Review: Canyons, Caravans, & Cadavers by Tonya Kappes

Title: Canyons, Caravans, & Cadavers

Author:  Tonya Kappes
Publisher: Tantor Audio
Publishing Date:  March 24th, 2019

Pages: 240 
Audio Length: 4 Hours and 15 Minutes
Genre: Adult Cozy Mystery

Series:  Campers and Criminals Cozy Mystery
Source:  Audio

 

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 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.

I am almost caught up on this series.... almost... nope I am not... I am halfway through. I am not tired of this series yet. I love the characters and I love the murders. I have a lot of fun with this series and this installment was no exception. Fun, quick, and full of spunk.. the book and the main the character.

There is a new murder in the town of Normal, Kentucky, and Mae is on the case. I mean really she should just become a detective.  This time in Normal, an archery coach is killed and there are many suspects.... and of course, Mae and the Laundry Club Ladies are on the case.

This is going to be a quick and short review, I don't know how many new ways I can say that I love this series. I love this series, these characters, and the murders. The plot, the settting, everything is so well done. I have been hooked since the first book and can't get enough. I can say this one wasn't quite my favorite but it was still wonderful and kept me captivated the entire way through. 

I just adore Mae, I adore her relationships. Her freindship with the laundry club ladies is just spectacular and makes my heart smile. I also love her budding relationship ship with the Hank just makes me sing inside. I really do love Hank. I am not sure how he puts up with her messing up investigations all the time... well I guess she does help solve murder. Mae is sweet and quirky and I can't help but love her and I think Hank feels the same way. 

Romance, friendship, a crazy bunch of campers, a murder, and just a lot of laughs. What's not to love in this cozy mystery read. 

Of course this one owned my heart too.

For years, USA Today bestselling author Tonya Kappes has been publishing numerous mystery with unprecedented success. She is famous not only for her hilarious plot lines and quirky characters, but her tremendous marketing efforts that have earned her thousands of followers and a devoted street team of fans.
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Review: The Starlight Claim by Tim Wynne -Jones

Title: The Starlight Claim

Author:  Tim Wynne-Jones
Publisher: Candlewick Press
Publishing Date:  September 10, 2019

Pages: 240
Genre: YA Survival/ Thriller Suspence

Series:  Stand Alone
Source:  Audio

 

Four months after his best friend, Dodge, disappeared near their families' camp in a boat accident, Nate is still haunted by nightmares. He'd been planning to make the treacherous trek to the remote campsite with a friend -- his first time in winter without his survival-savvy father, Burt. But when his friend gets grounded, Nate secretly decides to brave the trip solo in a journey that's half pilgrimage, half desperate hope he will find his missing friend when no one else could. What he doesn't expect to find is the door to the cabin flung open and the camp occupied by strangers: three men he's horrified to realize have escaped from a maximum-security prison. Snowed in by a blizzard and with no cell signal, Nate is confronted with troubling memories of Dodge and a stunning family secret, and realizes that his survival now depends on his wits as much as his wilderness skills. As things spiral out of control, Nate finds himself dealing with questions even bigger than who gets to leave the camp alive.

I liked the sound of this one so I grabbed it on NetGalley a while back. My life got in the way and well I didn't get around to it til recently. I wanted a fast paced chase scene, scared to look around the corner, kind of book. I thought by the sound of the premise, I would get this. The book was okay and it had some quite good scenes, but it didn't quite deliver in the way I needed. 

Nate and his best friend Dodge, grew up together, and there was a camp in the woods where both boys' families stayed for vacation. The last time Dodge went up with his family, they didn't come back. Nate is desperate to find him, find out what happened, and get closure on the entire thing. He ends up going to the camp on his own and when he gets there finds there are strangers staying in his cabin. Strangers that are dangerous and don't want to be found. Snowed in, no way out, and in a dangerous situation, Nate must quickly figure out how to survive the weekend.

The book sounded so good when I first grabbed hold of it. It was okay, for the most part I enjoyed it. I had a few issues with it. The story was good and interesting. I enjoyed the survival and the danger. I think my main problem is that I didn't feel it was suspenseful or thrilling enough for what I was promised. It did have a few good scenes, but for the most part the book read as a coming of age for me. Which is fine, just not what I expected. 

The main character, Nate, I liked. He was very resourceful and strong. He is quick thinking. He has some guilt going on that is weighing him down. He goes to his families cabin to get answers about his best friend. He gets answers, just not the answers he was expecting. When his world becomes dangerous and turned upside down, he does what he needs to not only survive, but still do the right thing. 

