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!
Sunsets, Sabbatical and Scandal: A Camper and Criminals Cozy Mystery Series Book 10
By Tonya Kappes
I can’t believe this is the 10th book in this series—like the other books, this stands on its own just fine. This is one of my favorite series; I love the camper/campground aspect of the series and also the southern setting and language. This cozy mystery has both a murder and a hacking/theft to solve. I just love Mae, the main character, and her cheerful approach to life; she loves to figure things out, as much as her law enforcement boyfriend wishes she would stay out of investigations and stay safe. Mae has a close group of friends—a rather quirky assortment—and they all enjoy sleuthing, just as she does. This is a fun book, and I highly recommend it. I was provided an arc of this book, but these opinions are my own.
In book #10 of the Camper & Criminals Cozy Mystery Series, Sunsets, Sabbatical & Scandal, Trudy Bell, one of the loved characters is found shot execution style in the Normal Diner. You will need to take a trip to Normal, Kentucky, to the Happy Trails Campground that Mae West owns to follow this story. As usual Mae and the Laundry Club Ladies (Dottie Swaggert, Betts Hager, Queenie French, Abby Fawn and the honorary members – Mary Elizabeth Moberly and Dawn Gentry) feel the need to assist Mae’s boyfriend, the handsome detective Hank Sharp. Because Trudy was a friend they want to find out who killed her.
While the murder investigation is ongoing, the Sheriff’s Department and the FBI are investigating a “Juice Jacking”, a cyber crime that has taken all of the money out of the bank accounts of several people in Normal, including Mae.
Two of the suspects in the murder are Hunter and Jami Burkfield MaKenzie. Hunter is the Mayor of Mae’s hometown of Perrysburg. Mae gets Mary Elizabeth to travel with her to their hometown to question these two. Hank finds out they are going and he climbs into the RV to ride along.
At the diner in Perrysburg the ex-fire chief happens by and is happy to see Mary Elizabeth. During their conversation Mae overheard what she thought might be details of her family’s death in the house fire in Perrysburg. All this time Mae felt like she had killed them by putting additional logs on the fire. Now she thinks she could have been wrong.
You will enjoy this book with the characters you will grow to love. It is well written and flows easily. A must read by Tonya Kappes. I cannot wait for the next book in this series.
I received an ARC of this book. This is my honest review.
Sunsets, Sabbatical, & Scandal by Tonya Kappes is the 10th book in the Series. I love visiting Normal, Kentucky with Mae and the gang. I enjoy this series and believe anyone that reads no matter where you start at will enjoy it also. I highly recommend this book to anyone.
Mae and the laundry club girls are on the case when a beloved waitress is found dead. Hank finally resigns himself that Mae can get answers he can’t in his detective capacity. It will keep you guessing until the end. Reviewed voluntarily, complimentary copy.
Mae West and the Laundry Ladies Club are on alert once again. They need to solve the mystery of who killed a beloved community member. We learn about Mae’s personal journey. She was placed in the foster care system upon the death of her parents. She was lucky to be placed in the loving care of Mary Elizabeth. We are introduced to many people who were part of her younger years.
When Mae returns to Normal, Kentucky she and her Laundry Club ladies day try and flush the suspect out.
A delightful series with many twists and turns. This one you shouldn’t miss!
I received an ARC for my honest review.
We get to go back to Normal KY where nothing is ever normal. In this installment one of their own is murdered and Mae has to go back to her hometown to find out who the killer is. I really loved this one and getting to spend time with the Laundry Club ladies who are my personality favorite secondary characters. I highly recommend this.
ARC review
Tonya Kappes books always make you feel like you have escaped into a fun place where there are friendly unique characters, small southern town charm and interesting mysteries to solve. Sunsets, Sabbatical and Scandal is no exception.
As always Mae West finds herself right in the middle of trouble. When the Bookclub ladies and Mae find their friend Trudy murdered they waste no time calling together the Laundry Ladies to start snooping and brainstorming to solve her murder. I like how there is also another mystery intertwined when they find out that someone is hacking and stealing some of Normal’s residents money. Mae is determined to help Hank, her boyfriend who just so happens to be a detective, solve this murder even when he tells her to stay out of it. Can Mae and the ladies figure it out without getting into too much danger or trouble?
Mae is a determined, hard working, and smart but she tends to get into some pretty sticky situations. I love all the gossipy eccentric characters that make up the nucleus of Normal KY. I was glad to see that Hank and Mae are moving their romance along too. His support when Mae goes back to her hometown and has to face her past was heart warming. I cheered Mae on when she stood up to the pompous Jami who always caused her trouble in school. One of my favorite lines was when Jami was taunting Mae like she did when in school and Mae came back with “I’m old enough now to know I don’t have to take this anymore” Boy howdy I was thinking go ahead give her a good slap but now that wouldn’t be lady like.
