I have loved the books I have read so far in the Tourist Trap series by Lynn Cahoon. I keep being amazed at her ability to keep me invested in the story and that each book is better than the one before. Lots of twists and turns and clues that will keep you guessing until the very end. The characters are so richly developed and the story line has you flipping through the pages quickly to see how the book ends. Lynn Cahoon is one of my favorite cozy mystery writers and she continues to blow me away with her fun and interesting mysteries. I can’t wait to visit with Jill and the rest of the residents of South Cove.

Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington for my advanced review copy. All opinions and thoughts are my own.

For more reviews, please visit my blog at: https://www.msladybugsbookreviews.com/. Over 1000 reviews posted!

Olive You to Death
(Tourist Trap 16)
Lynn Cahoon




We are back in South Cove the #1 tourist town in southern California!
I love visiting with Jill and the gang.
In this episode, Josh has announced that he and Mandy are getting married and the whole business-to-business group is invited. Talk about a shocker! Jill confirms with Darla and Amy that the girl’s trip is still planned for the upcoming weekend. She’s also using the time as her bachelorette outing. The ladies including Esmeralda are going over to Santa Barbara to celebrate and finalize wedding preparations. This does not go exactly as planned, this is now the third or fourth time the wedding has needed to be changed. Frankly, I’m tired for poor Jill with the changes this wedding has gone through. Unfortunately, there are more stormy waters ahead. Jill finds out her ceremony is being canceled because they are not catholic and a priest must lead the ceremony. She also only received 80% of her deposit back. I think this is highly unfair, but while scrambling to find a new venue, girls' weekend and other things she learns another bride is having even worse luck… she’s missing! It turns out that Jill may have been the last person to talk with Mandy before her disappearance. Josh is distraught to say the least but he becomes inconsolable, when Professor Wellborn, is found murdered in his office! Turns out Josh found the diary of Gabriel Santiago, who was said to have left a hidden fortune. He had been working with the professor in secret to authenticate the findings. On top of all that Aunt Jackie lets Jill know she needs to speak with her… the hits just keep coming!

I loved everything about this story. Every new book feels like a visit with old friends, you never want them to leave. 5*****

#OliveYoutoDeath #TouristTrap #LynnCahoon #bookstore #coffee #mystery #cozy




Thank you to Netgalley, Ms. Cahoon, and the publisher for the ARC.

I always look forward to a new entry in this series. It's great to catch up with all these characters that we have come to know so well. This time Jill is managing to complete her masters classes and juggle that with finding a missing local store keeper's fiancee who is missing--oh, and there's a hunt for treasure too!

This is another strong entry. Great character development and a fun mystery too. Great to catch up with the on-goings of this seaside town.

Olive You to Death is the sixteenth cozy mystery in the A Tourist Trap Mystery series. Jill’s wedding to Greg has been postponed, but wedding bells are still ringing in South Cove. Josh Thomas, the local antique dealer, is getting married to Mandy Jensen, but when Mandy goes missing and Josh wonders if it has to do with an old journal he found about a treasure Jill is on the case. As always, Jill can’t help but get involved in the local crimes and she uses her skills to help uncover what is really going on in South Cove.

I am a fan of this series and have been from the beginning. This book was another good one in the series and one of my favorites in this later half of the series. I enjoyed seeing a different side to the usually grumpy Josh and liked how Jill helped him out. This is an enjoyable mystery series with a whole cast of characters that are fun to see again in each book. My biggest problem with this book is Jill. Lately I’ve found her to be too something, I’m can’t put a finger on what it is, but something about her bothers me. She was better in this book than the last few though. Overall this is a good cozy mystery with a story that kept me guessing and had a good ending. If you are a cozy mystery fan this is a series worth checking out.

Another fun visit to South Cove and a murder plus a side mystery were keeping Jill’s plates spinning as she worked to finalize her MBA along with other various things going on in her life. When Josh first came to South Cove, I remember not liking him too well at all. I still can’t really say he’s even at the bottom of my fave characters, lol, but he’s definitely come a long way from back then. He seemed like such a curmudgeon that I always thought he was lots older.

