Cover Image: Corned Beef and Casualties

Corned Beef and Casualties

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Member Reviews

“Corned Beef and Casualties” earns 5/5 Festive Fireworks…Fun!

Just like many communities, St. Patrick’s Day heralds parades, festivals, and green everything, but in South Cove, California, it also promises rowdy tourists. Lynn Cahoon has penned a delightful novella starring all the marvelous characters from her Tourist Trap Mystery series. But it is no way short on entertainment. In true cozy fashion, Jill Gardner owns a cafe and bookshop, includes her friends as family, has handsome boyfriend, and always finds time and necessity to investigate a suspicious death. Using the first-person narrative we are engaged with Jill’s inner thoughts along with vivid descriptions and entertaining banter. A young woman’s body is found on the beach after the St. Patrick’s Day reverie, but Jill met the woman in her café, so she's compelled to find out what happened. I am a fan of the Tourist Trap Mystery series, and these novellas are so much fun with a clever plot line, wonderful characters, and such a satisfying solution. And a recipe for Gertie’s St. Patrick’s Cheesecake made festive with green crème de menthe liqueur!

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this book is really a novella. The author decided after stopping the South Cove Tourist Trap series, that she wanted to revisit the characters and place, via vignettes, and this novella, and more were born! I love cozy mysteries with FUN characters! And this one is an enjoyable read-both Jill and her sheriff boyfriend are easily relatable characters, and its a super quick read, just want you want. My only complaint is that the end seem to come too quickly- a long set up and suddenly the mystery as solved. SIGH. The novella will have you HUNGRY by the time you finish it, if you read it on an empty stomach (bonus, you DO get the cheesecake recipe after the novella)! AND right now it's UNDER $2 ON kINDLE!

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A short and fun trip back to South Cove with Jill, Jackie and the rest of the crew. Greg has to solve the case after a young woman is murdered during the St. Patrick’s Day festival. Jill meets the victim before she is murdered and of course gets pulled in as always. The clues add up fairly easily and quickly. Not an in depth mystery but still a fun visit to one of my favorite fictional towns and groups of friends. Looking forward to my next visit!

I received this book from NetGalley and was not required to post a positive review. All thoughts posted are my own.

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Corned Beef and Casualties by Lynn Cahoon is the third holiday novella in the Tourist Trap series. If you enjoy the Tourist Trap Mysteries, don’t miss this novella where you get to visit with regulars in South Cove, Jill, Greg, Aunt Jackie, Amy and Sasha. The story centers around the St. Patrick's Day weekend festival being held in South Cove with a parade, plenty of green drinks, good food and fireworks. Unfortunately, as Greg and Jill are relaxing after a busy day a body is discovered on the beach. Jill Gardner, owner of the local coffee shop/bookstore uses her person skills to ask some questions and subtly interrogate some friends of the dead girl. In this book, she only happens to solve the mystery by being in the right place at the right time. This was a short, quick story that was interesting and easy to read. If you have not read any other Tourist Trap stories, you might not enjoy this one as there is not much in the area of character development due to the fact that this is a novella. The author includes a cheesecake recipe that sounds yummy! The publisher generously provided me with a copy of this book upon my request. The rating, ideas and opinions shared are my own.

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This is the 10th in the series and the 3rd of the holiday themed novellas for this beloved series. I love this series and highly recommend the entire series . The novella is a short fast read but it is packed with action and a fun sleuth.
In the town of South Cove we return to Jill and her friends as they prepare for the annual St. Patrick's Day festival. Once the festival is in full swing a murder of a customer occurs that Jill waited one. Of course she is involved and begins to investigate which takes the book in a fun whodoneit direction. She has a likable group of friends who assist her in her investigation . The details of the festival added more fun to this next in series.
I love the fictional town of South Cover, reading about further adventures in this loved series and always enjoy the way the author crafts a good sleuth. This is a enjoyable addition to the series and fun to read.
Thank you for the ARC to Net Galley and the Publisher. I look forward to the next in series. My opinions are my own.

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Corned Beef and Casualties
A Tourist Trap Mystery, Book #10
Lynn Cahoon
5 Stars

Synopsis:

South Cove, California, is celebrating St. Patrick’s Day—and there’s going to be a parade of suspects . . .

