Christmas, Criminals, and Campers
by Tonya Kappes
Series: Camper and Criminals Cozy Mystery #4
Series Rating:
on October 26, 2018
Genres: Cozy Culinary Holiday Mystery
Pages: 205
Format: Kindle
Goodreads
BookBub
Get Your Copy at: Amazon, Book Depository
Also in this series: Beaches, Bungalows, and Burglaries, Canyons, Caravans, & Cadavers, Deserts, Driving, and Derelicts, Forests, Fishing, & Forgery, Motorhomes, Maps, & Murder, Hitches, Hideouts, and Homicides, Assailants, Asphalt & Alibis, Valleys, Vehicles & Victims, Sunsets, Sabbatical and Scandal, Tents, Trails and Turmoil
Welcome to Normal, Kentucky where NOTHING is normal.
Librarian Abby Fawn is star struck when her favorite romance author, Nadine White, has rented a cozy camper at the Happy Trails Campground for the winter months.
Abby is devastated to find out Nadine White is nothing like the person she portrays in interviews or on social media. In fact, Nadine White is not nice at all and Abby lets her feelings known that she thinks Nadine is a fraud. . .after she finds out Nadine has a ghost writer.
When Nadine White is found dead in the Normal Library, Abby Fawn is Detective Hank Sharp's number one suspect.
It's time for Mae West to put up her camping gear for the winter months and put on her sleuthing gear to figure out who is framing Abby Fawn before Abby is the ending in Nadine White's final chapter.
Abby killed Nadine White? I don’t believe it.
Christmas Criminals and Campers by Tonya Kappes is a great cozy mystery set during Christmas time. Mae is friends with Abby Fawn and doesn’t think that Abby should go to jail for this crime that she didn’t commit. She has to convince Hank Sharp of that.
Mae West, our sleuth
Mae West is our sleuth and main character throughout the book as she is telling the story. Getting into Mae’s head is excellent; I love the way that she solves the crimes. Mae got the campground, Happy Trails, from her deceased ex-husband and has been living there since the end of spring and start of summer. She has gone through a lot since that ordeal and for the better. Mae likes living in Normal, Kentucky, and is enjoying the friends she has made in the small town. It doesn’t help that she has solved three crimes before figuring this one out as well.
Likes
- She believes in her friendships, and that makes her want to solve crimes where they are involved.
- Mae can get people to open up to her and give her clues that they wouldn’t necessarily give to the police.
- Putting the past behind her when it comes to Mary Elizabeth and Bobby Ray.
- She can solve crimes faster than Hank or just as Hank is coming to get her.
Hank Sharp, love interest and detective
Hank Sharp is our love interest and the cop insight that helps the sleuth. Well, more like, he allows her to help him solve a crime if he thinks it will help. Hank should know by now that as long as the suspect is someone that Mae holds dearly to her that she will try to solve the mystery with or without his help. He is a sweet guy who is protective and romantic. They finally had their first date, and it was delightful and cute even if it ended badly.
Likes
- He is protective of Mae and doesn’t want anything to happen to her.
- Hank lets her participate in solving the mysteries even if it won’t be good for her if she gets caught.
- He is a great detective.
- They are comfortable around each other. Especially when they can eat take out so as not to get in each other’s way in the small kitchen.
Dislikes
- Tries to keep Mae from meddling before enlisting her help
Mystery
The mystery is of a famous author getting killed at the library and who do Mae and Hank find with the murder weapon in her hand, Abby Fawn, and now Mae has to figure out who did it. The thing is that there were two crimes, and I figured out one part of it but not the second part. The murder weapon was a knife that was in the neck of Nadine White, a romance writer, that Abby was a fan of.
Ms. Kappes did an excellent way of keeping the real killer hidden until Mae figures it out. I am still amazed about it but at least Abby Fawn, the librarian, didn’t do it. The real killer was pretty smart, but if only she didn’t leave something out in the open for Mae to find she might have gotten away with it.
Five Star
Christmas Criminals and Campers by Tonya Kappes is the fourth book of this series which I can’t get enough of reading. It’s such a cute southern cozy mystery read and made me feel like I was in Normal, Kentucky, during winter instead of in Montana during spring. I might reconsider being friends with Mae because of all the dead bodies dropping around her. There are some great recipes in the back of the book as well.
I am giving it a five-star rating and recommending it to anyone that likes cozy mysteries.
Thank you for dropping by! I hope you enjoyed this review of Christmas Criminals and Campers by Tonya Kappes.
Until the next time,
Happy Reading!
About Tonya Kappes
For years, USA Today bestselling author Tonya Kappes has been self-publishing her numerous mystery and romance titles with unprecedented success. She is famous not only for her hilarious plotlines and quirky characters, but her tremendous marketing efforts that have earned her thousands of followers and a devoted street team of fans.
She has a B.A. in Education from the University of Kentucky and a proud Kentucky Wildcat fan.
Married to an amazing man, Eddy, she has four son ranging in ages from twenty-two to sixteen years old, Charlie and Scooter (Schnauzers), and Kitty Kappes.
Now a full time writer, she spends her days creating the fun-loving, quirky southern characters that is full of charm that readers have come to love.
Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
- 2019 Cloak and Dagger
- 2019 Craving For Cozies Reading Challenge
- 2019 Cruisin' Thru The Cozies Reading Challenge
- 2019 Goodreads Reading Challenge
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