I really enjoyed this book. It is the perfect mix of mystery, friends, family and southern charm while keeping you guessing about the solution to the mystery. I give this one 5 stars and looking forward to the next one.
Sunsets, Sabbatical and Scandal by Tonya Kappes is the tenth novel in A Campers & Criminals Cozy Mystery series. Each book in the series can be read on its own. It is always fun to visit Normal, Kentucky with its quirky residents. Mae West has just arrived for book club with the Laundry Club gals when she hears a woman screaming. They find Abby Fawn pointing at the Normal Diner where Trudy Bull, a beloved waitress, is dead. The motive was not robbery since her purse still has money inside, but Trudy’s cell phone (which she always had with her) is missing. Mae along with the ladies of the Laundry Club work to solve the crime despite Hank’s warning to stay out of his investigation. Mae must return to her hometown of Perrysburg to speak with the man Trudy was seen with the evening she died. There are a handful of suspects in this whodunit. Mae gets bad news from the bank. It turns out that someone has hacked her bank account and drained it. Mae and a handful of other local residents were affected. The police are working with the FBI to identify the evildoer. I was able to recognize the murderer and the hacker early in the book but that did not hinder my enjoyment of this fun cozy mystery. With Mae returning to her hometown, we get to learn more about her plus Mae learns some startling information. I like Tonya Kappes’ engaging writing style which makes the book a delight to read. There is humor sprinkled throughout the story. I enjoy the descriptions of Normal with its quaint shops and surrounded by the National Boone National Forest. There are recipes and RV hacks at the end of the book. Sunsets, Sabbatical and Scandal is a merry book with a harsh hacker, a cozy campground, out of the blue news, a pocketed phone, happy hikers and a meaningless murder.
I’m not sure exactly how I feel about this book. I liked it but something didn’t make me love it. I can’t put my finger on what it is.
I want to go camping at Mae’s place. When a good friend is found murdered, Mae and her crew decided to help Hank look for the killer. There are plenty of suspects and two of them are in Mae’s home town. She doesn’t want to go back there, but she needs to check out her old nemesis. Being there just brings back a lot of hurt and bad memories. A guy from their home town shows up and says he is a travel blogger. Mae doesn’t remember him, but her brother does. Maybe he isn’t what he seems. Someone has hacked into quite a few of the bank’s customer’s accounts and Mae’s is one of them. The hacker took everything. Now she has a killer and hacker to find.
I love being in the town of Normal and experiencing small town life while reading this book. I am glad we got to find out a little bit more about Mae and her background. The thing that I wasn’t too keen on was the killer was quite obvious. I had the person pegged from the get go and I was just waiting until they revealed themselves. Also there wasn’t any RV hacks or recipes in the back of this book which was disappointing.
Murder and hacks, just another normal day in Normal. Mae finds herself in the middle of another mystery when her friend Trudy has been found murdered at the diner. But what was Trudy doing there? She was supposed to be at a wedding. On top of it, Mae finds that her banking account has been hacked and all of her money has been taken.
I found this story intriguing as Mae finds herself back into her hometown in search of answers to Trudy’s death – she was the Mayor of Perrysburg’s plus one to the wedding. It brings more of an emotional tie and outlook into why Mae is the way she is, and why she was so adamant to pull away from Mary Elizabeth as a teenager. To me, this really made the story as you can feel the emotions that Tonya is trying to convey about Mae. The clues are enjoyable, as well as the conundrums she finds herself in!
Why the 3 stars? While the story is very enjoyable, it seemed like two stories in one with the murder feeling like it would get overlooked at times due to the emotions behind Mae’s past – though it does make for a great opening for a future book and is definitely great character building! I did also get kind of tiring hearing about Mae’s phone constantly dying. I expected there to be a reason why this was continually getting mentioned – short of Mae needing to get a new phone – but it went nowhere. Unfortunately I was able to figure out who the killer(s) was from the beginning as it was a bit too obvious, at least for me, from how the person(s) was written and introduced. It was a bit too convenient how this person(s) shows up and all of the information behind this person(s). And finally, the story just ended. It felt very abrupt like there was more to say, but wasn’t being said as the climax of the story had just been coming back down.
Now, one thing I want you to keep in mind is that this is my own personal opinion. You may find this was your absolute favorite of the series. True to Tonya’s style, it brings the town of Normal to life and gives you a feeling of coming home when reading it. I highly recommend reading it for yourself and finding the joys that Normal brings.
It is best read as a series, but you can pick it up as an individual story as well.
I was given an advanced copy to review to write my honest opinion.
