I'm always happy to return to the Tourist Trap Mystery series. I've read every novel, but this was my first novella. Although, the mystery was fine and the returning characters always pleasure to meet up with, I couldn't understand the placement of the novel in the series. Why bother writing a story set earlier in the series and then not even really add extra insight or explain it was a prequel? It made the whole book feel awkward and I didn't feel the mystery grabbed you enough to make up for that.

I hope that book ten in the series at least plays up Tiny's history or something else we learned reading this novella. I feel like unless you are a completest and need to read everything in the series or if you want an introduction to decide if you like the setting and characters, I would pass on this novella.

Rockets’ Dead Glare

by Lynn Cahoon

I am not usually attracted to novellas, but I really enjoy Lynn Cahoon’s cozy mysteries so I decided to give Rockets’ Dead Glare a try and I’m glad I did. A short, but satisfying mystery with a different sort of resolution and a happy ending.

There are a number of suspects with good reasons to want to see Barry, South Cove’s volunteer fire chief, dead, but who would actually commit the horrifying deed? Two members of Barry’s volunteer fire department have shady backgrounds, but neither Jill, owner of the local coffeeshop and bookstore, nor her detective boyfriend Greg thinks either one is capable of murder. Who wanted Barry dead and how was the murder committed? Will the toxicology reports produce evidence? The answers lie in this outstanding novella.

I would like to extend my thanks to netgalley.com and to Lyrical Underground (Kensington Press) for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Rating: 5/5

Category: Mystery

Notes: This novella is part of the Tourist Trap Series, but works well as a standalone.

Publication: June 5, 2018—Kensington Press (Lyrical Underground)

Memorable Lines:

The smell of french fries makes me happy. I’m not proud of this fact, but it’s the truth. I needed the salt, carbs, and fat today. Stress eating is my specialty.

And as I leaned into him, I realized it was a happy day. And for a second, I let the gratitude of the moment wash over me. Life right now was perfect and wonderful. Tomorrow’s problems could wait until tomorrow. Today I was happy.

This was a fun, quick novella taking place in the days leading up to South Cove's 4th of July festivities. The local fire chief seems to have it out for the business owners with unrealistic deadlines for bizarre and archaic town ordinances. Jill is on the ball as a leader in the business community and one who always manages to follow the murder trail to a conclusion. This takes place a bit earlier than where the series is now, making it a perfect intro for new readers.

This is a delightful book! I love this series. Rockets Red Glare is the tenth book in the wonderful Tourist Trap Mystery series by Lynn Cahoon. This is a mystery in the form of a novella. It’s always a delightful time revisiting South Cove and protagonist Jill Gardner, owner of Coffee, Books and More cafe and books shop. I love the resident characters in this series. In this next in series the town is preparing for the 4th of July festivities and picnic but the volunteer fire chief, Barry Gleason wants to shut down all the businesses under the guise of fire code violations. All of the shop owners are angry and soon Barry is found dead in his own burned down barn.
Jill gets involved in solving the crime and her ability to sleuth proves to be once again very adept as the suspects and clues are many . The reveal provided a fun twist and left me looking forward for the next installment in this fun series! This is a great read for 4th of July .

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).

I thoroughly enjoyed the plot, atmosphere, and characters. I would recommend the book to friends and family for their reading pleasure.

I was really hoping that authors were past the requisite novellas that were so rampant for the last couple of years. I understand that they have commitments to their publishers and other series that need their time, but unless a short snippet is filling in a blank from the previous book, it does not need to exist. If the story is burning a hole, and needs to be told, make it the main plot of the next book. They should not put something out there solely for the sake of filling a publisher’s requirement.

Rockets’ Dead Glare is just a small single narrative of the body of the local fire inspector found in a burned out building. The story, and the reason behind the death and its discover, could have been incorporated into another full-length book as a subplot. It could have gone deeper and been the main plot with something else thrown in on the side, but that was not the choice that Lynne Cahoon made and therefore letting down her readers.

Unless you are a stickler for reading every book in a series, I would suggest that you skip this bit and wait until the next full-length book is published since Rockets’ Dead Glare adds nothing to either the relationships of or the tourist town of South Cove.

A perfect book for starting off the summer. Jill solves the mystery of who killed the volunteer fire chief using clever detective work. Which is one reason I loved this series. Plus the town of Sunny Cove reminds me of the town I grew up in. This is A Great quick read perfect to take to the beach or any summer destination.

