I received an advanced copy of this ebook from the publisher for an honest review. This book is well written and the characters are described well. This is a fast paced cosy mystery although I would recommend reading the first book in this series to get to know the characters better but overall this book is well written. I adored Stella's character. This was a fun entertaining book. This book is in stores for $26.00 (USD).

I love the Savanah Reid series, and I love this series following Savannah's grandmother, Stella, just as much. Murder at Mabel's Motel is the third book of the Granny Reid series.

Like so many grandparents these days, Stella Reid is raising all seven of her grandchildren. Money is always short, but love is abundant in the household. Stella has been widowed for many years, as has the local Sheriff. When their respective spouses were still living, the couples were close friends.

Stella and the Sheriff are finally enjoying their first date when a lady comes in to tell the sheriff that a young lady has been assaulted behind the gas station. Unfortunately, when they arrive at the scene, the young lady is beyond help. The suspect is a local thug, well known for his racist beliefs. It's not too long before the thugs body is discovered at the local motel. Is there a vigilante at work, or had the thug run afoul of someone else?

Murder at Mabel's Motel is engaging and entertaining. I would highly recommend this title aa a beach or vacation book.

In the interest of full disclosure, I received a free digital audio copy of this book to review from Net Galley.

#MurderatMabel'sMotel#NetGalley

Not much happens in the small town of McGill, but one of the towns young girls is found roughed up, and all fingers point to the community hooligans, The Lone Wolfpack. It doesn’t stop there. The leader of the pack is found dead in an old abandoned hotel. With most of the community already in high dislike of the guy, trying to narrow down the suspect becomes quite the challenge.
Thank you Netgalley, G.A. McKevett and Kensington Books for the opportunity to read and review this book. This is the third book in A Granny Reid Mystery series. This book was very entertaining to say the least! If I had my way, they would make this a mini series! I love the characters in this book, especially Stella, the main character. I would love to have her as my own grandmother. This was a quick and easy book to read. I will be going back and reading the first two books in this series. If you like entertaining southern cozy mysteries, then this will be right up your alley! I rate this ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

I appreciate the publisher allowing me to read the book. Though I enjoyed this mystery I found it way too short.

A wonderful cozy mystery full of eclectic characters and a great couple of Stella, who is raising her 7 grand-kids while her daughter-in-law is in prison, and Manny, the hunky police chief. Out on a date they get interrupted by a young girl being attacked and then following the path to find all involved. A little dark at times and little funny at times, overall a wonderful read and one I highly recommend. Hard to put this one down.

This is a cozy mystery, and this is the third book in A Granny Ried Mystery series. I enjoyed cozy mystery with older main characters, and this one has a main character called Stella who is a older woman that is a Granny that is raising her Grand-children. I really loved all the characters in the series because they have a ton of personally and so much fun to follow. This series is really well -written. I loved the mystery in this series. Normally, I do not love cozy mystery series that has the police working with the main character to solve the mystery, but this one is done so well that I loved it a lot. I did not see the twist that happen at the end, and I so did not guess who did the murder. I also love that there was some facts about what happen during the Holocaust, and it is done so well that I do not think it will upset to many people. I feel it should teach people about what happen to people, and that we should not forget what happen, and that some people are still living with memories of the Holocaust. I was kindly provided an e-copy of this book by the publisher (Kensington Publishing Corporation) or author (G.A. McKevett) via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review about how I feel about this book, and I want to send a big Thank you to them for that.

Loved it! So nostalgic both I’m terms of the period and also the setting. Granny is a great character and I am now inspired to read the other books featuring this loveable, clever, quirky woman.

I've long been a fan of G. A. McKevett's Savannah Reid series, so when I saw this book on NetGalley, I jumped at the chance to read it. I didn't realize it was a series about Savannah's granny, Stella! I also didn't realize this was the third in that series. But my jumping in the middle didn't keep me from thoroughly enjoying this book.

Stella Reid is raising seven of her precious grandchildren. It's a tough row to hoe sometimes, what with their father being out of the picture and their mother being in prison. But Stella loves those grandchildren something fierce, and with the help of friends, she finds a way to make everything work. (Savannah is one of those grandchildren - we meet her as a precocious 13-year-old with an interest in detective work, and I loved getting to learn her backstory.)

Most folks in McGill, Georgia, are good folks. Sure, there are a few characters around town, but people know them and generally accept them. But Billy Ray Sonner and his running buddies - the Lone White Wolf Pack, as they call themselves - have gone beyond the pale. They're responsible for heinous activities like burning a cross on the lawn of a Black family and assaulting a well-liked young Latina woman. So when Billy Ray is found dead at an abandoned motel on the outskirts of town, nobody really mourns his passing much. But when it turns out to be a homicide, Stella jumps in to offer Sheriff Manny her unique insights on the situation.

