Book Review: Beaches, Bungalows, and Burglaries by Tonya Kappes (Camper and Criminals Cozy Mysteries #1)

Stars: 2 out of 5

Pros: Characters grew on me

Cons: Too many illogical things to name

The Bottom Line:

This campground cozy

Has charming characters but

Many other flaws

The Campground Isn’t the Only Thing That Needed Fixing

I grew up camping, and I have many happy memories of those trips.  I’ve often thought of finding a good cozy series that centered on camping.  One that I’ve seen a lot of recently is the Campers and Criminals series from Tonya Kappes, an author I’ve been wanting to try, so I decided to give Beaches, Bungalows, and Burglaries a try.  Sadly, it disappointed me.

Mae West’s life has turned upside down.  It turns out that her husband, Paul, was running a Ponzi scheme, something she learned only when the FBI raided their house.  Barely able to prove she wasn’t involved, she divorces Paul.  Unfortunately, she’s lost her homes, her money, and her friends.  The only thing she has left is an RV and a campground in Kentucky that Paul had put in her name.  Based on the brochure, it looks nice, and Mae thinks that it might be just the place to relax and decide what she is going to be next.

However, once again reality is different from what she is expecting.  When she arrives at Happy Trails outside of Normal, Kentucky, she finds the place is a rundown dump with only some monthly residents but no overnight campers.  Making matters worse, Paul had conned many of the locals out of their savings as well.  When the FBI arrive to question Mae in Paul’s escape from prison, they discover his dead body floating in the lake in the middle of the campground.  Suddenly a murder suspect, can Mae uncover the truth while working to restore the park to its former glory?

Sounds, promising, right?  I went into this book with high hopes that I would find a new, fictional, campground to revisit on a regular basis.  However, the book needed some serious editing.

To start with, Mae comes across as schizophrenic.  Obviously, a sub-plot of the book is what Mae is going to do in the future.  From one chapter to the next, she was constantly changing her mind, yet it was presented like she had definitely decided what she was going to do and hadn’t really been considering the other option every time it came up.

Then there’s the plot.  For the most part it was working until we reached a giant plot hole in the final quarter of the book.  We are talking about one large enough to drive Mae’s new RV through.  The killer’s identity and motive made sense when revealed, but my issue was never addressed, and how none of the characters would have wondered about it is beyond me.  I even went back to reread the scenes in question to make sure I wasn’t misremembering something, and I wasn’t.

Plus there’s the local law enforcement officer, who introduces himself as an FBI agent who moonlights as a national parks ranger.  Really?  Not to mention he acts like a local police officer (who are nowhere to be found) instead of an FBI agent in this situation.

And I haven’t even gotten to the grammar.  You know it has to be bad when it bothered me since I rarely even notice grammatical errors if I’m being honest.  The book was mostly readable, but every so often there would be a sentence with a missing word or some other issue that would trip me up.  One or two are forgivable, but this went far beyond that.

The characters started out as a little over the top, but as the book progressed and I got to know them better, I began to like them.  Honestly, they are a draw, and part of me wants to give the series another chance.  After all, it was a very quick read, and I read most of it in two days.

I feel like most of the flaws in the series could have easily been fixed with a serious full book edit.  A fresh set of eyes could have found the flaws I have pointed out, and they should have been fixed to make the book better.  Instead, I feel like this book was rushed out, something that is only compounded by the fast pace books in this series have been released.  This book came out in May of 2018, and as of this review, seven books in the series are available with an eighth up for pre-order.  That doesn’t give me confidence that some of my concerns will be address if I move forward with the series.

While I wouldn’t consider this a culinary cozy, there are three recipes in the back that sound delicious.  There are also some cleaning and organizing tips that would work for an RV or as part of your regular life.

I wanted to like this book.  I really did.  But the flaws are too glaring for me to enjoy it.  So I will be driving away from Happy Trails after having read Beaches, Bungalows, and Burglaries.