Kristin's Bookshelf

Campers & Criminals, Books 16–18
By Tonya Kappes ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Book 16 | Paddlers, Promises, & Poison 🚣‍♀️🔎☠️
This book gave Hank a bigger presence than usual. With rumors swirling about cuts in the sheriff’s department and Hank potentially losing his position, the stakes felt more personal – for him and for Mae. When realtor Chelsea O’Connell is found murdered in a model home tied to a new development threatening the forest. Even though Mae and Hank were a little rocky in this one, I really appreciated the lengths Mae was willing to go to in order to support him.

Book 17 | Insects, Ivy, & Investigations 🐞🌿🕵️‍♀️
I’m still completely undecided on Alicia. Part of me wants to believe she’s genuinely a decent person, but I cannot get over the fact that Bobby Rae and Mary Elizabeth somehow never mentioned there were more foster children out there, including Alicia and Craig. That reveal alone had me staring off into space for a minute and shaking my head. When Alicia shows up bruised and terrified before later being discovered standing over Craig Sutton’s dead body, Mae and the Laundry Club Ladies jump into another investigation to figure out what role Alicia played.

Book 18 | Outdoors, Oars, & Oath 🚐🗽💀
Not gonna lie… this one was absolutely wild. And not always in the believable small-town cozy mystery kind of way. Having Mae tangled up with the mob felt a lot more far-fetched than the usual “dead body at the campground” situations, but it was still entertaining in a chaotic road-trip kind of way. Was it over-the-top? Absolutely. Did I still have fun? Also absolutely. Sometimes this series thrives when it fully embraces the nonsense, and this book definitely committed to it.