Diggin' Up the Dirt (A Kenni Lowry Mystery Book 7)

Author:  Tonya Kappes
Genre:   Mystery

Hardcover; Trade Paperback; Digital Book
ISBN #:  9781635114867; 9781635114836
Henery Press Publishing
256 Publishing
$31.95; $14.90; $6.99 Amazon
May 7, 2019

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Sweet as honey, soured by murder!  Everyone in Cottonwood loves the new bakery, Sweet Shop.  Until a Cottonwood resident is found dead with a half-eaten donut in her hand.

Sheriff Kenni Lowry has her hands full.  With a new murder in town and a new deputy to train, she's not sure if she's ever gonna get this booger solved.

Sheriff Elmer Sims comes to the rescue, stepping up as Kenni's ghost deputy.  As the ex-dead-now-ghost-deputy and Kenni's Poppa, there's clues beyond the sprinkles in the donut that only he can see.

Add to Kenni's stress, Finn Vincent, Kenni's hunky boyfriend and new sheriff of Clay's Ferry, parents have come to town to meet Kenni and her parents.  And Kenni's mama ain't too happy.  As they say in the South, nobody's happy if mama ain't happy.

With Poppa's keen insight and Kenni's determination, Kenni focuses all her attention on bringin' the killer to justice before the yeast rises and another dead body turns up.

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Kenni Lowry is doing her duty as sheriff in Cottonwood, Kentucky - a small southern town - by attending the funeral of one of the locals, Woody Moss.  It's there that she overhears and sees Woody's grandson Rich, a bad apple if there ever was one, arguing with Avon Meyers, who was Woody's physical therapist.  Once she assures herself everything is fine, she leaves, because right now she has another problem:

Her boyfriend, Deputy Finn Vincent, has just informed her that his parents have arrived in town to meet Kenni and her parents.  What should be a meet-and-greet supper at her parents' home turns into much more when both sets discover that they're different religions, and in a small community like Cottonwood, that's not a good thing; and leads to a verbal confrontation that doesn't end well.

But Kenni soon has to put the problems with the parents aside when she finds out a young woman has been murdered - even before anyone knows it's a murder.  How?  Because her deceased grandfather, 'Poppa', who was sheriff before her, shows up in her truck as she's heading to the scene.  Her Poppa's ghost only appears when there's a murder to solve, so they're together again to solve the murder of Avon, who was found dead by a single gunshot at close range.

Then after having a conversation with Finn he tells her he doesn't want to be a deputy his entire life, and after an incident or two she's convinced he wants her job, which both angers and saddens her.  This, of course, only adds to her problems, along with the fact that she has a new part-time deputy she'd like to make full-time.

So Kenni has her hands full, trying to juggle her relationship with Finn, her parents, his parents, and the murder of a young woman.  It's not an easy task for a sheriff, especially since she's the only one (besides her dog Duke) who can see and hear her Poppa.  But without him, her job in finding a killer might just get a lot harder with few clues and a disappearing suspect...

I have to say that I love this series.  Kenni is a complicated woman.  She's constantly fighting against her mama's ideas of what she should be, is running a two (maybe three) person department that's in the back of a restaurant, and trying to juggle a relationship that's still in the stages of 'where do we go from here?'  It's not an easy job, but she does her best, not to mention constantly worrying about whether she's going to be reelected or not when the time comes.

But when Avon is found dead in a park, she has to figure out who put her there, and who hated her enough to want her dead.  What seems like an open and shut case turns out not to be so, but the clues, such as they are, eventually lead down a different path entirely, and even that path might be more confusing than not.

It's a tale that's full of both Kenni trying to do her job and trying to handle her personal life without having them both come together at the same time, which is nearly impossible when you have a mother like hers; Vivian doesn't have boundaries where Kenni's concerned, and is trying her darnedest to get her daughter married so she can have grandbabies (I can't even imagine a mother who would hound you about this).  It helps that although Viv has a one-track mind, she's also a very likable character.  I've actually warmed up to her quite a bit, because for all her faults, she fiercely loves her daughter and will go to any lengths to make sure she's happy.  There's a mama bear protection there that's enviable to a lot of people.