Aunt Jackie had good news, or bad if you looked at it from Jill’s standpoint, but like everything else, it all came together. Jill had the most unlikely showdown partner but they got the best of the perp and Jill lived to sleuth another day. Or watch her two friends get married. It’ll be interesting to see what the next book deals with. Will it be yet another one before Jill and Greg get married? Or is it gonna be closer to the wedding and a big old mystery comes up Jill just has to solve before getting married? I guess we’ll find out eventually!

I voluntarily read and reviewed an ARC of this book provided by Kensington Cozies via NetGalley, and my opinions are my own.

Read that this was book 16 in the series, I have read many but not all, but was not lost. Fun cozy mystery series set in small town Oregon. Would recommend, and this author leads the reader on a good story.

Olive You to Death by Lynn Cahoon is the sixteenth A Tourist Trap Mystery. It can be read as a standalone as the author provides the needed background information for new readers. We get to follow Jill from day to day as she works at Coffee, Books, and More, finishes up her paper for her MBA, heads off to her classes, walks Emma on the beach, eats, sleeps, reads, and repeats. Jill also needs to find a new wedding venue. If her soon to be mother-in-law had not had them postpone their nuptials for an elective procedure, it would not be an issue. Josh announces that he is getting married to Mandy (Josh has certainly changed). When Mandy goes missing, Josh hounds Greg for answers. Greg asks Jill to distract Josh (you know where this is going). It is obvious to Jill that there is more to the mystery than meets the eye. After Jill had worked on fifteen prior mysteries, I would expect her to be more organized and skilled. She comes across as amateurish complete with silly shenanigans. There is repetition of case details, and the story moves at a slow pace. I do not like Greg’s attitude regarding Jill sleuthing (he should be used to it by now). Jill is a curious individual and she will always want to help her friends (and satisfy her curiosity). I wish the whodunit had been more of a challenge to solve. There was plenty of talk regarding Jill and Greg’s wedding, but very little planning. Jill does have a lot going on in her life at the moment. Changes are coming and Jill will need to adapt.

I love South Cove and always look forward to visits with Jill, Greg, and the gang. In this visit, it seems everything is "on the verge." Jill and Greg' are on the verge of marriage. Jill is on the verge of earning her MBA. Aunt Jackie is on the verge of retirement. As a result, others' lives are on the verge of change, and so on. Perhaps nothing is more surprising than the changes in Josh's life, and I admit that I am pleased with his apparent metamorphosis. In the midst of all the personal changes and challenges, there are solid mysteries to solve, including the whereabouts of missing persons and a potential lost treasure, not to mention a murder. While there were several suspects and scenarios, I had most of it pieced together by the closing chapters, but not all. Nonetheless, I enjoyed my time in South Cove and cannot wait for the next book in the series (and Jill's and Greg's wedding!).

Olive You to Death is book #16 in the Tourist Trap Mystery series by Lynn Cahoon.

I love long running series. Each new book is an opportunity to catch up with old friends. Jill has a lot on her plate with the bookstore, working on her MBA, her upcoming wedding, and a missing person. I really enjoyed following along as Jill investigated. I really liked how Jill and Esmeralda worked together and how Esmeralda mentioned Nic. This was challenging to solve since there wasn’t hard evidence the missing person and murder were related. I can’t wait for the next book to see how Jill manages all the changes coming up in her life.

Thank you to the author, Kensington Publishing, and NetGalley for the Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) copy of this book and I am voluntarily leaving an honest review.

This is one of my favorite series of all times. The setting is great with the coffee shop/bookstore combo and fun characters. Greg and Jill's wedding is in the works. Josh, owner of the antique shop, is about to marry and his bride disappeared so Police Detective Greg asks Jill to keep Josh occupied so he stays out of Greg's hair. Jill is finishing up her MBA and so life is busy. This one has a murder of a history professor that seems to be tied to an old journal of a long-ago bank robber found by Josh and maybe his bride's disappearance. Treasure hunting, murder, wedding planning, missing person, end of college, and much more, including new developments at the bookstore, make this a jam packed read with danger and mystery.
I received a copy for the purpose of an honest review. These are my thoughts.

