Member Reviews

In this spooky Halloween novella, Angie Turner hosts a team meeting of her County Seat Restaurant staff in the Idaho foothills at an old, haunted penitentiary site. Locked inside for 24 hours with no cell phones and a murderer among them—who they gonna call—when a ghost appears?

It’s a frighteningly fun short story just perfect for Halloween!

I honestly reviewed a digital arc provided by NetGalley and Kensington. Thank you.

Was this review helpful?

This a a quick little read in the Farm to Fork series. A team building exercise, an old jail, a ghost story, and a murder! What a fun novella.

Was this review helpful?

The County Seat crew are doing one of their team building exercises and this time they have elected to get locked into a supposedly haunted historical penitentiary, but it all goes awry when the screaming starts and a body drops. This book read so quickly that it felt more like a novella than a full book, but it could be that the story was so compelling that I just kept turning pages to see what happened next too quickly! I have to say that I wasn't sure about the premise when I started reading, but I absolutely love the characters in this series and the plot line was entertaining! It drew me in and kept me reading until I finished the last page! I love the interaction between the characters and felt that this book developed some of the auxiliary characters even more. I can't wait to see what happens in the next book!

Was this review helpful?

Nice little novella for a quick read. Not very deep or involved because of its length. If you like this series you may enjoy this one
Thank you netgalley and the publisher for this arc

Was this review helpful?

Here we have another winner in the Farm to Fork Mystery series! Once again, the gang is on the case and readers will have a blast following the characters and picking up clues right along with them! This has been a favorite cozy series of mine since the first book released and I'm already excited for more! Keep them coming!

Was this review helpful?

This is a Farm to Fork novella, and the setting takes place in an old jail. The restaurant gang participates in a team building exercise which includes an overnight stay in a reportedly haunted jail.
When a dead body is discovered, they need to find out what exactly happened.
This is a cute story that is really fast to read.

Was this review helpful?

I normally enjoy my visits with Angie and her bunch of characters, but this was difficult for me to get into. It was overly dramatic and too brief to have any meaning to me. I'd recommend the non-novella series to understand my affections for Angie, Ian and all of the rest.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. The opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.

Was this review helpful?

This was a nine chapter short read in the Farm-to-Fork series, which I hadn't read before. Quite a place for a staff team building exercise, an abandoned jail with a real ghost. Of course a murder takes place with lots of suspects.

Thanks to NetGalley for the advance copy.

Was this review helpful?

Angie Turner and her County Seat restaurant crew, have a team building exercise....overnight...in a 'haunted' prison accompanied by her dog Dom. It had been Matt's turn to pick. Surprise.
The crew along with the prison's employees and a few other guests are locked in overnight. It's too bad, one's a murderer and there's a few suspects until the ghost helps Angie and crew narrow it down.
Fun cozy with paranormal elements.
I requested and received a NetGalley ARC to peruse gratis and offer my opinion in the same spirit.

Was this review helpful?

This is the 5th or really 4.5 since it is shorter story in the Farm to Fork Mystery series. Angie Turner is a chef in a farm to table restaurant and is having an off-site event building event with her group, boyfriend Ian and even her dog at an old state prison. This prison is allegedly haunted and there are “guards” who are acting their part and unfortunately one is actually murdered and the group is in lockdown with ghosts and a murderer. Angie and her team need to pull it together to get out and find out who did it. Paranormal twist was interesting. Good addition to the series.

Was this review helpful?

When Angie and her County Seat team attend a team building lock-in retreat at a historic jail, she had no idea there'd be a murder. Reluctantly (she was really trying to stay out of these investigation), she decides to try and solve the mystery before the bad guy kills them all and gets away.

Great story. It was fun to visit with Angie and her crew. I really, really enjoy the Farm-to-Fork Mystery series.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. My thoughts and opinions are my own and without bias or favor.

Was this review helpful?

