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theavidreaderandbibliophile's review
3.0
Have a Deadly New Year by Lynn Cahoon is the fourth A Farm-to-Fork Mystery. Angie Turners, chef and co-owner of County Seat, along with Felicia Williams and the rest of their staff are at Cliff Henry’s house in Sun Valley. Cliff is the lead singer of the newly reunited band, Postal Mutiny. County Seat has been hired to cater a party that evening, and they get the opportunity stay at the cabin until New Year’s Day. During this retreat, Angie wants them to work on new recipes for the upcoming season. Angie’s plans fly out the window when band member, Dane is found dead at the dining room table the next morning with a drumstick protruding from his chest. Sheriff Pearson suspects it is an accidental death from Dane overindulging in alcohol until the test results come in. Unfortunately, Angie and the gang are stuck at the house with a blizzard raging outside and a killer on the loose inside. The group from the County Seat attempt to identify the guilty party in between whipping up delectable meals. The mystery was simple with little investigation (seemed like Angie was avoiding it). The focus of the book was on food and not murder. Avid cozy mystery readers should have no problem pinpointing the guilty party before the first course is served. I suggest reading Who Moved My Goat Cheese? Before reading Have a Deadly New Year. As it is a novella, you do not get the opportunity to know the characters or their background. I found the story to be disappointing and not like Lynn Cahoon’s A Tourist Trap Mystery series. The characters felt flat and so did the story. I felt Have a Deadly New Year was a miss and not in tune with the other books in A Farm-to-Fork Mystery series. This will not keep me from reading the next A Farm-to-Fork Mystery this spring titled Deep Fried Revenge.
caitz's review against another edition
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
thisandthatwithkaren's review
4.0
”Have a Deadly New Year“ A novella from the Farm to Fork series by Lynn Cahoon, is a fast, enjoyable read.
Chef Angie Turner of The County Seat—Idaho’s finest farm-to-table restaurant—is preparing a private dinner in the mountains during ski season, but the trip’s about to go downhill . . .
It’s a rockin’ New Year for Angie and her crew as they cater a bash for a famous band—and as a bonus, they’ll get to stay at the singer’s Sun Valley house for a whole week once the party’s over. But there are hints of discord, and the event hits a sour note when one of the musicians is found with a drumstick in his chest.
Is this a case of creative differences turned lethal or is there another motive at play? Angie’s jumping out of the frying pan and into the fire as she and her fellow foodies try to solve the case before the killer comes out for an encore . . .
There were plenty of suspects and plenty of twists and turns to keep me wanting to find out what will happen next. The book is engaging from start to finish, grabbing you from the very beginning.
I would recommend this novella to all my friends that enjoy cozy mysteries.
I am looking forward to the next book in this series.
I requested and received an Advanced Readers Copy from Kensington Publishers and NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Chef Angie Turner of The County Seat—Idaho’s finest farm-to-table restaurant—is preparing a private dinner in the mountains during ski season, but the trip’s about to go downhill . . .
It’s a rockin’ New Year for Angie and her crew as they cater a bash for a famous band—and as a bonus, they’ll get to stay at the singer’s Sun Valley house for a whole week once the party’s over. But there are hints of discord, and the event hits a sour note when one of the musicians is found with a drumstick in his chest.
Is this a case of creative differences turned lethal or is there another motive at play? Angie’s jumping out of the frying pan and into the fire as she and her fellow foodies try to solve the case before the killer comes out for an encore . . .
There were plenty of suspects and plenty of twists and turns to keep me wanting to find out what will happen next. The book is engaging from start to finish, grabbing you from the very beginning.
I would recommend this novella to all my friends that enjoy cozy mysteries.
I am looking forward to the next book in this series.
I requested and received an Advanced Readers Copy from Kensington Publishers and NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
kristirose's review
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
Ended way too abruptly. I went back twice to make sure I hadn't missed anything, but I hadn't. The killer is revealed, and it just stops cold turkey.
peggyemi's review against another edition
4.0
This is a short novella that gives readers a quick visit with Angie Turner and the rest of the characters from the Farm-to-Fork Mystery series. This was a quick, fun, enjoyable read. In my opinion, Ms. Cahoon writes terrific novellas for her series. She has created such wonderful characters that I enjoy any chance I get to visit with them. Angie and her employees are hired to cater an event for an old friend of Felicia's who also happens to be a famous rock star. Unfortunately, murder just seems to follow Angie. The characters in this story are all well rounded and diverse which adds to the enjoyment. Ms. Cahoon continues to develop and grow them even with the limited amount of space the novella provides. The mystery was well done. Given that there were not a lot of people around when the murder was committed, the small suspect pool does not detract from the readers attempt to guess the killer's identity and motive.
I enjoy all of Ms. Cahoon's cozy mystery series and will be back for more in this one. I voluntarily read a digital ARC provided to me by the publisher, Kensington, through Netgalley.
I enjoy all of Ms. Cahoon's cozy mystery series and will be back for more in this one. I voluntarily read a digital ARC provided to me by the publisher, Kensington, through Netgalley.
bookwoman37's review
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
I enjoyed this Holiday Novella. Angie and her staff are catering a private New Year Dinner for a Rock N' Roll band at a singer's house in Sun Valley. When the band leaves the next morning for LA they will get to stay at the house and enjoy a week's retreat. During the dinner all is not well between the band members. Most of the party goers choose to leave early. The next morning there is a snow storm and a dead body. The sheriff has a missing child to find so it is up to them to solve the crime and stay safe. The story is short and it moves along quickly. The mystery was OK but there were not many suspects and it was easy to solve. I did like the characters and country house setting. I will be reading more in this series. Enjoy this fun Holiday novella.
melmo2610's review
4.0
A fun holiday mystery with Angie and the gang. The story was good and the mystery was interesting. I enjoyed the premise of Angie and her friends catering for the rock band and the added issue of being snowed in with a killer made for an enjoyable read. Looking forward to the next Farm-To-Fork book.
I received this book from NetGalley and was not required to post a positive review. All thoughts are my own.
I received this book from NetGalley and was not required to post a positive review. All thoughts are my own.
randombookgrl's review
4.0
Fun novella that is a quick read. The story makes me want to go back to the previous books in order to find out more about the characters. Looking forward to reading more of this series!
sadiereadthat's review
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
I received a copy of this book in exchange for a review.
This is a vey short cozy mystery. We have a crew that goes to the very large house of a major music star and old acquaintance to cater an event and have a group retreat. However, those plans are derailed when someone is murdered. The leader of this catering crew seems to be a bit of an accidental sleuth, so while they are all locked in this house waiting on the sheriff who it delayed by a blizzard, she and her crew solve the crime.
This was probably too short. I felt a little let down by how quickly everything wrapped up. I think this is indicative that this was a good book. I really did enjoy it and I think the rest of her books would also be enjoyable.
This is a vey short cozy mystery. We have a crew that goes to the very large house of a major music star and old acquaintance to cater an event and have a group retreat. However, those plans are derailed when someone is murdered. The leader of this catering crew seems to be a bit of an accidental sleuth, so while they are all locked in this house waiting on the sheriff who it delayed by a blizzard, she and her crew solve the crime.
This was probably too short. I felt a little let down by how quickly everything wrapped up. I think this is indicative that this was a good book. I really did enjoy it and I think the rest of her books would also be enjoyable.