Rockets' Dead Glare by Lynn Cahoon is the 9.25 book in A Tourist Trap Mystery series, and a great addition. Jill Gardner is the owner of Coffee, Books, and More and she and the town are busy getting ready for the 4th of July celebration. The fire chief, Barry Gleason, is going overboard with the inspections and threatening to shut everyone down. When Barry turns up dead, the sleuthing begins. I love this series, and enjoyed this novella too. I highly recommended this book/series to all cozy mystery lovers.

I received this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.

First I want to thank Netgalley and Kensington Books for allowing me to read this book.

I will admit when I started this book I felt like it was out of sync with the last book I had read from the series and then I realized it is a 9.25 novella.

All in all though a solid little story, the local businesses are gearing up for a big weekend celebration but when the fire chief starts inspecting all the businesses and threatening to close them before the holiday everyone is up in arms! So when the same fire chief is found dead, inside a burned building, there are plenty of suspects. Almost the entire community wanted him gone!

I love the community of South Cove, it sounds like a lovely place to live, minus the murders.

This is a quick novella in the Tourist Trap mystery series, and Lynn Cahoon does not disappoint. The usual cast of characters returns to South Cove for the July 4th celebrations. Jill Gardner, owner of Coffee, Books and More is busy getting ready for the holiday when she is hit with a long list of fire code violations by fire chief Barry Gleason. She's not the only business owner in town with violations, and when Barry is found dead after a controlled burn there are a lot of suspects to be investigated.

As in all the Tourist Trap books, the characters are fun and the writing is solid. I highly recommend this book. Thanks to Kensington Books and NetGalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

During a Business to Business meeting of town members, Jill Gardner, owner of Coffee, Books, and More is dismayed to hear that fire chief Barry Gleason has decided that he will inspect the businesses and look for infractions, and if he finds any then the businesses will be shut down - perhaps even during the Fourth of July celebration. Her dismay turns to anger when Barry inspects her business after the meeting and not only finds infractions, but hints that he can make them "go away" if there is a 'private meeting' between Jill and himself.



But soon she learns that he's given pages of infractions to every business in town, making nearly everyone angry, and the even Darla has refused to leave the mayor's office unless he does something about it. But when there's a controlled fire and Barry asks three of his volunteer firefighters - Bill, who owns the inn, Matt, who helps run the winery, and Tiny, who is the cook at Diamond Lille's, to help him. But when the fire is out and Barry is found inside dead, partially burned, then it might be a case of murder...



Normally I don't read short stories but I just had to because I really enjoy the books by this author so decided to take a chance. However, I got the idea that this was written quite awhile ago and just now published, as things were said and done about circumstances that have since changed in previous books, as anyone who has been reading this story already knows; the timeline was off.



Still, it was a good mystery even if I did figure out the truth before Jill. The clues were all there, and in a short story - and this is the reason I rarely read them - events are much closer than they would be in a regular book, so therefore the clues are easier to read and we are given less time to (in the words of Hercule Poirot) exercise our "little grey cells". Hower, it was a nice interval of a story while we wait for the next full-length installment; I enjoyed it very much and would recommend it to anyone who wants a quick read; and to those who have never met the characters Ms. Cahoon has written that we have grown to love.

It’s July 4th in South Cove, California and the town is busy preparing for the festivities. Unfortunately, there’s always someone out to spoil the fun. This time it’s the fire chief Barry Gleason.

The fire chief does inspections of many of the local businesses and finds they have fire code violations, including Jill Gardner’s Coffee, Books, and More. He threatens each business with closure if they don’t comply within the week. This would mean they would be closed during one of the biggest tourist times of the year. The business owners are determined to stop this from happening.

When Barry conducts a fire training in an abandoned barn, it all goes up in flames. Barry never comes out. The police are convinced this wasn’t an accident and Barry was murdered. Despite her detective boyfriend’s warnings, Jill takes matters into her own hands to find a killer.

I absolutely love this series. I’ve adored every one of the books in the Tourist Trap Mystery series and this is no exception. This is a novella so it’s shorter than the others, but it is filled with just as much drama, excitement and romance as the longer length books. I absolutely devoured this one and read it in just a couple of hours. It's the perfect book to read at this time of the year.

Lynn Cahoon knows how to keep readers guessing to the end. I don’t think you have to read the previous books to enjoy this one, but it’s so much fun to get to know Jill and her friends. Starting with book #1 is a real treat. These books are fast-paced with the perfect cozy mystery setting - small town and a book store!




FTC Disclosure: I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book from NetGalley and the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. All opinions expressed are my own.

This is a great book; this is the ninth book in the Tourist Trap Mystery series written by Lynn Cahoon. 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. This is a great book with a wonderful story and well developed characters. This book will keep you reading long into the night. If you are looking for a great book, then you need to read this book. I am looking forward to reading the next book by this great author. I voluntarily reviewed an advanced reader’s copy of this book. The free book held no determination on my personal review.

