A dead body sets Kenni off on a search for a secret family cookbook as well as for the murderer. Meanwhile, she is sort of fighting off an attraction for her new deputy, as well as dealing with her ghostly Poppa. And she can’t miss her euchre games - the gossip there is always helpful to her cases. This tale is filled to the brim with southern goodness, even though there are some desperadoes she has to catch! A thoroughly enjoyable mystery. ( )

Good mystery with quirky characters that will keep you guessing. I am enjoying the progression in the relationship between Kenni and Finn. He seems to enjoy keeping Kenni off balance. This will be a fun series to follow. ( )

Another light and fun cozy mystery set in Cottonwood Kentucky. There are several humorous parts of this story because of the play on southern stereotypes. The sayings, the small town gossip and the expectations of women, as well as the women's groups and the roles they play in the society are all there. It has a touch of paranormal with Kenni's Poppa's ghost hanging around and a hint of
romance to come.

Sheriff Kenni Lowry is summoned to one of the resident's homes only to find a Cottonwood resident, Owen Godbey dead, lying in the patch of prize winning tomatoes. As Kenni and Finn investigate they find several motives and suspects. Is it Stanley, Owen's brother, who killed him to get his Mama's recipe book to grow a better okra crop? Maybe Sandy, his ex-wife, who was also after the recipe book for her own reasons? Finally, there were several people in a cook-off who might have offed him to have a better chance to win the lucrative prize? There are several surprises in this story and we meet some more of the residents of Cottonwood. Kenni is not sure about Finn and if she wants to pursue a relationship with him after her Poppa's warning about Big City Cops leaving to go home. The ending was a definite surprise and I enjoyed who it all worked out.This was a quick read that I finished in one day. A great Southern, Cozy Mystery for any cozy lover. ( )

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. ( )

Southern Fried (A Kenni Lowry Mystery Book 2) by [Kappes, Tonya]

Tonya Kappes has served up another helping of a charming cozy mystery with Southern Fried A Kenni Lowry Mystery.

I love this series with all it's southern charm, cast of strong characters, a ghost and a good always intriguing mystery.

Kenni Lowry the sheriff of Cottonwood has to find out who murdered Owen Godfrey and still try to hold her job as sheriff at the election coming up. She has so many suspects and motives it is a challenge for her and her every handsome, charming Deputy Finn. Can she solve the murder, catch the suspect, and keep her job?

This book is even better than the first one in the series. Kenni is growing and becoming more confident as the sheriff. She is smart, intuitive, can be emotional and brave. She also has her Poppa albeit as a ghost now, to bounce her ideas off while trying to solve the crimes like they use to do when he was alive and the sheriff of Cottonwood. With Finn as her deputy they are a dynamic pair in solving crime.

Poppa is a hoot. I love how he watches out for Kenni but also pops in at times talking to Kenni when she is trying hard not to let anyone see her talking to the air. How would it look if the towns people saw her talking to no one and it sure wouldn't help her win the upcoming election.

Her Momma is a ball of fire when it comes to defending her daughter. She clouds up and rains all over anyone that talks bad about Kenni and when they are out to elect someone else she, well let's just say, you wouldn't want to cross her on her crusade to get Kenni re-elected even if she wishes her daughter wasn't sheriff she still has Kenni's back. She is the best. I love all her antics and fussing. She is like all of us as Mothers tend to be, Mother Bears, when she thinks someone is trying to hurt her daughter.

This mystery involves a dysfunctional family, an old cookbook, and rivalry that all ends up in a murder that is a puzzling mystery with surprises along the way. You have so many suspects, but not too many, twists, an election, a ghost, an overbearing mother hen, a good looking deputy, and one excellent cozy mystery that you can't put down.

This mystery has all the right ingredients served up in a unique wonderful cozy mystery that you won't want to miss or put down.

I give it 5+ bookmarks

If you want to learn more about this book, this series or the author you can on her website at
tonyakappes.com ( )