I love Stella! I'm getting to be a mature woman myself, so I do enjoy a book that has a protagonist closer to my age. And I love that she has a potential love interest in Sheriff Manny, if they can ever get a break from the crime-fighting and the grandkid-raising.

I appreciated that, even as the book dealt with the timely topic of racism, it also mixed in a good bit of humor with the seriousness of the criminal investigation. McKevett also did a good job of throwing out red herrings. I'd think one person must be the guilty party, and then bam! There's a twist, and we're off in a different direction.

In short, this was a well-thought-out book that was a delight to read.

Stella “Granny” Reid has got to be one of my all-time favorite characters in any series. I love her commitment to her grandkids, her friends, and her investigative skills. In the 3rd book, Murder at Mabel’s Motel, Stella finds a body, which was abandoned years ago is unexpected, but just one more in a line of victims Granny has found. This victim wasn’t well-liked, some even say he was downright hated, but no one deserves to die the way he did. This time Stella is helping track a killer who uses an unusual and evil method to destroy the victim.

Characters in this series, like all of those written by G.A. McKevett, are lifelike, lovable, and easy to understand. They make the story flow and bring joy to readers. Small towns are used in cozies all the time, but the town of McGill makes readers long for days when small-town life was easy and relaxed. The descriptions of the locations used throughout this book and series always make me smile. The motel where the victim is found is described so that most readers will know a place in their hometown, just like Mabel’s.

Suspects are never what they seem in this series, and this time is no exception. Motives run the gambit from easy to unexplainable. There are a few turns and twists to keep readers on their toes. Evidence is in the open, but not everyone will see every piece until the end. The setting of a motel for the scene of a murder isn’t unusual, but in general, they always bring with them the idea that crime is just par for the course. There is a surprise for Granny and her grandkids, one that will shock and confuse but ultimately bring joy.

Of course, Granny solves the murder, but this does not necessarily bring the reader any closure. It does, however, bring up a bunch of questions that only time and history can ever answer. Murder at Mabel’s Motel is a wonderfully entertaining book that fits in with a magnificent series. I recommend this book and series to all cozy readers past, present and future.

Residents of McGill, Georgia, generally follow a ‘live and let live’ motto. Sure, gossip is like gold and often embellished from one telling to the next but the gist of the story is right. They’re pretty accepting of what most people would call oddballs or eccentrics. Take for instance, Dolly, the crazy cat lady who lives in a big old haunted house, with her paranoid phone calls to Sheriff Manny about things being moved around so she can’t find them.

Still, there’s behavior that passes oddball or eccentric. That’s hurting others and a line that shouldn’t be crossed. Three young men have embraced the swastika and the teachings that went with it. In the last few days, there’s been a cross burned on the lawn of a Black family, a mixed-race couple have been harassed, and a popular Latina was physically attacked. The three call themselves the Lone White Wolf Pack and dare anybody to prove they’re guilty.

Stella Reid has her hands full, what with raising up seven of her son’s children. He’s an absentee father. Their mother is in prison, mostly for how badly she treated the kids. With the help of friends and a strong faith, Stella’s getting by. One of those friends is Sheriff Manny and that friendship could be moving into relationship territory—if there was ever time to spare from the kids and his job. Still, she’s been able to give him some assistance from time to time when a puzzling case comes up.

When the leader of the Wolf Pack is found dead by unknown means and the Sheriff’s smart deputy is on his honeymoon, Stella’s on hand to help again. The obvious suspects are well-loved neighbors—who might have been pushed too far?

This is book three of the Granny Reid series, set in the 1980s. For readers of the Savannah Reid mysteries, Savannah appears in this book as a wiser than she should be thirteen year old. To see where it all started, enjoy a good mystery, and catch up on all the gossip, spend some time with Sheriff Manny and Stella in McGill. It looks like a lot of changes are coming.

I have read the Savannah Reid mystery series from the beginning. I am such a huge fan of that series and now that Granny Reid has a series of her own, I’m a huge fan of this one as well. Murder at Mabel’s Motel is #3 in the Granny Reid series. It is so much fun to meet Stella as a young widow, raising SEVEN spunky grandangels. We get to see Savannah when she is 13, helping to solve mysteries along with Stella and handsome sheriff Manny. This story begins with Stella and Manny’s first date, which is interrupted by Dolly Browning, a local woman who is reporting a crime. I didn’t really guess the murderer until towards the end. This series is so incredibly well written. We really come to know the characters. While this one takes a darker turn, the author handles the subject matter very well. Stella also gets quite a surprise that will change their lives. I am eagerly awaiting the next book in the series. Thank you to Netgalley and Kensington for the copy. All opinions expressed are my own.

