This and That with Karen : Beaches, Bungalows, and Burglaries

Jan 1, 2019

Beaches, Bungalows, and Burglaries

Hello my cozy friends,

Hope everyone had a wonderful New Year!

To begin 2019 I decided to read Tonya's ~ A Camper and Criminals Cozy Mystery Series ~ I enjoy all her books and thought it was about time I read these books that have been on my kindle for quite awhile.

Kindle Edition - 212 pages

Published - May 25th 2018

Genre - Cozy Mystery

Welcome to Normal, Kentucky~ where nothing is normal. A Campers and Criminal Mystery Series is another brainchild of USA Today Bestselling Author Tonya Kappes. If you love her quirky southern characters and small town charm with a mystery to solve, you're going to love her new cozy mystery series!

Mae West, a far cry from the Hollywood actress, has been thrown for a loop. Her plush lifestyle in the big city of New York comes to a screeching halt after the FBI raids her mansion and arrests her husband, Paul West, for a Ponzi scheme that rips people out of millions of dollars.

Mae finds herself homeless, friendless, and penniless. All hope isn't lost. . .the only thing Mae got to keep that the government didn't seize is a tourist camp ground, Happy Trails, in Normal, Kentucky and an RV to live in. One problem, Mae's idea of camping has room service.

By the look of the brochure, Happy Trails has plush Kentucky Bluegrass, a crystal clear lake, a beach chair with her name on it and thoughts of how much money it could bring her after she sells it. Mae figures she'll take a couple weeks vacation with her toes dipped in the lake. Things aren't always as they appear. The Kentucky Bluegrass is nothing but dirt and the crystal clue lake is murky with green slime on top.

Mae quickly find out that Happy Trails and the citizens of Normal were also victims of Paul's schemes, making her lower than tha lake scum in the residents' eyes. Mae doesn't think things could get much worse, but as luck would have it, Paul West has escaped from prison and is found dead, murdered, floating in the Happy Trails mucky green lake.

Mae is the number one suspect on Detective Hank Sharp's short list. After all, Mae has the perfect motive as a kept wife who has been scorned to ashes, embarrassed to death, and seeking revenge.

Time is running out for Mae to prove that she's innocent and nothing like her husband. If only she could get someone to believe her and talk Detective Sharp into looking at other residents who've lost all their savings to Paul's Ponzie scheme before the curtain is closed on this Hollywood namesake.

A great first in what I am excitedly anticipating to be my new favourite series by Tonya Based in Normal, Kentucky with a quirky bunch of down to earth characters and a setting which at first glance you would not think is cozy but in the end you feel the sense of community. The protagonist Mae West she is tenacious, as well as vivacious and you cant help but fall in love with her. While I found a few grammar or typos not as many as others, it did not deter me from giving the book a 5 star rating. I went ahead and purchased all the books in the series as I want to know more about the Happy Trails campground and the Laundry Book Club.

My Rating

For years, USA Today bestselling author Tonya Kappes has been publishing numerous mystery with unprecedented success. She is famous not only for her hilarious plot lines and quirky characters, but her tremendous marketing efforts that have earned her thousands of followers and a devoted street team of fans. Sign up for her newsletter on her website at Tonyakappes.com .