The mystery is done very well; the subplots are woven in together so nicely that what seems like random acts come together in a deliberate way, and it all leads to a story that is entertaining to read.  As always, the characters are delightful and the community a tight knit one; they're a quirky bunch that have each other's back in all situations.

When the ending comes and the murderer is revealed it's a surprise, but that's how it should be. I have to say that it's always a pleasure to visit with the townsfolk of Cottonwood, I enjoyed it immensely, and look forward to the next book.  Highly recommended.

https://www.amazon.com/Diggin-Dirt-Kenni-Lowry-Mystery/dp/1635114837/ref=

Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2807186895

More on Tonya Kappe's Books:  https://www.fantasticfiction.com/k/tonya-kappes/

Dead as a Doornail (A Kenni Lowry Mystery Book 5)

Author:  Tonya Kappes
Genre:  Mystery

Trade Paperback; Audio CD; Digital Book
ISBN #:  9781635113341; 9781974907120
Henery Press Publishing
266 Pages
$15.95; $29.99; $4.99 Amazon
May 15, 2018

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Beauty is skin deep, but ugly goes clear to the bone.  And doesn't our Sheriff Kenni Lowry know that?  Well, she knows a lot of things.

Lucy Lowell takes great pride in writing negative reviews in the local newspaper for anything that does not go her way.  When Lucy is found dead, it appears to be from natural causes.

But Sheriff Kenni Lowry knows there is more to it because the ghost of her grandfather, the ex-sheriff, is standing over the body.

His presence can mean only one thing: Murder !

Since Kenni's relationship with Deputy Finn Vincent has heated up, Kenni is having trouble conducting the investigation without Finn questioning her every move.

Can Kenni unravel the mystery on her own or will she have to tell Finn the real reason she knows it was murder - the ghost of her poppa?

It's blowin' up a storm and only Kenni knows how it'll end.

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Kenni Lowry is sheriff in the small Kentucky town of Cottonwood.  She's taken over where her grandfather, Poppa, left off after he died.  Except he's not really dead, not to her: whenever there's a murder, he shows up to help her out.

Right now, Kenni has problems.  When she's given a gift certificate to a day spa from her boyfriend, Deputy Finn Vincent, she expects to have a relaxing afternoon getting a manicure and pedicure.  While it starts out that way, it sure doesn't end the same.  While there, local Lucy Ellen Lowell shows up demanding that Tina, owner of the spa, give her a color, manicure, and anything else her little heart desires.  Tina refuses, and her employee Cheree adds that Lucy keeps cancelling appointments, so they can't make time for her, especially since Polly Parker and her entire wedding party have shown up to get their nails done for a 'pre-wedding preview' of color.

Lucy isn't happy, and when she leaves she tells Tina she's going to write a review of her shop.  It seems Lucy is well known for writing her bad reviews, and has cost businesses customers by them.  In fact, it seems the only person who even likes Lucy is her husband Darnell.  So when Lucy is found murdered by Darnell, Kenni has a whole stack of suspects to sift through.

But it's not going to be easy, nor is it going to be comfortable.  It seems Kenni has been volunteered by her mother Vivian and best friend Tibbie to be the maid of honor in Polly's wedding after the original one backed out.  And Kenny - reluctant as she is - has pretty much figured out why.  It appears that Polly wants a Gone with the Wind-themed wedding, and the dress Kenni has to wear looks like the famous dark green curtain dress, and it is Ug-ly with a capital U. 

So now Kenni is juggling a murder investigation along with trying to avoid her mama at all costs.  Then things get even more heated when Finn asks her to come home to Chicago for Christmas, and she sure doesn't want to face her mama over that; and just when she thinks she has the murder all sewn up she knows it can't be right because Poppa hasn't left.  Yes, Kenni's in a whole heap of trouble, and she'll need all the help she can get to figure this one out...

Once again Tonya Kappes has written another delightful Kenni Lowry mystery.  This one is packed with plenty of action and Kenni wrestling with problems - like those mentioned above and also the fact that she knows she's going to have to come clean with Finn about her Poppa's ghost eventually.  It leaves her very little down time, and a multitude of suspects who may or may not be telling her the entire truth. 