The book was promised to be fast paced. For me, it was a bit slow. The entire book happens in one weekend and I felt the weekend lasted forever. I wanted more chase, more shadows lurking, more bone chilling and thrilling moments and didn't get that. 

What I did get was an interesting, a little emotional, slow burn through a very broken mind. Which was a good journey for what it was. I think if you go into this read expecting it for what it is, an emotional coming of age journey, you will enjoy this read. Just didn't feel it was a suspenseful thriller at all. 

It was an okay read. I enjoyed it, just not what I was expecting and wanted at the time of the read. 

 Wynne-Jones (born 12 August 1948) is an English–Canadian author of children's literature, including picture books and novels for children and young adults, novels for adults, radio dramas, songs for the CBC/Jim Henson production Fraggle Rock, as well as a children's musical and an opera libretto.

Awards:
Arthur Ellis Award
◊ Best Juvenile (2001): The Boy in the Burning House
Edgar Award
◊ Best Young Adult (2002): The Boy in the Burning House

Review: Careful What You Wish For by Hallie Ephron

Title: Careful What You Wish For

Author:  Hallie Ephron
Publisher: William Marrow
Publishing Date:  August 6th, 2019

Pages: 288
Genre: Mystery Thriller/ Suspense

Series:  Stand Alone
Source:  Audio

 

Emily Harlow is a professional organizer who helps people declutter their lives; she’s married to man who can’t drive past a yard sale without stopping. He’s filled their basement, attic, and garage with his finds.

Like other professionals who make a living decluttering peoples’ lives, Emily has devised a set of ironclad rules. When working with couples, she makes clear that the client is only allowed to declutter his or her own stuff. That stipulation has kept Emily’s own marriage together these past few years. She’d love nothing better than to toss out all her husband’s crap. He says he’s a collector. Emily knows better—he’s a hoarder. The larger his “collection” becomes, the deeper the distance grows between Emily and the man she married.

Luckily, Emily’s got two new clients to distract herself: an elderly widow whose husband left behind a storage unit she didn’t know existed, and a young wife whose husband won’t allow her stuff into their house. Emily’s initial meeting with the young wife takes a detour when, after too much wine, the women end up fantasizing about how much more pleasant life would be without their collecting spouses.

But the next day Emily finds herself in a mess that might be too big for her to clean up. Careful what you wish for, the old adage says . . . now Emily might lose her freedom, her marriage . . . and possibly her life.

This is one of my Edelweiss books that I am a little late in reviewing. I find many mysteries and thrillers just kind of hanging out on this site and this was one of them. The synopsis sounded great and intriguing and the cover was pretty, so I grabbed it. I finally got to this book on audio and I liked it. It was very entertaining and I was very happy with the read when it was done. 


Emily and her best friend run a de-cluttering business. They go out to their client's house and they de-clutter anything that they need to have de-cluttered. This includes a storage unit of one of their newest clients. Everything goes haywire when a body turns up in this storage unit....also its the husband of one of Emily's other clients. Now Emily is the main suspect. She and her family and her best friend are on the hunt for the truth.... the truth may be Emily's worst nightmare. 

I really enjoyed this book. It started off quickly. This book didn't take long to get to the crazy.  It was a very fast read and I quite enjoyed it. In this book there is a couple different mysteries going on. One that is about art theft and the other is a murder. It seems that the main character finds herself in the middle of both. I didn't quite know what was going on in the beginning and the building up to who was involved was well done. There was a point that I started to have my suspicions but didn't know the why or the how.  

There were some very interesting characters in this book and some very interesting relationships. There was the main character and her mother, the main character and husband, and the main character and her best friend, and finally the main character and her clients. They all interweave at some point and through all these relationships I was able to get a good read going the main character. She is a very loyal person in all her relationships and I quite liked her. I feel at times she was a bit naive but it seems many mysteries and psychological reads go. 



This was a very fast read and quite the page turner. The book never slowed for me and I was never bored.I truly enjoyed this book and look forward to reading more from this author.

Hallie Ephron (http://hallieephron.com) is a New York Times bestselling author of suspense novels. Her last five have all been Mary Higgins Clark Award finalists.

Her (August 2019) Careful What You Wish For tells the story of a professional organizer married to man who can't pass a yard sale without stopping. In this respect, Hallie is writing from personal experience. Early praise comes from Kirkus: "Ephron's tidy approach to stowing clues, arousing suspicions, keeping the chaos of the climax under control, then tying up loose ends makes her a professional organizer of this type of entertainment. In a word—neat."

