Review (and a Giveaway!): Murder on Wheels by Lynn Cahoon

Welcome to my stop on the Great Escapes Virtual Book Tour for Murder on Wheels by Lynn Cahoon!

The food truck craze has reached the charming coastal town of South Cove, California, but before Jill Gardner—owner of Coffee, Books, and More—can sample the eats, she has to shift gears and put the brakes on a killer . . .

Now that Kacey Austin has got her new gluten-free dessert truck up and running, there’s no curbing her enthusiasm—not even when someone vandalizes the vehicle and steals her recipes. But when Kacey turns up dead on the beach and Jill’s best friend Sadie becomes the prime suspect, Jill needs to step on it to serve the real killer some just desserts.

Murder on Wheels is the first book I’ve read by Lynn Cahoon.  It will not be my last.  In fact, while I did perfectly fine reading this sixth book in the Tourist Trap Mystery series without having read the previous installments, I am definitely going to go back and read from book one. Why? Because Murder on Wheels is everything I love about the cozy mystery genre.

The writing is light and witty without sacrificing on quality.  The small town setting fits well with the tone of the story.  The mystery keeps you intrigued, full of clues that may have you wavering back and forth several times as to whodunit. The characters felt like neighbors or friends, especially Jill and Greg and Toby.  In fact, Jill is someone I would love to just hang out with for a while – or work for at her Coffee, Books, and More shop. Since the story is seen from her perspective, we get great insight into her thoughts and reactions – as well as her dry sense of humor and bookworm kindredness of spirit.  And of course, I can’t forget Emma.  I’m pretty sure all cozy mysteries require a pet, and Emma fills that slot endearingly!

Honestly, I wasn’t sure what to expect when I picked up Murder on Wheels.  Trying new-to-me authors, especially outside of my typical Christian fiction market, is always a bit of a crap-shoot.  But I could tell as soon as I started reading Lynn Cahoon’s latest that she will now be a go-to author for me!  An absolutely clean and entertaining general market read.

Bottom Line: This is “cozy mystery” at its best! Engaging writing, likable characters, and a couple of surprising twists make this a terrific choice for an evening or weekend read. Even though Murder on Wheels is the sixth in the Tourist Trap Mystery series, it can easily be read as a standalone.  The author does frequently reference events that I’m assuming took place in earlier books, but that merely whet my appetite for the beginning of the series.

(I received a copy of this book in exchange for only my honest review.)

My Rating: 4 stars / Loved it!

Head over to the Murder on Wheels blog tour page to see what others are saying, find a list of other tour stops, and enter to win an ecopy of the book.

Or enter here – Rafflecopter Link

About the Author:

New York Times and USA Today best-selling author, Lynn Cahoon is an Idaho native. If you’d visit the town where she grew up, you’d understand why her mysteries and romance novels focus around the depth and experience of small town life. Currently, she’s living in a small historic town on the banks of the Mississippi river where her imagination tends to wander. She lives with her husband and two fur babies.

Connect with Lynn online: 

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