Deserts, Driving and Derelicts: A Camper & Criminals Cozy Mystery

Happy Book Release Day!  There are some fabulous new books out today.  Ruff Justice by Laurien Berenson is the 22nd A Melanie Travis Mystery.  The family is trying to get Davey's Standard poodle, Augie is championship title.  See what happens when Aunt Peg finds a dead artist and then her pet sitter goes missing.  Buried in Books by Kate Carlisle is the twelfth A Bibliophile Mystery.  Brooklyn Wainwright is getting married but an old friend turns up dead and there is something funny about The Three Musketeers book she received as a gift.  Some of the other new releases are Portrait of a  Sister by Laura Bradford, Home on Huckleberry Hill by Jennifer Beckstrand (this book is just a delight to read), Runaway Murder by Leigh Hearon, Staged 4 Murder by J.C. Eaton, Claws of Death by Linda Reilly, Murder at the Mansion by Sheila Connolly, Kappy King and the Pickle Kaper by Amy Lillard, A Lady's Guide to Etiquette and Murder by Dianne Freeman, Death by Espresso by Alex Erickson, Till Death Do Us Tart by Ellie Alexander, Italian Iced by Kylie Logan and Deserts, Driving and Derelicts by Tonya Kappes.  

Deserts, Driving and Derelicts by Tonya Kappes is the second A Camper & Criminals Cozy Mystery.  Mae West has settled into her new life living in her RV in the Happy Trails Campground in Normal, Kentucky.  Business is booming at the campground and tourists are enjoying the shops in town.  The article on Happy Trails in National Parks of America Magazine was a real boon.  Mae is surprised when an old friend appears one day.  Bobby Ray Bond was in the same foster home as Mae and he gave her the money to move to New York and enroll in flight attendant school.  It seems it Mae’s turn to help Bobby Ray.  Mae is assisting Betts Hager with her cleaning business and must clean persnickety Tammy Jo Bentley’s home.  The next day she stops by for a check and finds Camille Braun, Tammy Jo’s dog nanny, with a knife sticking out of her chest.  Mae is once again in the middle of a murder investigation plus the reluctant dog sitter to Tammy Jo’s high maintenance pooch.  One thing you can count on in Normal, Kentucky—life is never normal.  Join in on the fun in Deserts, Driving and Derelicts.

Deserts, Driving and Derelicts is an amusing cozy mystery.  The series contains fun, quirky characters that are not over-the-top (thank heavens).  They live in the charming small Southern town of Normal, Kentucky.  I love the descriptions of the town.  It is a welcoming place with quaint shops (I want to live in Normal).  The author has a conversational writing style that draws the reader in and holds their attention.  The story has a steady pace and I quickly finished the book.  The mystery was interesting with several suspects.  There is a twist that some readers may not expect at the end (depends upon your sleuthing skills).  I am curious to see what happens with Bobby Ray.  He doesn’t appear to be ready to move on (I wish Mae good luck at getting him out of the RV he is residing in).  My rating for Deserts, Driving and Derelicts is 4 out of 5 stars.  I would have preferred a more complicated mystery and I felt the story was a little short (154 pages).  I like how Mae fixed up her RV.  For very little money, she really updated the place and made it homey (it sounds so cute).  Deserts, Driving and Derelicts can be read alone.  It was clever how the author handled the synopsis of the first book in the series.  Deserts, Driving and Derelicts is the perfect book to read while sitting beside the pool on a lazy summer day.  Be prepared for people to stare at you, though, when you start chuckling out loud.  

For a limited time the Kindle version of  Beaches, Bungalows and Burglaries is $.99 on Amazon.  It is the first book in A Camper & Criminals Cozy Mystery series.  The next book in the series is Forests, Fishing and Forgery which will be out on July 31.  Tomorrow I will be featuring The Foyles Bookshop Girls by Elaine Roberts.  Have a beautiful day and Happy Reading!

Kris

The Avid Reader