Olive You to Death, the 16th book in Lynn Cahoon's A Tourist Trap Mystery series, is a prime example of why readers keep coming back to this wonderful series. The characters feel so natural that they could be people I know, and the well plotted mysteries always leave me hanging to the end of the story. I was expecting to be attending the wedding of Jill and Greg, so I was as surprised as the members of the business-to-business group when Josh announced that he and Mandy were getting married the following month. Wow! Josh, getting married. Even with the development in his person and character over the last few years, that one was a shock. That wasn't the biggest shock for this warm small community. Apparently, the olive tree where the ceremony would take place is as cursed as rumors say, or maybe there is another reason the bride to be disappears; is it cold feet or a curse that has Mandy missing? Between the search for Mandy and the search for treasure, Jill hardly has time to address the latest problem that has arisen with her wedding, the disappearing venue, or at least the venue that is no longer available. Needless to say, on top of those issues there is a murder to be resolved, and Jill feels a strong to connection to the victim so of course she is involved.
My thanks to NetGalley and Kensington for allowing me to read and review and ARC of Olive You to Death. All together the fast pace left me turning pages from beginning to end. Who needs sleep with there is a great book to read?
#NetGalley #Kensington #ATouristTrapMystery #LynnCahoon

Olive You to Death by Lynn Cahoon is a Tourist Trap Mystery taking us back to Jill and all her folks in South Cove. She is finishing up her MBA and spending a lot of time at the library looking for research and sources to back up her thesis that the town council and the community/business council should be the same thing. There are weddings everywhere this year: she is eye deep in planning hers and Greg’s and Josh has just announced that he and Mandy are getting married. This was an odd couple if there had even been one, Josh being about ten years older than Maddy and as opposite in personality as was possible. Mandy had been good for him, though, and Jill was happy for them. She invited them to dinner to commiserate over wedding planning, and repeated the invitation to Maddy the next day. Greg was less than happy, but vowed to be a good sport. By the day of the dinner, Maddy was missed, Josh was disconsolate, and Greg was investigating (police detective and all). Josh was excited because he had found an old journal leading to lost bank robbery’s gains and had contacted Prof Wellborn at the university, which took h is mind off things. Jill ran into the professor one day at the library, but the next day he was dead. What was that all about? Connected to Maddy?

A fun series, typical cozy mystery wherein the amateur sleuth works with(?) the police to solve crimes. This time the police meant her fiance. The necessary pet was available and took almost daily runs on the beach with Jill. The amateur sleuth also managed to solve the crime by putting herself in danger. The characters are fun and consistent. Well written and sympathetic. The mystery was a good one, well, both mysteries. Jill’s sleuthing was effective; she did have a knack for it. Plus there was all kinds of drama and daily life surrounding the entire thing. It is a fun read. Cahoon has a way with words and with character development.

I was invited to read Olive you to Death by Kensington Publishing. All thoughts and opinions are mine. #Netgalley #KensingtonPublishing #LynnCahoon #OliveYouToDeath

It’s June in South Cove and Jill’s wedding has been postponed. Her fiance’s mom is having elective surgery and is not available until fall. But there is a lot going on in South Cove. The unlikely wedding of Mandy the fruit seller and Josh the antique dealer is coming up. That is until Mandy goes missing – is it cold feet or something more nefarious? Josh has been searching for an old treasure as he found an older book in his stash. Then an older professor involved with the search turns up dead. But Jill still has her paper to finish for her degree and she needs to find a new venue for her wedding. It’s never quiet in South Cove. Loved this book!

Jill’s finally getting her MBA, and though her wedding to police detective Greg is postponed she still has a girls weekend to look forward to. When Josh Thomas' fiancé goes missing, Greg must find out if it was kidnapping over a hidden treasure or a case of cold feet or is Josh responsible for her disappearance. Greg finds extremely difficult and annoying to investigate with Josh hounding him so against his better judgement he asks for Jill's help. As always she ends up in more trouble than she can handle.
Great book. Well written with wonderful characters and buried treasure.

