th
Follows Killer Party
ARC kindly provided by Kensington Books and NetGalley
Opinions are my own

A Very Mummy Holiday by Lynn Cahoon

Jill Gardner leaves the murder trap that is her hometown and heads up the Oregon coast with her boyfriend and another couple. She doesn't know Kathi very well but the other woman is nice even if she does keep trying to get Jill to wear more makeup and lower cut shirts. But it's not like Kathi deserves to end up next to a skeleton when her and Blake's ATV turns over. Nor does she deserve the attention of the men in the area just because she resembles that dead woman.
Greg and Jill will have to help solve the mystery before Kathi becomes next in a string of victims.
This is the best of the Tourist trap novellas in awhile. Good mystery, not as much woo.

Four stars
This novella came out October 29th
ARC kindly by Kensington Books and NetGalley
Opinions are my own

One Potato, Two Potato, Dead by Lynn Cahoon

Angie starts off the book by volunteering at a soup kitchen and meeting Hope's professor, the one she has a crush on. The next morning, the sheriff comes to tell her that the man is dead.
Angie starts by trying to stay on the periphery of the investigation but ends up getting dragged into looking at Daniel who didn't seem to exist two years ago but suddenly showed up as a professor at the local university before he died. The man also seems to have romanced a number of women, some of whom are quite scary when crossed.
The series probably hasn't changed very much but there is starting to be an element of religion (very light touches) that weren't there before. I'm wondering if that was just for this book (especially since the guy running the food bank ends up not being a great fella) or if the author is heading more in that direction.

Three stars
This book came out March 19th
Follows Killer Green Tomatoes
ARC kindly provided by publisher and NetGalley
Opinions are my own

Corned Beef and Casualties by Lynn Cahoon

Jill Gardner's small touristy town is holding a St. Patrick's Day festival. She is overwhelmed and not really loving the number of people who are walking around drunk in the middle of the day. But she is charmed by one young woman. Too bad the young lady later ends up dead and Jill wants to know why.
I really like the full-length Tourist Trap mysteries but the novellas are just too short. Jill is not as likeable in these stories as her ruminations about not linking how much her boyfriend has to work get annoying. And we don't get to see as much development in the other characters meaning that everyone is just sort of stagnant. Then there are the touches of magic that happen only in the novellas. Why only the novellas? If magic is part of the series, make it part of the series. It was cheeky in the Christmas novella but felt really last-minute wedged in to this story.

Two and a half stars
This story comes out February 5
ARC kindly provided by publisher and NetGalley

Slay in Character by Lynn Cahoon

Another Cat Latimer book, another group of writers at her B&B writer's retreat. This time, it's historical romance writers and they're ready for a day out at the local tourist town set in the Old West. When they go, they meet the roommate of the current student writer at Cat's retreat. Like Jessica Ball, the student, her roommate works at the town as a saloon girl. But it's the roommate, rather than the wealthy and "connected" Jess who ends up murdered.
Was she killed because of something she did? Or because someone mistook her for Jess?
I think you will definitely want to have read previous books in the series because a few of the plot points build on previous books. I wish we had seen a bit more of the "series regulars" and the ending was somewhat fairly clued but I wish there had been a little bit more for background.

Three stars
This book came out November 27
ARC provided by NetGalley; Opinion is my own

Santa Puppy by Lynn Cahoon

Jill Gardner and her friends are helping out at the local animal shelter for the holidays. One dog in particular, Baby, catches her attention. Baby is an older dog, brought into the shelter when her homeless dog dad died of a heart attack. But Baby has a mystery surrounding her and Jilly wants to figure it out.
A very fast read, this is actually one of the better novellas in the series. Just a touch of magical realism that was a little iffy for my but overall a nice read.

Four stars
This novella came out November 6
ARC provided by NetGalley; Opinion is my own

A Deadly Brew by Lynn Cahoon

Jill Gardner and her friends are spending Halloween in the local haunted house. Four couples, all ready to see a ghost. But, why is there a ghost there and could this be a mystery too old for Jill to solve?

I usually like this series (or any series by Lynn Cahoon) but this one just didn't come together for me. Too much plot packed into a short story made it hard to understand.

Two stars
This came out September 4
ARC kindly provided by NetGalley

Killer Green Tomatoes by Lynn Cahoon

We return to Angie Turner's farm-to-table restaurant where she is preparing for the summer season. For Angie, nothing says summer like her grandmother's fried green tomato recipe. Thank goodness her sous chef has a cousin who has an organic farm. Too bad the man's a Lothario. One who's latest girlfriend has turned up dead. The night after she and Javier had an argument. Now Estebe, Angie's employee, has asked her for help.
In the rule of most mystery novels, Javier had a lot of people who might have wanted to see him arrested for murder. Angie is reluctantly drawn into the murder. Adding that on to her regularly busy life as well as the fact that she's caring for her elderly neighbor while the neighbor's granddaughter is away.
The subplot wasn't really well developed and I thought it didn't needed to really be there but overall a nice addition to the series.