It's a magnificent romp of a mystery that shows us Kenni has what it takes to be sheriff in this town full of looney characters, and one of the best books I've read this year.  I can't say enough about this series except that while this can be read as a stand alone, I hope that you'll start at the beginning to get the full effect of Kenni and the eccentric people of Cottonwood.  I loved every minute of it and look forward to the next installment.  Highly recommended.

https://www.amazon.com/Dead-As-Doornail-Tonya-Kappes/dp/1635113342/

Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2340488865

More on Tonya Kappes's Books:  https://www.fantasticfiction.com/k/tonya-kappes/

Six Feet Under (A Kenni Lowry Mystery #4)

Author:  Tonya Kappes
Genre:  Mystery

Trade Paperback
ISBN #:  9781635113082
Henery Press Publishing
  Pages
March 13, 2018

(More Information to Come)

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The residents of Cottonwood, Kentucky are sent into a tizzy when the Culinary Channel comes to town to film an episode of Southern Home Cookin' with celebrity chef Frank Von Lee.

Especially Sheriff Kenni Lowry.

Her mama's award-winning chicken pot pie is what brought Frank to town, and they don't make hair in the South bigger than her mama's ego after the news.

When Frank Von Lee is found dead from food poisoning and the most likely culprit is Mama's chicken pot pie, Kenni's poppa, the former sheriff, comes back from the Great Beyond to assist in the investigation.

But nothing's prepared Kenni for such a personal tie to a case, and she finds herself pushing the limits of the laws she's sworn to protect.

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Kenni Lowry is the sheriff of small-town Cottonwood, Kentucky.  She's happy in her job, taking over from her Grandfather 'Poppa', who's now a ghost and shows up to help when something bad is about to happen in their tight-knit community.

Her mama Vivian is over the moon because having won a contest for her chicken pot pie, it's now bringing to town Chef Frank Von Lee, who has a show on television and Vivian is one of two contestants to be interviewed, with the chef picking the best dish.

As if that's not enough, people are being seen all over town with pink handicapped stickers for their cars which are obviously illegal; someone is running an illegal Botox ring, and she's also navigating her new romantic relationship with her deputy Finn Vincent, and hasn't decided on a way to tell him about her Poppa; which, while they're still figuring it out, will have take second place to the fact that shortly after Frank arrived - he died.

Kenni received a call from the inn where he was staying, and it appears at first that he died from a heart attack.  But while in his room, she notices what's left of a pot pie and a memo he left behind stating it was from Vivian, and that from all appearances, it was store-bought.  While Kenni doesn't believe it for a minute, her mother has been acting strangely - including getting Botox injections, and now has a black eye she won't talk about.

So with Viv being the main suspect, Kenni is pulled from the case and Finn takes the lead.  But this is her mama and she's not going to sit back and watch her being railroaded for something she didn't do.  Once Kenni starts her own investigation, she learns that there's more than one person who might have had a finger in the pie and wanted Frank dead; but in order to pull Viv's fat out of the fire, they need to sift through the suspects and figure out which one wanted him cooked for good...

As always, Ms. Kappes has turned out a top-notch mystery about another murder in this little Southern town.  The usual residents make an appearance, of course, with the focus shifting on her mother this time around.  While, for the most part, the townspeople don't think Viv killed a man, there's still the circumstantial evidence - even if it doesn't make sense to Kenni and Finn.  Still, they need to strike quickly before a killer gets away.

There's so much going on that it's hard to decide what the best part of the book is.  I can honestly say that I enjoyed this one as much as the others, and that's quite a bit.  The author pulls us into Cottonwood's quirky characters' lives, making you either want to visit there or decide to keep your sanity and just stay away altogether!

When the ending comes and the killer is discovered, I have to say that it was done nicely.  The clues were all there, but it was interwoven in a delightful manner so that unless you were actually looking for them, you may miss them entirely.  I look forward to the next in the series.  Highly recommended.

Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2207452110

More on Tonya Kappes's Books:  https://www.fantasticfiction.com/k/tonya-kappes/

Ax to Grind (A Kenni Lowry Mystery Book 3)

Author:  Tonya Kappes
Genre:  Mystery/Suspense

Hardcover; Trade Paperback; Digital Book
ISBN #:  9781635112504; 9781635112474
Henery Press Publishing
256 Pages
$31.91; $15.95; $4.99 Amazon
September 19, 2017

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Ever daydream about taking a little revenge?  Lifting a corner of that precious rug everyone's busy sweeping secrets under?  Well, let me tell you about Beryle Stone.  She was a bestselling author and the most famous citizen to ever come out of Cottonwood, Kentucky.  She knew everyone in town and they knew her.  And when she died, she put all her worldly possessions up for auction.  All but one.

She left behind a hidden tell-all about Cottonwood that's got more gossip than a ladies' luncheon.  Oh, Lordy, does that make the town hot.  I'm not talking Deputy Finn Vincent hot, I'm talking hot under those Southern collars hot.  And since revenge is a dish best served cold, things turn ugly.  Someone gets an ax to the back and the only witness gets put in a coma.

Enter Sheriff Kenni Lowry.  She reckons someone in town will do anything to keep the manuscript from seeing the light of day.  And it's her job to find out who.  She starts uncovering as many secrets as there are suspects.  Of course her poppa's ghost returns to help.  He pieces together the life of the Beryle he once knew, but his memory's a little foggy, and any misstep could cause them a world of trouble.  Can Kenni sort through the secrets buried in Beryle's books, or will this be her final chapter?

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Kenni Lowry, Sheriff of Cottonwood, Kentucky, has her hands full.  On top of her attraction to her deputy, Finn Vincent, her ex-deputy Lonnie Lemar is running against her.  Cottonwood's most famous citizen, Beryle Stone, has died and left her estate to various charities - with her cousin Ruby Smith as executor - which is causing an influx of tourists and problems among the locals.

Beryle had an assistant, Cecily, who's insisting there's a missing manuscript that needs to go to the publisher and not be part of the estate to be auctioned off.  It seems the manuscript is possibly a 'tell all' about people in the town.  Beryle, a famous writer, based her books on the people of Cottonwood; even though she changed names and altered details, someone doesn't want the truth known - enough to kill.

So late one night Beryle's assistant Cecily is found dead in an alley, and Lonnie's wife Paige injured inside Ruby's antique shop, sending Lonnie into a frenzy and Kenni up to her ears in suspects.  What she discovers along the way is that Beryle's mentally disabled sister, thought long dead, is still alive and being cared for at a local inn - and Kenni (and the town) have known her for years under another name.  Then there's also the little thing about an unpublished manuscript that Beryle left...the one everyone seems to be after, and Cecily was probably killed for.  But no one knows where it is, and with the help of her Poppa's ghost, Kenni learns that nothing good can occur when buried secrets are unearthed, and she needs to find a killer before they have a chance to permanently write her off...

Cottonwood, Kentucky is a small town with an eccentric population.  Kenni followed in her grandfather's footsteps to become sheriff and nearly sent her mother into an apoplectic fit.  But since she's running for re-election, her mother is her staunchest supporter.  Her mother is a hoot and the purest form of Southern lady I've ever known.  The interaction between these two is alone worth reading the book.

But it's the ghost of her grandfather 'Poppa' that gives life to the story (see what I did there?) as he helps her solve the crimes.  In this book, Kenni has figured out a key fact about her Poppa being there that neither of them knew, and her relationship with Finn is undergoing some major changes along the way.

This is the third book in the series, and it keeps getting better as it progresses.  Kenni is capable, smart, stubborn and attractive to boot; and Finn seems to have settled into Cottonwood quite nicely after moving from Chicago.  The mystery is written well and plenty of curve balls along the way to keep it going.  Once we learn about Beryle's sister being alive, it's interesting to watch all the pieces come together slowly, until it's almost too late.

When the murderer is revealed, it comes as a complete surprise.  While the clues were there (and I figured out those pretty quickly since I read a lot of mysteries) the identity of the killer was still a little staggering.  What seems to be the truth isn't, and what seems hidden is sometimes right out in the open.  The reason for the murder was a little sad; it all seemed so senseless in the end.