It seems like more of an outline with inconsistent parts. I found myself thinking -- that is not what you said a couple of pages ago. Maybe Lynn Cahoon has too many books in progress and cannot remember her previous paragraphs or where she wanted a book to go.

With a local woman missing, you would have thought that more people in this close-knit small town would be upset or out looking for her -- but then again -- maybe the people of South Cove have been there and done that so frequently in the previous fifteen books, that when a person goes missing, it’s just another Tuesday.

Overall, the book reads superficially with too much chatter about finding a new wedding venue, Jill needing to finish her final paper, and the burning need to take Emma for a beach run. If this is a mystery, shouldn’t the mystery be front and center? The missing woman is lost in all the surrounding chatter.

The book does drag with the amount of repetition and poor editing. The reason behind the missing woman is all sorts of ridiculous. Then add in Aunt Jackie suddenly putting in her notice that she is retiring but wants compensation for all that she has done for the business, and Jill wanting to overcompensate her, was unnecessary icing on a lopsided cake.

I received their book from Netgalley in exchange for an impartial review.
This is another offering in this long running series and it finds nuptials approaching for Jill and Greg. Some last minute problems to be worked out and her aunts imminent retirement are the background to the story. The mystery in the missing fiancé of Josh, a curmudgeon, and the murder of a local professor.

This is a series I always enjoy but isn't up on my favorite list right now. The writing style is easy and fast paced and I love the bookish element as well as the relationships within the community.

I didn't feel like this was the strongest mystery in the series. Jill is far more focused on finishing up her MBA than the running the bookstore and spends a lot of time running here there and everywhere. I wish Mandy had been a slightly more established character before this book as the whole situation with Josh and her family felt a bit out of left field. I did like getting to know Josh a bit better and seeing a more vulnerable side to him. I also enjoyed Jackie's storyline in the book. She is usually one of my least favorite character but I really enjoyed how everything worked out there. Jill's best friend Amy is a whole other story though.

The mystery was entertaining and I loved the treasure hunt element. There is a bit of a scattered feeling to the book so I didn't feel like everything full came together at the end. This is a good light mystery if you're looking for a quick read.

With a bride missing and a map that supposedly leads to long talked about local treasure, Will the mystery somehow impact Jill and and Greg’s own wedding? With the stress of her final paper due to finish her MBA, her aunt retiring, and a change to their wedding venue This is all Jill and greg need right now. But solve it they will, becaue that show they roll. But will getting involved int his one impact their own happily ever after?

I adore all of Lynn Cahoon’s series. But this one is even more of a favorite with the locale, protagonist and one beautiful pup. I just hope we get to Jill and Greg’s wedding sooner rather than later as it’s starting feel a little too drawn out.

Olive You to Death is the 16th installment of the Tourist Trap Mystery series by author Lynn Cahoon. This is one of my favorite series and I love every visit to South Cove. It has a wonderful small town atmosphere and it is populated with many fun and interesting characters. In this installment, I enjoyed the dual mysteries that Jill must solve. On top of that, she is finishing up her MBA and trying to plan her wedding to her long time love Greg. At times it seems like a bit much but in typical Jill fashion, she is methodical about how she solves both mysteries and brings them to a satisfying conclusion. I am already looking forward to the next installment and what I hope will finally be a wedding.

I really want to find a real version of South Cove so I can go there to be a tourist who can sit around Coffee, Books & More reading books, drinking coffee and watching the locals as they come and go! I love that the author has not only created wonderful characters that draw you into their personal stories, but she makes the entire town, landscape and setting one that makes you want to visit if not move there! The plot is detailed with many twists and turns that will keep you engaged and turning pages. The only warning I'll give is to pace yourself or you will find yourself in the same boat that I am.....back to impatiently waiting for another book to come out so we can vicariously visit again!