Then’s was gong pretty well in Normal until the big wedding took place and one of Normal’s beloved waitress is found dead on the diner’s floor! Then there is a rash of bank accounts that are getting hacked. What is going on here? The answer has Maybelline going back to the place she swore she would never go again…her hometown. But Hank and her adopted mother are going with her. This gives Mae more questions than answers about her past. Can the Laundry Club ladies find out who the killer and hacker is? Time is running out. I voluntarily reviewed a copy of this book. I love this series and the quirky characters!!!
Absolutely loved This latest adventure of the laundry club, Mae West and her crew are very entertaining. I can absolutely hear the soft southern accent when I read about them.Mae and Hank are great together, I like how he takes care of her and even when he gets after her for butting in. Tonya always has me wanting more!
This is my first trip to Normal, Kentucky but it will definately not be my last.
I really loved these characters, especially Mae. There were many twists and turns to this whodunit and a great ending. I found Ms. Kappes writting style flowed so easily and captivated me.
I would highly recommend this story. This is the 10th book of this series but I can be read as a stand alone.
I recieved an ARC and all thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.
This series is one of my favorite cozy mysteries out there. I love this group of characters in this small town in Kentucky. These people always work well together to solve these murders that happenin or around their town. I loved how Mae had to go back to her hometown that she never wanted to see again to help in solving this mystery. I laughed a lot reading this book. I received a copy of this book from the author for a fair and honest opinion that I gave of my own free will.
The Laundry Ladies are on the case again for the tenth time when a friend is found shot to death in the local diner. Trudy was supposed to be attending a wedding and her plus one was someone she may have met through a dating app. Or might it have been a former boyfriend? Or was it somebody else? Who’s path did Trudy cross? Mae and the Laundry Ladies know their was around a homicide investigation much to the consternation of Mae’s boyfriend Hank who is in charge of the case. Such a trivial detail to Mae. She is incapable of not investigating. The Ladies are very good investigators and the town of Normal, Kentucky gives them lots of cases. As they say, there isn’t much that’s normal in Normal.
I’m not a very good camper but if I was able to book one of Mae’s campers I think I would become one. The Laundry Ladies are the sort of people I would like to have as friends. They care deeply for their friends and family and they have each others backs.
The mystery hooked me from page one and kept me engaged well past my bedtime and that’s exactly what I look for in a mystery. The puzzle kept me guessing and I did guess wrong – as it should be.
I love these guys. We got to know Mae a little bit better in this story, her past is starting to become clearer. She works with Hank this time instead of working against him and they build more on their relationship as well. I really enjoyed getting some more of the back story this time. For me, the actual crime and mystery solving sort of took a backseat to character development in this story. I’m looking forward to the next one! I received an ARC in exchange for my honest review.
Sunsets, Sabbatical, and Scandal is another exciting installment in Kappes’ Camper and Criminals cozy mystery series. Mae West ends up with her hands full when she finds herself a victim of a cyber hack and then a friend of hers is found dead in the local diner. Determined to find out who murdered her friend, Mae starts her own investigation when Hank seems to be getting nowhere. This investigation really hits close to home when one of her suspects ends up being from her hometown meaning that Mae West finally needs to face her demons at home.
Kappes sets up an intriguing mystery with a murder case that forces Mae to confront her past in order to get justice for a friend in the present. Mae needs to not just worry about Hank’s disapproval of her investigating this time. She needs to confront her past and ends up with even more questions than answers setting up a future mystery. I always love reading this series because I love all of the secondary characters in this series. I really enjoyed seeing all of my favorite characters dealing with not just a murder mystery but also an attack on Normal with the cyber crimes story. Overall Sunsets, Sabbatical, and Scandal proved to be an exciting read that captures the reader’s attention from the very beginning and never lets go. I would recommend this book to anyone looking for an enjoyable read that has mystery, intrigue, great characters, and a small town setting. I look forward to reading Mae’s next adventure.
Received a copy of Sunsets, Sabbatical, and Scandal from the author in exchange for my honest review.
As the adventure continues for Mae and Hank in Normal, Kentucky, they seem to be getting closer in their relationship. This story starts with Mae and Betts going to clean Mayor MaKenize’s house for the upcoming wedding which they weren’t invited to. No big deal! Mae had book club tonight at the Laundry Club with the girls. As the ladies were gathering, Abby screams from over at the Diner, only to find out one of the love employees is dead. With Hank investigating, Mae decides that Hank needs help as usually with this mystery. But this one is too close to home for Mae, it involves Mae’s hometown of Perrysburg. Road trip with Mae, Mary Elizabeth and Hank to speak to the Mayor Hunter, the cousin of Mayor MaKenize. Small world! Seems also, the whole town has had their bank accounts hacked and all their accounts drained! Hopefully they will find who hack the bank account who murdered, Trudy!