All in all, an excellent mystery with believable and convincing characters.  Ms. Kappes has written another tale that is suspenseful and enjoyable.  The books just keep getting better and I hope this series stays around for a long time.  I look forward to reading the next in the series.  Highly recommended.

https://www.amazon.com/Ax-Grind-Kenni-Lowry-Mystery/dp/1635112478/

Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2177120204

More on Tonya Kappe's Books:  https://www.fantasticfiction.com/k/tonya-kappes/

Southern Fried (A Kenni Lowry Mystery #2)

Author:  Tonya Kappes
Genre:  Mystery

Hardcover; Paperback; Ebook
ISBN #:  9781635111903; 9781635111873
Henery Press
252 Pages
$27.39; $15.93; $2.99 Amazon
April 4, 2017

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After the dead body of a beloved Cottonwood resident is found tangled up in an electric fence, Sheriff Kenni Lowry has a hunch that somethin' ain't right.  Her investigation heats up with a fierce cook-off competition, a euchre game where the intel is sweeter than the brownies, and a decades old family recipe that may just be the proof in the pudding.  The icing on the cake:  Kenni is fighting an attraction to her recently sworn-in deputy sheriff, and election season is hot on her tail.  When the killer comes after who she holds most dear, even her poppa's ghostly guidance might not be enough to keep her and her own out of the frying pan.

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Kenni Lowry is sheriff in the small town of Cottonwood, Kentucky.  She's just gotten a call that a dead body has been found in the greenhouse of the town's only florist, Myrna Savage.  When she arrives, she sees that it's Owen Godbey, a local who's been working as Myrna's delivery man, and she's none too happy about him falling dead in her prize-winning tomatoes.  After checking out Owen's body with the help of her deputy Finn, it's her Poppa's ghost that tells her it looks like he was electrocuted with barbed wire fencing.

What Kenni does find out is that Myrna and Owen were in a heated rivalry regarding a cook-off competition, and that Myrna had recently fired Owen.  While it might land Myrna at the top of the suspect list, Kenni doesn't believe she did it, and finds that the key might lie in Owen's mother's recipe book, which held a highly guarded secret okra recipe.

It seems more than one person wants to get their hands on the book; and when it's discovered that Owen was not only electrocuted, he was poisoned as well, Kenni knows she's after a killer who might not stop until the book is found.  Unfortunately, there is a host of suspects doing their level best to lead her down the wrong path, and if she doesn't stay on the right one, she might just find herself next in line for murder.

This is the second book in the Kenni Lowry Mysteries, and I was both surprised and pleased to see that it began right where the previous book ended, with Kenni and Finn leaving the Cottonwood Festival and heading out to look at a dead body.  It's not often we see mysteries in such a continuity, and it is refreshing, not only for the timeline, but because it brings back recollections from the first book as if we have read it only recently.

This time out, we not only have the murder of Owen to deal with, but also Kenni's growing attraction to Finn and her Poppa's displeasure of the fact.  While she's telling herself (and her ghostly grandfather) that she has no intention of getting involved with her deputy, she's finding that everyone in town (including her mother) has them paired up already regardless of how she denies that fact.

Cottonwood is peppered with characters who are amusing and prone to gossip (which is how Kenni manages to get much of her information, so that's a good thing); they are people who are deeply rooted in the southern way of life, which puts good manners above all and regard for one another...while they're filing away information about you for later use.  This is a town filled with a lively populace whose individual quirks are indeed fun to watch.

At the end, when Kenni finally puts it all together and finds out the real reason Owen was murdered, it's a story of twisted loyalties, lies, and greed that comes together in a well-written tale, one that kept my interest throughout and came to a satisfying end.  The story was funny and fast-paced, and I look forward to the next in the series.  Highly recommended.

https://www.amazon.com/Southern-Fried-Kenni-Lowry-Mystery/dp/1635111870/

Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1989216583

More on Tonya Kappes' Books:  https://www.fantasticfiction.com/k/tonya-kappes/