As sunny South Cove, California, gears up for their annual Fourth of July celebrations, a local murder threatens to kill the fireworks . . . South Cove’s local businesses are up in arms after volunteer fire chief Barry Gleason threatens to shut down anyone who doesn’t comply with the fire code. But when Barry schedules a training burn in an old abandoned barn, he is the only one who doesn’t … one who doesn’t come out alive. Jill Gardner—owner of Coffee, Books, and More—smells murder in the ashes. She’ll have to work quickly to nab a killer with a short fuse—or else everyone’s holiday will end with a fizzle . . .
Praise for The Tourist Trap Mysteries
“Murder, dirty politics, pirate lore, and a hot police detective: Guidebook to Murder has it all! A cozy lover’s dream come true.”
—Susan McBride, author of The Debutante Dropout Mysteries
“Lynn Cahoon has created an absorbing, good fun mystery in Mission to Murder.”
—Fresh Fiction
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Author Lynn Cahoon turns up the heat in this entertaining novella starring Jill Gregory, owner of Coffee, Books, and More. For fans of the Tourist Trap Cozy Series, there are multiple familiar and well-liked characters mentioned in this plot. The town business owners are incensed when the volunteer fire chief, Barry Gleason, inspects their establishments, lists numerous violations, and threatens to close them all down just before the Fourth of July Festivities. Then, he sets up a controlled burn with the rest of the volunteers, and someone dies. Jill, flanked by her police Officer boyfriend, Greg, and several close friends, manage to smoke out enough clues until it becomes clear what caused Barry’s irrational behavior. I’ve enjoyed every story in this series and highly recommend each one!
I reviewed a digital ARC provided by NetGalley and Kensington Lyrical.
I enjoyed this novella, as I do the whole series.
When Fire Chief Barry Gleason does inspections and threatens to shut down half the town before July 4th festivities, many shop owners are irate, including Jill. When Barry ends up dead, there are plenty of people who wanted him dead.
I love these characters and the mystery was good with a surprising twist. I will continue on with this series.
I love The Tourist Trap series. This entry is a short novella with a clever plot twist. I saw it coming, but didn’t care. This made for a fun, entertaining evening of reading. I’m growing really fond of the citizens of South Cove and Lynn Cahoon’s holiday novellas.
Rockets’ Dead Glare
A Tourist Trap Mystery, Book #9.5
Lynn Cahoon
5 Stars
Synopsis:
As sunny South Cove, California, gears up for their annual Fourth of July celebrations, a local murder threatens to kill the fireworks . . .
South Cove’s local businesses are up in arms after volunteer fire chief Barry Gleason threatens to shut down anyone who doesn’t comply with the fire code. But when Barry schedules a training burn in an old abandoned barn, he is the only one who doesn’t come out alive. Jill Gardner—owner of Coffee, Books, and More—smells murder in the ashes. She’ll have to work quickly to nab a killer with a short fuse—or else everyone’s holiday will end with a fizzle . . . (Goodreads)
Review:
The characters are well developed and well rounded. Aunt jackie is a bit of a stickler but I think she is beginning to mellow a little bit. Amy and Jill have a special relationship and you can tell they are best friends. And Greg, Jill’s police detective boyfriend, seems like a great guy (even if he does not want Jill putting herself in danger). Anytime I get to spend time with Jill and her family, friends and coworkers is time well spent.
The writing style flows smoothly and this novella is a quick easy read. The author is very talented in her descriptive writing and through much of the book I felt like I was right there inside Coffee, Books, and More, watching all the drama unfold. The mystery was well plotted and there were enough suspects to consider and clues to sift through. The ending really surprised me and I like when that happens when I am reading a mystery. Although this book was a novella, it did not seem like one and had everything I look for in a cozy.
I would recommend this series to anyone who enjoys a well crafted cozy mystery. With great characters, an engaging setting and captivating mysteries, you cannot go wrong reading this novella and series.
I voluntarily reviewed an ARC of this book provided by the publisher, Kensington Books, and NetGalley, which I greatly appreciate.
Well written and enjoyable to read for a novella by one of my favorite authors. However, that being said… To have waited a year and gladly preordered, I was disappointed that the novella predated that last book in the series. Who does that?Felt like a pot-boiler in that respect.
I really like reading her books.
A good who done it mystery
Sometimes there are people who your thrilled are dead! A very good and short story in a new favorite series of mine!
I’ve been a “Follower” of this series, and always look forward to “the next installment”! Love the Bookstore-Owner character, and her “character” aunt (most families have one!).