Hallie's Never Tell a Lie was made into the Lifetime Movie Network film.

A book lover, she also wrote The Bibliophile's Devotional and 1001 Books for Every Mood. For twelve years she reviewed crime fiction for the Boston Globe. Her Writing and Selling Your Mystery Novel (now in a revised/expanded edition) was an Edgar and Anthony award finalist. She teaches writing at writing conferences and workshops all around the world.

Hallie lives near Boston with her husband and has two fabulous daughters. She is the third of four writing Ephron sisters.

Review: The Last Witness by Claire McFall

Title: The Last Witness 

Author:  Claire McFall
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire 
Publishing Date:  January 1st, 2020

Pages: 272
Genre: YA Psychological Horror

Series:  Stand Alone 
Source:  Paperback

 

A group of friends awaken a malevolent spirit bent on revenge in this haunting thriller from award-winning author Claire McFall
Heather agrees to a group camping holiday with Dougie and his friends because she's desperate to get closer to him. But when the two of them disturb a pagan burial site above the beach, she becomes certain that they have awoken a malevolent spirit. Something is alive out there in the pitch-black dark, and it is planning to seek deadly revenge.
One year later, Heather knows she was very lucky to escape Black Cairn Point, but she is still waiting for Dougie to wake up from his coma. If he doesn't, how will she prove her sanity—and her innocence? 

I discovered this book a while back on Edelweiss and thought it sounded quite good, so I requested it and then I kind of forgot about it for a while. So more recently Ash and I were at the lovely bookstore (prior quarantine) and she bought it. So I read it. This book wasn't quite what I thought but I can say I was unable to put it down. It for sure helped me out of a reading slump. I quite enjoyed it and I was very immersed into the story. 


There was a group of 5 friends that went out to the beach for a camping trip. Things happen while there that leads to 3 of the friends not returning home. Two have returned, one is being blamed for all that has happened. This story is told in the now and the then and narrated by the main character, Heather, who is a bit unreliable...at least according the to the state. She has to prove her innocence and prove her sanity before she can move on with her life. 

I really enjoyed this book. I am not going to be able to go into to much detail, I don't want to give anything away. What I will say is that this book had me from the very beginning. I didn't want to put it down. I was wanting to know more and more with every chapter. It was written well and honestly for the entire read, I had no idea where this story was going to take me....is it going to be supernatural, is it going to be a serial killer, or is it all just made up. I really didn't know. So the need to read was for sure there and I was hooked. 

Now there were some things that one should expect when reading this book, the characters are not narrated in the best light. This story is not made for a connection to characters, character growth, or any feel good moments. This story is meant to creep you out, make you unsure, and kind of give you the heebie jeebies. So that being said.... did I like the characters? Unsure... it didn't really matter. I kind of enjoyed thinking they were dumb and heartless but didn't really dislike them as there wasn't really time to get to know them. It was all superficial. There wasn't really romance but there were some kissy smoochy parts. Friendship bonds were kind of there but not really good ones. Really this is not a character driven book.... well that is not true either. I am babbling because I really enjoyed the book and can't really say why... so if I am intriguing you... read the book. 

If you liked shocking revelations, crazy and unexplained events, and a group of friends that have some real issues. Read this book. I liked it and the ending really made me like it and well worth the read. It was gripping and fast paced and a real page turner. 

I really loved this book!!!

Claire McFall's work is, in essence, all about first love and difficult decisions. Her novels take straightforward romantic narratives and hurl them into unusual and extreme settings, blurring accepted genre boundaries and creating new sub-genres of her own. She then charts her characters' reactions to these unfamiliar situations and the new and confusing feelings that beset them in a hyper-real, engaging, deeply poignant and literary manner. Claire is a former teacher from Scotland who now lives in sunny Colorado with her husband, two children, and pooch, Jazz.

Review: Red Hood by Elana K. Arnold

Title: Red Hood

Author:  Elena K Arnold
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Publishing Date:  February 25th  2020

Pages: 368
Genre: Fairytale Retelling

Series:  Stand Alone
Source:  ARC

 

You are alone in the woods, seen only by the unblinking yellow moon. Your hands are empty. You are nearly naked.

And the wolf is angry.

Since her grandmother became her caretaker when she was four years old, Bisou Martel has lived a quiet life in a little house in Seattle. She’s kept mostly to herself. She’s been good. But then comes the night of homecoming, when she finds herself running for her life over roots and between trees, a fury of claws and teeth behind her. A wolf attacks. Bisou fights back. A new moon rises. And with it, questions. About the blood in Bisou’s past and on her hands as she stumbles home. About broken boys and vicious wolves. About girls lost in the woods—frightened, but not alone.