I enjoyed this story. It's a ghost story with an everyday murder. I'm not sure why the murder happened, that was kind of confusing in the book but the ghost part was great. #PennedIn #NetGalley

Was this review helpful?

Angie, her boyfriend Ian and the rest of the crew from the restaurant, go to a haunted penitentiary for a team building fun. When a murder happens, though it is not what was expected. The group has one night to figure out who is the killer, and the game is on. I've read a few now in this series, and although I am usually not a fan of novellas I did enjoy this one. A quick and easy read, and a good story for Halloween. Highly recommend.

Was this review helpful?

Lynn Cahoon has written another lovely novella with the cast from the Farm to Fork mysteries. But Penned In isn’t your stereotypical cozy mystery. It’s cold and creepy with a bit of the paranormal. The story starts with the imprisonment of Angie Turner, owner and lead chef of The County Seat, the rest of her staff, her boyfriend, Ian, and even Dom her dog in the Old Idaho Penitentiary. What should have been an interesting night filled with history turns spooky after one of the tour guides is murder and ghosts appear. Angie and her friends have to work fast under unusual circumstances to solve this mystery. A great quick read!

Was this review helpful?

Love this series. Angie and the gang get to stay at a jail overnight. When a murder happens. Angie sets out to find the killer. To hear more read this short story

Was this review helpful?

The latest novella in the Farm to Fork series by Lynn Cahoon centers around a halloween visit to a haunted jail. The restaurant staff are participating in a team building exercise and staying overnight with a few others and 3 "guards" to be prisoners locked in with the jail's legendary ghost while the veil between worlds is thinnest.
After one of the guards ends up dead Angie and her team try a deduct if there's a murderer amongst them or was it something supernatural? Can they survive until morning?

The novella had a interesting premiss, but as often happens with novellas, there just wasn't enough development/depth in the story to really grab me and invest me in the secondary characters. I found myself not enjoying as much as some of the others in the series. On the good side, if you love the series it brought you back into the Country Seat world while waiting for the next full length novel in the series.

Was this review helpful?

I don't normally read novellas, but I loved this book! The plot was smooth and kept me interested. I had an idea who the killer was but was still surprised at the end. I am looking forward to the next book in the series -- and maybe will be reading other novellas!

Was this review helpful?

This seemed to be a really short read. It took me less than an hour to read it. I felt like it tried to condense an idea that would have been better more fleshed out. I have not read many of the other books in the series and felt lost most of the time trying to figure out who was who and how they fit. I felt like the supernatural aspect was off the way it was thrown in. The resolution of the killer was confusing at best. This did not entice me to read any of the longer books in the Farm to Fork series.

Was this review helpful?

Through NetGalley, I received a free copy of PENNED IN (A Farm-to-Fork-Mystery Novella, 5th in order) by Lynn Cahoon in exchange for an honest review. In this novella, Angie Turner takes her staff on a team building activity. They’re going to spend the night locked in at a haunted historic prison. As the group joins in with the actors playing prison guards and the other guests, they’re, in turn, anxious and excited about possibly experiencing a haunting. However, when one of the prison guards is murdered and the supplies needed for emergency contact with the outside world go missing, the party has more to worry about from the living than the long-deceased.

I enjoyed this novella and like the series. I recommend this novella to fans of the series. I recommend the series to fans of Lynn Cahoon and to fans of cozy mysteries featuring murder, restaurants, sustainable sourcing, animals with attitude, and local events.

#PennedIn #NetGalley

Was this review helpful?

Angie Turner and the County Seat crew are spending the night at an old haunted prison as part of their quarterly team building event. Once locked in for the night, the team settles in to catch some rest when they hear a scream and find one of the hits guards dead. With no keys or phone, the guests stuck inside with a killer until the doors are unlocked in the morning. Angie’s more than happy to let the police investigate in the morning, unless she manages to unlock the mystery and reveal the murderer first.

A great Halloween themed haunted Novella to hold me over until the next book in the series is released.

Was this review helpful?