Jill Gardner’s store, Coffee, Books, and More, is raking in the green as her little coastal town holds a big festival for St. Patrick’s Day. But the locals aren’t exactly feeling the luck of the Irish, thanks to the rowdy behavior of some of the tourists who are pouring in.

Then a woman who just visited Jill’s shop is found dead near the shore. The fireworks display on the beach may have already happened, but the real fireworks have just begun . . .

Praise for The Tourist Trap Mysteries

“I love the author’s style, which was warm and friendly . . . [A] wonderfully appealing series.”—Dru’s Book Musings

“Light, fun, and kept me thoroughly engaged.”—The Young Folks (Goodreads)


Review:

The characters are well wounded and well developed. Any time I get to spend with Jill and her family and friends is time well spent. Her Aunt Jackie is not the mostly friendliest of people and sometimes she drives me nuts (maybe that was the author’s intention). I really like the other characters and think they add a lot to the story.

The author is very talented in her descriptive writing and throughout the novella I felt like I was right there in South Cove, California, watching all the St. Patrick’s Day celebrations. The mystery was well plotted and moved along at a great pace. There were enough clues to sift through and suspects to consider that I was kept guessing the identity of the killer until the reveal.

I would recommend this novella (and series) to anyone who enjoys well crafted cozies. I have read all the books and they just keep getting better.

I voluntarily reviewed an ARC of this book provided by the publisher, Kensington Books, and NetGalley, which I greatly appreciate.

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I love this series and I am finding the holiday novellas to be a delight to read. In this book Jill is dealing with rowdy tourist celebrating Sint Patrick's Day. After a young lady, who recently bought coffee from Jill is found dead, Jills festive mood turns to sleuthing. This was a great quick read and I am always impressed with how much detail and story Lynn Cahoon can fit into a Novella. I strongly recommend this book and all the books in the Tourist Trap series.

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This is one of my favorite cozy mystery series. I love the town, the community, and especially Jill and Greg. My only issue is that I keep hoping for a full length mystery and while I enjoy a novella it just isn't quite the same.

This was a quick read and I really enjoyed the St. Patrick's Day setting. I don't think I'd enjoy the festival but it definitely made a great place for a murder. With so many new people in town and all the chaos and the drinking it's hard to find witnesses and Greg is pulled in all kinds of directions keeping the peace. So of course Jill has to do a little investigating on her own. She doesn't really stick her neck to far out and never drifts into to stupid to live territory. I like that Greg respects her opinion but at the same time tries to discourages her from investigating. The mystery itself wrapped up a little too quickly and I would've liked it fleshed out a little more but that's part of the issue with novellas in general. Despite that this was a fun mystery and if you're new to the series it would be a fun introduction.

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This book can be read as a stand alone if you wish to read just this mystery. But why? This whole series is great. What a wild festival! Murder included. Can you guess whodunit? I did. Can't give you a hint tho. Read to find out. Great characters and setting. You'll enjoy visiting this town.

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I like these short pop ins to catch up with the characters. I wish they were released in order of the timeline a bit better. This is a quick mystery with a bit of a surprise.

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Corned Beef and Casualities by Lynn Cahoon is a novella to the The Tourist Trap Mysteries.
South Cove is having a St Patrick's Day celebration with a parade and fireworks and the town is packed with tourists. When a visitor is found dead on the beach, Jill starts her own investigation. Even though it is a novella, there are plenty of twists and turns to keep you guessing “who done it”.
This is an easy read with likeable characters and a great setting. It can be read as a stand alone.
I was given an ARC by Netgalley and Kensington Books for an honest review.

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I love festivals, holidays, and small towns. You never know what kind of characters you will meet. South Cove seems like a good place to visit or live. What a fun business to have, a coffee shop and book store. That would be a little piece of heaven right here. It’s fun meeting new people all the time. I enjoyed meeting Jill, Greg, Sasha, Toby, Aunt Jackie and all the gang. Then, you have Josh, who maybe not quite so friendly, but maybe he thinks he has a reason not to be. It’s always fun to watch the story line unravel and have all the clues come together. I received this book from NetGalley, but my opinion is my own.

