Beaches, Bungalows & Burglaries (Book 1 in Camper & Criminals) by Tonya Kappes, eBook, 189 pages
Synopsis from GoodReads (partial): Mae West, a far cry from the Hollywood actress, has been thrown for a loop. Her plush lifestyle in the big city of New York comes to a screeching halt after the FBI raids her mansion and arrests her husband, Paul West, for a Ponzi scheme that rips people out of millions of dollars. Mae finds herself homeless, friendless, and penniless. All hope isn't lost. . .the only thing Mae got to keep that the government didn't seize is a tourist camp ground, Happy Trails, in Normal, Kentucky and an RV to live in. One problem, Mae's idea of camping has room service.
Mae quickly find out that Happy Trails and the citizens of Normal were also victims of Paul's schemes, making her lower than that lake scum in the residents' eyes. Mae doesn't think things could get much worse, but as luck would have it, Paul West has escaped from prison and is found dead, murdered, floating in the Happy Trails mucky green lake. Time is running out for Mae to prove that she's innocent and nothing like her husband. If only she could get someone to believe her and talk Detective Sharp into looking at other residents who've lost all their savings to Paul's Ponzi scheme before the curtain is closed on this Hollywood namesake.
BOOK REVIEW: Where do I begin! This was filled with all the southern hospitality and who-done-it that I love! I know that I typically don't like repeated words/phrases but several times in this book, "Don't you know we hug around here?" was thrown out and generally when Mae was being introduced to someone. I'm fairly confident that is how my intro to my friend's mother went, who we all affectionately called Mama. The way this author describes the campground almost made me think of a campground that my family goes to every summer except we have a river, not a lake, and we have out houses and no rec area. I love that the women in town are basically classified as "church ladies" or part of the Laundry Club.
This book made me want to live in Normal, KY. I've only had that feeling about a couple of books recently but there seems to be this sense of comfy and cozy about the town and how they band together. Typically I wouldn't compare series especially if they're written by different authors but I'm going to just this once and it's nothing bad. I love the Cozy Baked Mystery series (I've read 10 of the books so far) and I love the small town in Maine where the series takes place but here is the comparison. I feel like the who-done-it part in this book was done better than the who-done-it in the Cozy Baked series. Those always seem to feel rushed at the end where as this one didn't. That's my only comparison and it's only because they are on the shorter side as far as length goes. This story is 157 pages and then a preview of the next book in the series, camping tips, some recipes and discussion questions!
This was a 5 star read all the way. I already have the next book in the series added to my library to get to when I need something fun to read. This was the perfect book to wrap up the summer for my book club and I'm so glad the cover caught my eye!
5/5 Stars
2024 Reading Challenge: 37/50 complete
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