This short read is packed with mystery, likable, and entertaining characters. Great for a quick fix of mystery with plenty twists.

I was given a free copy for review. All opinions are my own.

This is a novella, so it is a quick short read. Don’t let the length of the mystery fool you the story is still full of twist and turns to keep you guessing. The characters are likable and entertaining.

All thoughts and opinions are my own, and in no way have I been influenced by anyone.

I enjoyed this book so much I read it in one night. This is one of my favorite series and I highly recommend it.

The mystery was good, with solid characters and the story wrapped up nicely. It is a short story best read along with the rest of the series. I enjoyed it.

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.

Even though this is a novella the mystery still has plenty of twists, turns, red herrings, and suspects to keep the reader interested. It was nice to see the restaurant crew out of the kitchen and to see how well they worked together to solve the murder and catch the killer. The self centered, spoiled, and wealthy band members and their girlfriends are so vastly different from the crew from the restaurant.

I can't wait to read the next book in the series Deep Fried Revenge to see what kind of mystery Angie gets herself mixed up in. I also can't wait to see what happens with the relationship between Angie and Ian.

I received an arc of this book from Netgalley and Kensington Books for my honest review.

Have a Deadly New Year

by Lynn Cahoon

Today was a great day to read a novella—short and complete in one sitting. Lynn Cahoon’s Have a Deadly New Year found Angie Turner and her staff of chefs at The County Seat restaurant offsite at a combination catering event and retreat. After providing a fancy multi-course meal to kick off a famous band’s reunion, the chefs were looking forward to a week’s working vacation in the huge, glamorous mansion. Complications arise when one of the band leaders is murdered and no one can go anywhere. The house is in a remote area, a blizzard strikes, and they are mandated to stay until the police return from another emergency. Are they under lockdown with a murderer and who might it be?

I would like to extend my thanks to netgalley.com and to Lyrical Underground (Kensington Press) for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Rating: 5/5

Category: Mystery

Notes: This is a Farm to Fork novella. I love this series, and I normally find Lynn Cahoon’s books effective as standalones. I would not recommend it for this novella, however. It is just too short to comprehensively make all of the connections necessary for full enjoyment.

Publication: December 3, 2019—Lyrical Underground (Kensington Press)

Memorable Lines:

“I have a personal motto that it’s all about me.” “You’re the leading man in your own play.”

“I suppose you’ll be doing New Year’s resolutions during your week? Make sure they’re about you and not what others think you should do.”

“Negative energy never produces a positive outlook.”

Have a Deadly New Year by Lynn Cahoon is a companion novella that goes along with the full length books in the cozy Farm-to-Fork Mystery series. This one is best read between books three and four however, as with the rest of the books in the series it does contain it’s own mystery and could be read and enjoyed as a standalone if choosing to do so.

In this series Angie Turner has moved back to her hometown in rural Idaho after her grandmother’s passing and opened up a new restaurant, the County Seat. Angie’s restaurant has really taken off in the small town offering fresh ingredients straight from the surrounding farms. Angie has also gotten pretty good at solving the murders that keep turning up in the area although she keeps hoping to be done with her crime solving.

I’ve followed this series from the beginning and really enjoy the characters and the mysteries they get involved in solving. With Have a Deadly New Year being novella length the story goes rather quickly of course but you still get that glimpse of the character development from the fuller novels along with a quick mystery with limited suspects to help move along at a faster pace making this a nice addition to the series while waiting for the next full novel.

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

This isn't my favorite series from Lynn Cahoon but this novella was a fun read. All the characters are a bit out of their element and dropped into a bubbling stew of long simmering problems. This novella was a fun read and a quick one and a good way to meet the characters. While this will probably never become my favorite series this novella did encourage me to pick up the next full length book in the series.

This is book 3.5 in the Farm to Fork series and Angie and her staff are catering a band's comeback tour for the New Year. They also get to use the owner's house for a week as a bonus. Angie plans to brainstorm with her co-workers about a new menu and some new dishes. That's out the window when one of the band members is found stabbed with a drum stick. A good mystery and can be read as a stand alone story. I received a copy of this ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review.

”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.

I was kept wondering with this novel. So many different directions this story went and it was entertaining the whole time.

Another excellent edition to a wonderful series! Full of twists and turns that leaves you wanting more and enjoying each moment until the end when the killer is caught!

The last thing that Angie Turner and her catering crew expected when they accepted a job to prepare a private dinner for a famous rock band was to discover the drummer stabbed in the chest in the dining room. So she uses her sleuthing skills and the skills of her trustworthy crew to discover clues and to ultimately discover the killer among them.

Thanks to the publisher and to NetGalley for an ARC; all opinions are my own.

This novella is a nice little fill-in for the Farm-to-Fork series with Angie Turner and the County Seat works catering a New Year's party for a dysfunctional Rock Band getting back together.
They are trapped at the homer of the band member host after one member is murdered and the snow has fallen. In no time at all Angie figures out it's solve the murder or be the next victim.

It was interesting seeing Angie and her crew in a new location. The mystery is well-done and kept me guessing until the end. It's easy read with just amount of description so I could visualize the house but not so much that it bogged the story down.