Three stars
This book comes out July 3
Followed by One Potato, Two Potato, Dead
ARC kindly provided by NetGalley

Rockets' Dead Glare by Lynn Cahoon

Volunteer fire chief Barry Gleason has made a number of enemies in the days leading up to the Fourth of July (a major money making day for this small tourist town) by threatening to shut people down because of supposed "violations." He does offer to overlook some of the violations in return for "favors." When he uses his own property to stage a fire and rescue, he turns up dead with only three volunteer firefighters (all of whom might have a grudge) in the area.
A short read. I did sort of like the end but it wasn't my favorite.

This novella comes out June 5
Three stars
ARC kindly provided by NetGalley

Of Murder and Men by Lynn Cahoon

It's time for another writer's retreat at Cat Latimer's bed and breakfast. Too bad her business partner Shauna is so involved with her new fiance. Cat's worried about whether she's going to be there to help. She's also worried because Shauna's fiance is a bit of a jerk. But it's still a surprise when he ends up dead. Even more surprising when Shauna becomes the prime suspect. But Cat knows Shauna would never hurt a fly and, more logically, why would she kill the man before they were married?  Even if she was seen with rat poison before the man was killed by that same method.
There is a lot going on in this book including some movement in the storyline of Annie's now-deceased ex-husband. The ending wasn't particularly fairly clued though there were some hints here and there, especially right before the denouement.

Three and a half stars
This book comes out November 28
Follows Fatality by Firelight

Killer Party by Lynn Cahoon

Jill Gardner is getting used to living with her sheriff boyfriend Greg and now she's joining him and his  high school friends at a local museum/historical site/hotel-ish type thing. Levi, it seems, is about to get married and he wants a bachelor party weekend. But Jill is not amused when it seems like the men's needs come first while the women are left to fend for themselves. And Greg's high school friends seem stuck in the past and that includes a lot of juvenile behavior. Don't even get her started on the groom-to-be. When he ends up dead in a pool, there are a number of suspects. The friend who invested with Levi and lost his life savings is one. Then there's Levi's fiancee who seems to be hiding something. There's a mysterious disappearance from the men's past that might be coming up again.
One of my frustrations with this book is that there are a lot of well-developed possibilities for the killer but the end comes out of left field. Mid-left field because I saw it coming but I really hoped that it wasn't so. And that ending? Ufda.

Three and a half stars
This book comes out July 18
Followed by Memories and Murder

Hospitality and Homicide by Lynn Cahoon

Jill Gardner is balancing a lot of responsibilities (as per usual). She's got her bookstore, her classes, the boyfriend that is starting to get serious (is she really ready for this?), an employee leaving, and her regular obligations to her dog and to the town business council. Heaped on that is a mystery author who is in town for a signing and, added bonus, is driving Jill's police chief boyfriend up a wall. So, she's really not ready for the dead body that turns up at one of the local vineyards. Or the fact that her neighbor and local psychic, Esmeralda seems to be falling apart because of a missing boy.
Jill does figure it all out in a story that is fast, fun, and fluffy. Regular readers of the Tourist Trap Mystery series will quite enjoy it.


Three and a half stars
This book comes out May 16
Follows Tea Cups and Carnage                                          

Fatality by Firelight by Lynn Cahoon

I wish I had read the first book in this series because there were a lot of call backs to the other story in this series. Otherwise, this was a perfectly fine book, though a bit convoluted in areas. A LOT of red herrings in this book.
This is the second writer's retreat that Cat Latimer is hosting in the house she lived in with her ex-husband, the house he surprisingly willed to her. During the last retreat, one of the writers (I'm guessing from the references) ended up dead. This retreat has its own share of problems, a famous Hemingway book being stolen from the library, one participant who has a stalker and is almost kidnapped, participants who don't seem fully invested in their writing, Cat finding out that her home town is a supposed "safe zone" for mob families to send their college-aged kids, a big mob guy hitting on her... There's a lot going on.
I would probably read the next book in this series if some of the "over-arching" stories start moving a little faster.

Three stars
This book comes out February 28
Followed by Of Murder and Men

Tea Cups and Carnage by Lynn Cahoon

A new shop has opened up in South Cove, California. Run by a former beauty contestant runner-up who seems to be wrapping men around her little finger, Tea Hee is going to be a shop selling china. But she's not the only new person in town. There's also a biker that has taken to riding up and down the sidewalks, even injuring Jill's aunt Jackie.
There is definitely a cloud around Kathi though. Her sister Ivy has followed her to town and seems to be spying on her. And then her cousin also comes to town, under an assumed name, and is shot in his hotel room. Who is doing all of this killing?
For some reason, Jill's insistence on solving mysteries when she keeps getting close to death at the end of each story didn't bother me as much. Maybe because she acknowledged it? Whatever, this is another nice addition to the Tourist Trap series and I'm definitely intrigued by the new series introduced at the end of this one.



Three and a half stars
Comes out June 7
Followed by Hospitality and Homicide