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Jill is busy at her store dealing with the town's St. Patrick's Day festival. People have come from all around to join in on the festivities which include drinking, eating, and fireworks. Jill has even invited everyone over for food and to enjoy the fireworks from the comfort of her home. When a young woman is found dead the morning after Jill finds out that it is a young woman she met in her store the previous day. Jill felt a connection with the young woman and can't help but feel the need to find answers. Jill decides to make a timeline of the young woman's last day in hopes of coming up with some clues into killing her. This was a great short read that was fast paced and kept your attention from beginning to end. I enjoy being able to keep up with favorite characters in these short novellas while the author writes their next story.

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It is St. Patrick's Day in beautiful South Cove, California and the town is throwing a party with green beer and fireworks.

Jill finds herself in shock when one of her customers she felt a kinship to is found dead on the beach. Will Jill do as her detective boyfriend asks and stay out of the investigation or will she wind up right in the middle? Will the luck of the Irish be on her side?

I am enjoying the novellas in this series as I am trying to catch up from the beginning. You get a quick visit and get to catch up with everyone without the experience of a full-length novel.

If you like St. Patrick's Day, you will want to read this novella. The ending was very intriguing with a bit of magic that the day likes to offer.

I received a complimentary copy of this novella from Kensington through NetGalley. Any and all opinions expressed in the above review are entirely my own.

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I generally like novellas a lot because they are quick and easy to read, and sometimes they contain almost as much as a regular novel. This one is very good, with great characters, setting and story, but the plot is a little bit lacking.

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I have really begun to enjoy these novellas. They are fun,quick read and the mystery is always exciting.
I enjoy reading these between the actual full length novels.

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Jill Gardner's small touristy town is holding a St. Patrick's Day festival. She is overwhelmed and not really loving the number of people who are walking around drunk in the middle of the day. But she is charmed by one young woman. Too bad the young lady later ends up dead and Jill wants to know why.
I really like the full-length Tourist Trap mysteries but the novellas are just too short. Jill is not as likeable in these stories as her ruminations about not linking how much her boyfriend has to work get annoying. And we don't get to see as much development in the other characters meaning that everyone is just sort of stagnant. Then there are the touches of magic that happen only in the novellas. Why only the novellas? If magic is part of the series, make it part of the series. It was cheeky in the Christmas novella but felt really last-minute wedged in to this story.

Two and a half stars
This story comes out February 5
ARC kindly provided by publisher and NetGalley

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Corned beef and Casualties is a novella in the tourist trap mysteries series.
I enjoy everything about Lynn Cahoon books and especially having a novella between the full books .
A great read , love all the characters , can’t wait to read more of Lynn Cahoon books.
Many thanks to Kensington books and Nettgalley for giving me advance copy to read and review.

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I was surprised to find this a novella, it is the third one in a series of holiday stories. The town of South Cove is holding a St Patrick's celebration. Much liquor is being consumed with the rowdy behavior. Jill one a group of five that are inebriated. This party rented bicycles and one is not returned. Later the girl is found dead near the missing bicycle. Greg and Jill worked together to find the killer. I highly recommend this book and series. A recipe is included.

Disclosure: Many thanks to NetGalley and Kensington Books for a review copy. The opinions expressed are my own.

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This is a quick and fun addition to the great Tourist Trap series. It is a novella that goes back in time to a holiday festival, St. Patrick's Day, in South Cove. Jill and the crew are busy serving coffee and desserts as well as selling books during the festival. Other businesses are kept busy with the hordes as well. Her boyfriend and police chief, Greg King, has asked for extra help from nearby Bakerstown PD to take care of the crowds. Green beer and drinks are flowing and the crowds are having a blast but one customer that Jill chatted with briefly and enjoyed talking with is found dead after fireworks on the beach. She tries not to get involved investigating but Jill just can't help it. She starts a timeline that her friend, winery owner and news reporter, Darla helps fill in the blanks as do others around town. Corned Beef and Casualties is a nice way for a quick visit to South Cove, Jill and the gang.
I received a complimentary ARC from Kensington Books through NetGalley. All the opinions are mine only.

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