I love retellings and this one looked really good and intense. I was very excited to get to. I read it a while back and I have put off the review because I  just didn't  know what I wanted to say about this read. I have such mixed feelings. I still don't know exactly what I want to say about this book but I will do my best. This has been a very controversial book for me. I haven't had these feelings for a book in a very long time. I will put my thoughts out there and hopefully not ramble too much. 

Bisou is a girl that has had a bit of a hard life. She lives with her grandmother since she was a little girl. Her mother was killed and her grandmother took over as her parent. She lives a pretty quiet life away from most of the world. She does well in school, she has a great boyfriend, and she is pretty happy with her life. Bisou is a late bloomer and once she experiences becoming a woman, her life suddenly changes. Wolves and boys and violence. This is now Bisou's world.

I am going to try and put all my thoughts into words. There were many things I enjoyed about this book. The mystery, the backstory, woman power. The pacing of the book, the writing for the most part. It was good. I was totally into this book. But I feel the negatives of the book, really just made it hard to purely enjoy the book. 

The characters, I will start with the characters. I loved the characters. I loved Bisou, I loved her grandmother, I really liked Bisou's boyfriend. The relationships in the book are really good. There is a real sense of loyalty and bonding. That I loved. The main characters all had their own strength and weaknesses. I felt they were flawed but in a real way. 

I loved the story of Bisou's grandmothers life. I enjoyed going back and seeing what she had done and why things were the way they were. 

The mystery was good, but it wasn't the mystery of the boy that was killed it was the mystery of Bisou's grandmother and the curse or blessing that is on Bisou's family. Also the mystery of Bisou's and her mother's past. I was totally into wanting to know more. 

What I didn't like. There was good girl power in this book and I enjoyed how the girls stuck together however, I felt as if this book was more on the side of girls good boys evil girls fight back and take over the world. I felt there wasn't enough balance of good and evil among the sexes. There is good and evil in all people in the world. The evil is shared among girls and boys. Its not the chromosomes that make you good or evil. I wish there had also been more of the lives that the boys lived.... what made them think they could get away with violence against other especially woman. I think we as a society need to focus more on why boys get away with what they get away with and what makes them make these violent choices as teens and young adults. Also... there are evil girls out there too. I am female here me roar, I am all about woman sticking together and standing up for each other but there are some bad seeds among us too. I think the message this book wanted to put across was well intended but not well done. 

Another thing I did not like... too much detail about periods and sex and all things I don't want to read about. There were some pretty disgusting things in this book. I do not need to see these nasty things in my mind. It was just too much. Also, I am all for a woman's sexual choices are hers, we shouldn't be treated differently on those choices.... however I am old school when it comes to ages of these things. I this book is a little much for teens, especially the younger ones.

I think this book could have been so good for girls if know there are others out there who would disagree with me and I am okay with that. But these are the issues I had with this book. Mixed feelings all around. There are some other books I read about girl power and girls standing together against violence against woman... one that comes to mind is Reputation by Sara Shepard. Loved that book... it was also marked for the college age kids. I really loved that one and the message was Strong but also done tastefully. I feel this book was a too much on the less tasteful for me.

If you took out the detailed period and sex scenes and the total man bashing.... the writing was beautiful and I was addicted. I had to finish the book. Side note... there was boy bashing but there was two decent male species that were highlighted. So yes not 100 percent boy bashing.  

I also strongly feel this should be more a new adult or adult read not a ya read. 



I think some might really enjoy but it was a little too much for me.... yet I somehow enjoyed it too. So I rated it a three which is confusing with the issues I had with it.... I think the fact I didn't want to put it down had something to do with it. Lots of stuff I didn't like but there were things that kept me reading. 

ELANA K. ARNOLD writes books for and about children and teens. She holds a master’s degree in Creative Writing/Fiction from the University of California, Davis where she has taught Creative Writing and Adolescent Literature. Her most recent YA novel, DAMSEL, is a Printz Honor book, Her 2017 novel, WHAT GIRLS ARE MADE OF, was a finalist for the National Book Award, and her middle grade novel, A BOY CALLED BAT, is a Junior Library Guild Selection. A parent and educator living in Huntington Beach, California, Elana is a frequent speaker at schools, libraries, and writers’ conferences. Currently, Elana is the caretaker of seven pets, only three of which have fur.