Tag: #Clean

Posted in Cozy Mysteries

Canyons, Caravans, & Cadavers

Posted on by Reluctant Retiree

(A Camper & Criminals Cozy Mystery Series Book 6)

SOUTHERN HOSPITALITY WITH A SMIDGEN OF HOMICIDE

USA Today Bestselling author Tonya Kappes brings you southern and quirky characters in her mystery series. Her stories are charged with humor, friendship, family and life in small southern towns.

Welcome to Normal, Kentucky where NOTHING is normal.

When the principal of Normal High School asks Mae West to teach a semester on small town economics, since she helped bring the thriving economy in Normal, Kentucky when she used her brilliant ideas to bring the Happy Trails Campground back to life.

Mae is thrilled and happy to teach the young people. But when a fellow teacher and archery Coach Roger Carlson, is found stone-cold dead, facedown in one of Happy Trails Campground campers with an arrow sticking out of his back, it puts a damper on the thriving campground when tourists cancel their reservations and Mae’s excitement to teach.Mae’s hankering to snoop into the coach’s private life and find out exactly why he was renting a camper in Happy Trails and not living at home with his young wife.

Her efforts don’t leave her short on suspects. Especially, since Mae uncovered many unhappy parents who had relied on an archery scholarship and perfect ACT scores as their child’s ticket to get out of Normal and go to college. Mae has to be careful or she just might find an arrow with her name written on it.

Posted in Cozy Mysteries

Motorhomes, Maps, & Murder

Posted on by Reluctant Retiree

(A Camper & Criminals Cozy Mystery Series Book 5)

SOUTHERN HOSPITALITY WITH A SMIDGEN OF HOMICIDE

USA Today Bestselling author Tonya Kappes brings you southern and quirky characters in her mystery series. Her stories are charged with humor, friendship, family and life in small southern towns.

Welcome to Normal, Kentucky where NOTHING is normal.

Mae West, owner of Happy Trails Campground, never thought she would become an actress like her namesake.

Calling herself an actress might be far stretch as she plays a minor role in the local Civil War reenactment BATTLE AT CAMP WILDCAT.

When the reenactment doesn’t go as planned, not one but two of the town’s folks aren’t playing dead. . .they were MURDERED!

Come to find out there was a prison break and the serial killer is believed to be in Normal and someone has stolen a motorhome from Happy Trails Campground. Are these connected?

Mae lets boyfriend and hunky detective, Hank Sharp, follow all the leads about the murders and on the trail of the serial killer because she’s got bigger s’mores in the fire. The motorhome owners have filed a lawsuit and suing her for the deed to Happy Trails Campground.

Mae has embraced Normal and there’s nothing or no one going to take her campground. She’s determined to find the motorhome and return it to the owners before she hands over any deed to anyone.

Mae just might find out that tapping into her namesake just might come in handy when coming face to face with a serial killer.

Posted in Cozy Mysteries

Christmas, Criminals, and Campers 

Posted on by Reluctant Retiree

(A Camper & Criminals Cozy Mystery Series Book 4)

SOUTHERN HOSPITALITY WITH A SMIDGEN OF HOMICIDE

USA Today Bestselling author Tonya Kappes brings you southern and quirky characters in her mystery series. Her stories are charged with humor, friendship, family and life in small southern towns.

Welcome to Normal, Kentucky where NOTHING is normal.

Abby Fawn, the librarian, cannot believe her luck. Her favorite romance author, Nadine White, has rented a cozy camper at the Happy Trails Campground for the winter months.

Abby is devastated. She discovers Nadine White is nothing like the person she portrays in interviews. Nadine is also different from how she presents herself on social media. In fact, Nadine White is not nice at all. Abby lets her feelings be known. She thinks Nadine is a fraud. . .after she finds out Nadine has a ghost writer.

When Nadine White is found dead in the Normal Library, Abby Fawn is Detective Hank Sharp’s number one suspect.

It’s time for Mae West to put up her camping gear for the winter months. It’s also time to put on her sleuthing gear. She needs to figure out who is framing Abby Fawn. Mae must act before Abby becomes the ending in Nadine White’s final chapter.

Posted in Cozy Mysteries

Forests, Fishing, & Forgery

Posted on by Reluctant Retiree

Festival-set Southern cozy mystery at a campground

Welcome to Normal, Kentucky—where nothing is ever normal, especially during a holiday weekend.

It’s Labor Day at Happy Trails Campground, one of the busiest times of the year for campers, RV travelers, and local businesses. But the holiday rush takes a dark turn when Daniel Boone National Park faces possible closure due to a drought—and the one person with the power to shut it all down is found murdered.

With the campground at the center of the investigation, suspicion falls on both locals and visitors alike. If the park closes, Normal’s small businesses won’t survive. This scenario gives nearly everyone a motive. It turns a packed campground into a pool of suspects.

Mae West is determined to uncover the truth before the fallout destroys the town she’s grown to love. As rumors spread and tensions rise, Mae digs into campground politics, local grudges, and secrets hiding behind friendly campfire smiles.

A Southern cozy mystery is filled with small-town gossip, holiday chaos, and amateur sleuthing. It’s perfect for readers who love campground settings, festival weekends, and clean whodunits with heart.

Posted in Cozy Mysteries

Deserts, Driving, and Derelicts

Posted on by Reluctant Retiree

(A Camper & Criminals Cozy Mystery Series Book 2)

A small-town cozy mystery with a quirky amateur sleuth, a murdered nanny, and a pampered show poodle at the center of the case—Normal, Kentucky has another problem on its hands.

Mae West is settling into her new life. She is the owner of Happy Trails Campground. At the campground, RV living, Southern hospitality, and gossip all travel fast. Normal is usually quiet this time of late summer. However, chaos erupts in the town when Mae takes a cleaning job at the mansion of heiress Tammy Jo Bentley. With the Kentucky Kennel Association’s annual gathering about to descend on the estate, even the poodle has security.

Fifi Bentley—prized, pampered, insured, and treated like royalty—is set to charm every top breeder in the region. But when Fifi’s devoted nanny, Camille Braun, is found murdered just days before the big event, Normal’s newest scandal threatens both the kennel show and the town’s reputation.

Tammy Jo begs Mae to help uncover the truth. Mae has already shown she is talented at solving small-town mysteries. This delights the Laundry Club Ladies but frustrates the sheriff. Local tourism, business, and Happy Trails itself are on the line. Mae refuses to let a killer ruin the town she’s finally come to call home.

With the Laundry Club Ladies sleuthing at her side, Mae digs into a world of dog-show politics. She encounters jealous rivals and unravels small-town secrets. The victim may have been hiding more than anyone realized.

In Normal, Kentucky, nothing is simple—unless you count murder. And Mae West is determined to sniff out the truth before another body turns up.

A warm, witty, Southern cozy mystery in development for a Hallmark Channel television adaptation, perfect for readers who love quirky characters, small-town secrets, and a dash of homicide with their hospitality.