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.

ROCKETS DEAD GLARE, the tenth book in the Tourist Trap Mystery series by Lynn Cahoon, is a fully fleshed out mystery packed into the length of a novella. It’s always a delight visiting the coastal town of South Cove and catching up with Jill Gardner, owner of Coffee, Books and More. I love the residents of this town and despite the shortness of this story, the reader still gets a good sense of the characters. The town is preparing for the 4th of July festivities and picnic but the volunteer fire chief, Barry Gleason, is more intent on shutting down all the businesses under the guise of fire code violations. All of the shop owners are angry, to say the least, but before the mayor can reign in his unreasonable fire chief, Barry is found dead in his own burned down barn. Jill gets involved in solving the crime even though she might have wanted to kill the man herself. I liked that her boyfriend, Detective Greg King, isn’t so adamant about her not getting involved in the murder this time. I hope this means he is learning to respect her insight and opinions. The reveal provided a unique twist to the crime that I did not see coming and left me anxiously waiting for the next installment in this entertaining series!

Rockets Dead Glare a Tourist Trap short story by Lynn Cahoon

Rockets Dead Glare is the first Tourist Trap novella and takes place after If the Shoe Kills (Tourist Trap 3). It is seven chapters long and while this may seem short Ms. Cahoon still manages to pack a punch!
This is a highly entertaining read about an egomaniac volunteer fire chief trying to ruin the Fourth of July celebration by handing out pages of “code” violations and threatening to shut down the businesses.
He ends up dying on his own property in a fire he started as a supposed training exercise for the other volunteer firemen.
I loved this book, it was a great way to get my South Cove fix while waiting for the next full length book. I'm thrilled to see there are more day in the life snippets to come!
This book is definitely a great appetizer to the series. I have read the series from the beginning but I do believe anyone could buy this and jump right in. Just be aware you may find yourself becoming an addict to the South Cove gang and eagerly awaiting the next adventure!
So, come along as Jill figures out who killed Chief Barry and why!

I received an ARC of this book through NetGalley. The opinion expressed is my own.

The Tourist Trap Mysteries have become one of my favorite cozy mystery and this short novella didn't disappoint. I enjoyed spending a little time in South Cove and while the novella is fairly short the mystery is well done and doesn't feel rushed. There are viable suspects, motives, and secrets. Jill and Greg dance around each other a bit as she tries to get cleared up without being too nosy and he tries to keep her from investigating but it's pretty good natured. If you're a long time reader of the series you might be a bit thrown off at first as this occurs a few books back and not immediately following book #9. If you're new to the series this might be a fun one to pick up. While you won't have the relationship with the characters it's a good mystery and you could get a taste of what life in South Cove is like before beginning the series.

Barry Gleason, volunteer fire chief of South Cove, California, doesn't make many friends when he abuses his power to shut down local businesses because of questionable fire code violations. Jill Gardner, the owner of Coffee, Books, and More is one of the angry business owners not happy that her shop could be closed down during the busy Fourth of July holiday, but she is still shocked when Barry is found dead. In spite of her feelings about Barry, Jill is determined to get to the truth of his suspicious death.

I have read some of the full-length novels in this series, but think this novella would be the perfect introduction to "The Tourist Trap" series. Jill is an appealing main character. She's down-to-earth and determined and I like the realistic way in which her relationship with police detective Greg King is portrayed. Readers will be able to relate to their date nights of just hanging out and talking at home. I also enjoy the unique character, Esmerelda, who is a part-time police dispatcher and part-time fortune-teller. Jill's Aunt Jackie has brought down some of the earlier books with her brusque manner, but she makes only a brief appearance in this story.

This novella is a good length for an easy, summer read. It's not too long, but complex enough to keep readers interested until the end. There is an interesting solution to the case and a satisfying ending to the case. This story is a winner for returning fans of the series as well as new readers.

I received this book from NetGalley, through the courtesy of Kensington. The book was provided to me in exchange for an honest review.

Always a pleasure to get approved to read a Lynn Cahoon book. Netgalley gave me a sneak peak at Rockets Dead Glare and I loved it. Actually I think this might just be my new favorite. Lynn makes the Tourist Trap Mysteries fun and I felt like it was a weekend away visiting this California town of South Cove and catching up with old friends. Always drama going on in town and this particular mystery and town event made for a great setting and a complex mystery. Lynn did a great job with Rockets Dead Glare and I hope that you will love this Lyrical June 5th release as much as I did.