Happy Book Release Day! Some wonderful books are coming out today. I have listed some of them for you: Of Books and Bagpipes by Paige Sheldon, A Frying Shame by Linda Reilly, The Last Chance Olive Ranch by Susan Wittig Albert, Occult and Battery by Lena Gregory, Ruddy Gore by Kerry Greenwood, The Ebb Tide by Beverly Lewis, Dying on the Vine by Marla Cooper, Behind the Scenes by Jen Turano, Caramel Crush by Jenn McKinlay, Southern Fried by Tonya Kappes, Cut in Darkness by Heather Sunseri, Silence of the Jams by Gayle Leeson, Miss Julia Weathers the Storm by Ann B. Ross, Town in Maple Madness by B.B. Haywood, The Chapel Car Bride by Judith Miller. I bet you will be adding some new books to your TBR list (I know I did).
Southern Fried by Tonya Kappes is
the second book in A Kenni Lowry Mystery series. Kenni Lowry is the sheriff in
Cottonwood, Kentucky. Kenni is enjoying
time with Finn Vincent, her new deputy and romantic interest, when she is
called out to a scene. Kenni arrives at
Myrna Savage’s greenhouse to find a person face down on her prize
tomatoes. Myrna is not a happy camper
since she needs those tomatoes for a food competition. When the body is turned over, they discover
it is Owen Godbey, Myrna’s delivery driver.
Myrna owns Petal Pusher Landscaping (she does flower arrangements as
well). Owen was a contestant in the food
competition along with Myrna. Is someone
trying to wipe out the competition? Upon
further investigation, Kenni discovers that there is a secret family cookbook
in Owen’s family. Everyone wants the
cookbook, but no one knows where Owen hid it.
Kenni, with the help of her newly sworn in deputy, Finn along with Poppa,
her ghostly grandfather, set out to get answers and round up the guilty
party. When Kenni gets a little too
close to the killer, they take something that Kenni loves dearly. Kenni will not stop until she catches the
culprit and gets back what belongs to her.
I found Southern Fried to be easy
to read and to have a fast pace. It is a
humorous novel that is more cozy than mystery.
The book is full of quirky characters who love to meddle and gossip (especially
Kenni’s mother). My favorite character
is Poppa, Kenni’s grandfather. He is a
charming man who dearly loves Kenni and provides keen insight. I hope Poppa will be featured more prominently
in future books. While Southern Fried is
the second book in the series, it can be read alone. The author provides background information on
the main characters and updates the reader on what occurred in Fixin’ to Die. I give Southern Fried 4 out of 5 stars. I
thought the mystery was well crafted. It
is complex and there are some twists involved.
Those that enjoy figuring out whodunit will enjoy solving this one. I appreciate the entertaining Southern
phrases in the book. It will be
interesting to see how the re-election campaign plays out in future books. If you are looking for an amusing cozy
mystery novel with a paranormal element, then check out Southern Fried. My mother picked up my Kindle by accident and was soon laughing out loud while reading this story. It is a good thing I have more than one Kindle.
I hope you found my review helpful. May each of you enjoy a sunny Tuesday. We are in the high 80s in my area with allergy season in full swing. I will see you tomorrow when I return with another book evaluation. Take care and Happy Reading!
Kris
The Avid Reader
Thank you!! xoxox
ReplyDeleteAnother fantastic review.
ReplyDelete