Rockets’ Dead Glare by Lynn Cahoon is A Tourist Trap Mystery novella. Jill Gardner is the owner of Coffee, Books and More in South Cove, California. The town is getting ready for the annual Fourth of July Festival, but new volunteer fire chief Barry Gleason is putting a crimp in the plans. He has created a stir with his list of violations for each business along with the threat of closing them down for the holiday weekend. Barry has scheduled a controlled burn of an old barn on Beal Street. The volunteer fire fighters complete the training exercise but get a shock when they find Barry dead inside the barn. Jill, with her natural curiosity, cannot help but look into the case. Come along to South Cove for the Fourth of July and Jill’s latest case in Rockets’ Dead Glare.
Rockets’ Dead Glare is satisfying cozy mystery. It is a short novella (only 77 pages), but the author packed a lot into those pages. We get to catch up on our favorite characters as they plan for the town’s Fourth of July. The characters are well-developed and are relatable. South Cove is a charming small town with quaint shops and festivities for every holiday. I thoroughly enjoyed the cunning mystery. I believe some of you will be surprised with the solution. The mystery was not neglected in this short story (it was not rushed or incomplete). I do wish that Greg King, Jill’s boyfriend, would get on board with her sleuthing. Jill’s inquisitiveness is a part of her and he needs to be more understanding. If he is worried about her being in danger, then he needs to teach her self-defense (I cannot see Jill carrying a gun). Rockets’ Dead Glare is well-written and has a nice, steady pace. I can relate to Aunt Jackie wanting to use walkie talkie’s for communicating with her off-site employees (they do come in handy when you have a technologically challenged person in your life). There are delightful cozy moments in the book with Emma (Jill’s dog), talking about books, food, time with friends, and walking on the beach. Rockets’ Dead Glare is a gratifying cozy mystery that will tide me over until the next A Tourist Trap Mystery (A Deadly Brew).
This was a short cozy. Jill runs a bookshop/coffee house. Greg, her boyfriend is the local police detective. Jill, along with the rest of their small town, is gearing up for the big 4th of July Celebration. The fire chief, Barry, has told all the shop owners that he will be inspecting all the shops for Fire Code Violations, if the items are not fixed, he will shut them down. Also, he is a very busy man (snarc) and it may be hard to reschedule once any violations are cleared up. Just in time for the big weekend! It appears the fire chief is flexing his muscle as he is writing up lots of violations including Jill’s shop. As a practice, Barry has decided to call a practice burn for his volunteer fire fighters. However, something goes wrong and Barry is found dead. Jill tends to stick her nose in these investigations and Greg keeps telling her to butt out. But how can she when people she likes and admires might be wrongly charged with murder!
This is a fun little cozy. I like Jill and the rest of the characters. This is not the first book in this series, but I caught on pretty quickly who everybody was and their part in town. The story moves very quickly as this is a novella, but I enjoyed it all the same. The ending was a bit of surprise as well.
I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for my review.
This was my first book by Lynn Cahoon. It was a short novella but I never felt as if there was anything missing in this very good cozy mystery. It works well as a stand alone.
The ending came with a little twist and really caught me by surprise.
I am looking forward to reading other books in this series as there are some interesting characters and the plot was great. I had a great time reading this book.
I requested this book from NetGalley and am thankful that Kensington and the author provided me with an advance copy.
A fun short story that fits into the series of this charmng town, and it’s quirky residents!
I was thrilled to discover that there was a novella to read after finishing book 9, however, the cozy mystery website needs to update it’s numbering as this book fits in closer to book number three rather than 9.25 as it is numbered on the website I looked at. It was frustrating to be time warped back so far in the characters storylines, but the plot was excellent and a nice twist to the mystery to keep it fresh and new. All in all, it was an excellent addition, my OCD brain just wishes that I had been able to read it in the correct location with the stories as I hate to read series out of order.
Could not put down. Don’t ever stop writing love everyone of your books.
Awful. Out of sequence with the last book. Not even with the very low price.
Love this series, just be aware this is very short.
It is a Tourist Trap Mystery! That is all I should have to say but of course, I always have more. I love this series! Those characters we love in a mystery with a twist. Although Rockets’ Dead Glare is a novella, I did not feel shorted at all and I was glad to get time with some of my favorite people in this space between novels.
First, I had read where each of the novellas fall in the sequence but had forgotten that they take place earlier than the last book I read. It only took a moment to adjust but that was a real Hey, wait a minute, moment. I know fans will love it and I believe that it could work as the first book read in the series but this is definitely one of the series that is best read in sequence because new characters are added and relationships shift. When the fire chief takes it upon himself to introduce new standards and inspects every business in town he manages to find pages worth of violations in every business. Allowing less that a week for remediation, he becomes the most hated man in town. In fact, everyone wants to wring his neck. BUT that isn’t what does him in.