This would be a perfect winter read in front of a fireplace!

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.

This is a Farm to Fork cozy novella, which means it is short an sweet and a little sour. Actually, the recipe at the end of the story is sweet and sour and I would definitely suggest trying it since it involves bacon and everything is always better with bacon. There is one thing that isn't better with bacon, and that is murder. A little post holiday catering job and a week of recipe/menu tweaking is all Angie and the staff of County Seat had in mind when agreeing to work for Cliff Henry and his band the Postal Mutiny. The last thing they expected was rocker drama and murder. Since this is a novella the clues come fast and furious as the story unfolds. Plenty of suspects plenty of motives and worst of all is that the County Seat crew are stuck with a murderer in a mountain cabin because of a snow storm which makes it impossible to leave right away. I was somewhat surprised as to how the book ended and a little disappointed that Ian was not a part of the story. Strictly speaking, you wouldn't need to have read a previous Farm to Fork mystery but they are excellent stories with a great cast of characters and recipes to boot!

This series takes place in Idaho where
Chef Angie Turner runs her restaurant,
The County Seat. Felicia runs the front
part of the restaurant. Felicia has
arranged for the staff to cater an event
In the mountain residence of an once
famous rock band trying to set up their
come back. Felicia went to school with
one of the leads in the band.
Angie closes down the restaurant for a
week. In return for catering the events,
Angie, Felicia plus the restaurant staff
will be able to stay at the mountain home
for a week. Angie will use this time for
a retreat to create a winter menu.
The characters, both the main ones and
the supporting ones were multifaceted,
complex, colorful and intriguing.
This provided the reader with a myriad of
suspects.
This is a fast paced murder novella with
suspense plus unexpected twists and turns.
This is book # 3.5 in the Farm-to-Fork Mystery
series. It is a short novella set around New
Years. It can be read as a stand alone.
I volunteered to read Have a Deadly New Year.
Thanks to Lyrical Underground and Kensington
Books via Net Gallery for the opportunity. My
opinion is voluntary and my own.
A recipe for NYE Sweet and Sour Chestnuts is
included at the end.

Have a Deadly New Year earn 5/5 Drum Solos...Easy Entertaining Fun!

Felicia contracted a well-paying catering gig for an old school chum and rock legend Cliff Henry with a bonus for The County Seat restaurant crew to have the run of his over-the-top Sun Valley residence an extra week for a business retreat and maybe some R&R, too. It also gives Felicia an opportunity to show off and prove “what an amazing woman she’d turned out to be.” Cliff Henry has gotten the band back together to celebrate their upcoming contract for a reunion, but everyone’s attitude make this gathering an “8” on the awkward meter. It rockets to a “10+” when one band member with whom Cliff has argued, is found stabbed with a drumstick. Worse, yet, there’s a storm delaying the police’s arrival trapping them in the house with a killer!

Drum roll, please! I highly recommend Lynn Cahoon’s new novella with a clever drama keeping me guessing with several viable suspects, and the connection with Felicia makes it personal. With several main characters having equal importance, it is understandable that Lynn used the third-person narrative. Although I miss the “I” insights, she did an excellent job with descriptive language, dialogue that illustrates well the tone and personalities, humor, and a realism to the reactions and investigative techniques that I enjoy. I like these shorter cozies, easy and to the point reads, but I found I missed some of the details, depth, and side story excursions, and the big, perilous reveal usually found in the full-length version was just a confession. Personally, I am a “spud,”, born in Idaho with immediate family connections to all things Boise, so those references are beyond enjoyable. Lynn Cahoon is a master at putting her characters into short holiday mysteries...so ring in the new year with her, Angie, Felicia, and The County Seat crew! Two bonuses are included: an easy-to-make appetizer recipe for NYE Sweet and Sour Chestnuts with a spiced up sauce, and a sneak peek of the full-length book four, “Deep Fried Revenge.” Oh, I’m hooked!

Have A Deadly New Year
Farm To Fork Novella
Lynn Cahoon
5 Stars

Description:

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 . . .
Praise for Lynn Cahoon's Tourist Trap Mysteries
“Murder, dirty politics, pirate lore, and a hot police detective: Guidebook to Murder has it all! A cozy lover’s dream come true.” —Susan McBride, author of The Debutante Dropout Mysteries
“Lynn Cahoon has created an absorbing, good fun mystery in Mission to Murder.” —Fresh Fiction

Review:

Any time I get to spend with Angie and her friends is time well spent. Her and her coworkers get along so well, they are like a family. When they get a job catering for a famous band, they think they are in for a real treat. They expect to have a great New Year. What they are really in for is a murder and mayhem. The characters are well developed and well rounded.

The author is very talented in her descriptive writing and these descriptions pulled me right into the story. It was great that the murder took place on their working vacation, it added a new setting to the series. The mystery was well plotted and evenly paced, and not easily solved.

I would recommend this novella (and series) to all those who enjoy a well crafted cozy. I am looking forward to the next book in this series.

I voluntarily reviewed an ARC of this book provided by the publisher, Kensington Books, and NetGalley, which I greatly appreciate.