When the Sheriff is called to a.crime scene while on a date with Stella, Stella decides to tag along. A young woman has been beaten but is afraid to name the culprit. It soon becomes clear who the culprit is and the sheriff along with Stella make their way through a couple of suspects to find just who they are looking for. The man is arrested and it looks like things are on track to keep him locked away for along time but he escapes. When he is later found dead it is up to the Sheriff to figure out who killed him and why. Billy Ray was the leader of a local racist group so there are plenty of enemies to look through. With Stella's help they soon uncover secrets that help lead them in a couple of new directions. Meanwhile Stella is dealing with some family issues of her own and hopes they hurt her grandchildren. Follow along as Stella helps the sheriff in his quest for a killer and takes care of her many grandchildren at the same time. Can she juggle everything or will she drop a ball along the way?

I really enjoyed this mystery for the most part. The mystery was good and I enjoyed the bit of humor sprinkled throughout. The story held my attention very well and also moved nicely. The end was a bit jarring for me when the motive and the culprit was revealed which is why I dropped my rating a bit. All in all, a solid cozy in a series I really enjoy.

Murder at Mabel’s Motel, the third novel in G.A. McKevett’s Granny Reid mystery series, is charming and clever, with a nice side of mystery. It takes this series to a whole new level.

Granny Stella Reid and Sheriff Manny’s “date” is interrupted with news of a crime, and rather than send her home, Manny decides to bring Stella along. One thing leads to another, and in short order, the suspect in that crime – a hateful racist named Billy Ray Sonner – is found murdered in an abandoned motel. Not surprisingly, there are a wide variety of suspects, each with an obvious motive, and it is up to Stella – with more than a little help from Manny – to catch a killer.

I had read the previous two books in the series and found them entertaining, but somewhat meandering. In both books, it took over one third of the novel to dispense with the backstory and get on with the murder. In sharp contrast, in Murder at Mabel’s Motel, the initial crime happens immediately, and the subsequent murder follows soon thereafter, giving this novel much more urgency than the prior ones.

Additionally, the focus here is on Granny Stella, and (thankfully) not her grandchildren. I understand that this book is technically a spin-off from the author’s Savannah Reid series, but the prior two books were filled with scenes and references designed for one purpose – to show how “smart” Savannah was as a child. I found Savannah to be precocious, but not in a good way, and the handling of that has kept me from reading the Savannah Reid books. Here, however, the grandchildren, with the exception of Alma (who played a useful role in the story), stay blessedly in the background. In addition to the mystery, the story dealt with the ramifications of hatred and racism in a small town. It was interesting, and fairly unusual, to see the social issues woven into the plotline so deftly.

All-in-all, Murder at Mabel’s Motel is an improvement over the previous books in the series. Not only is Granny Stella Reid taking on a more expansive role, the mystery is strong and unique. I happened to note that this series is available (presently) on Kindle Unlimited. It might be worth checking out if you subscribe to that service.

Note: I received an ARC of Murder at Mabel’s Motel from NetGalley and Kensington Books. The above is my honest review.

4.5 stars

This is the third book in the Granny Reid mystery series by G.A. McKevett.

For a cozy mystery, this had a strong attack scene at the very beginning which kind of started the speculation off with a bang and then when the would be culprit ended up dead, they didn’t know what to think.

Overall it was a really great read. Loved the older protagonist. Quite refreshing.

I wasn’t sure if I had read any other of McKevett’s books but I definitely will dig into them after reading this. Quite a stellar read!

If you like cozy mysteries, definitely check this one out. You won’t be disappointed.

I received this as an ARC (Advanced Reader Copy) in return for an honest review. I thank NetGalley, the publisher and the author for allowing me to read this title.

Princess Fuzzypants here: there are two series that I know will not disappoint by the same author. One is the Savannah Reid mysteries where Savannah very capably solves crimes. She takes after her grandmother, Stella, who raised her grandchildren after her son and daughter in law proved they would never be parents of the year. Other than a mouthy kid, Marietta, they are all good kids thanks in no small part to her efforts. She is a paragon, well respected and loved by her many friends and in particular, the Chief of Police, Manny, who has come to depend on her observations and insights. In that department, the apple does not fall far from the tree as Savannah helps put the final pieces to the puzzle of this particular murder.

There is a local n’er do well who is not only a nasty piece of work, he is also a neo-Nazi whom we first meet when he has just beaten up a lovely Hispanic girl. It might have been worse had the “crazy cat lady” not interrupted his “work”. He and his accomplices are brought in but the dumbest deputy ever lets him escape. Now it is a matter of time to catch him before he tries to finish what he started.

While no one is sad when he is found murdered himself in an old abandoned motel but the means of his death are both perplexing and complicated. This is no simple feat. It was performed by someone who was highly intelligent and motivated. Since he was such a miscreant, there is no lack of suspects. But the one who committed the crime is a revelation as is the motive.

Granny Stella, like Savannah’s stories, is full of down home heart and down home humour. I love some of the southern ways of saying things. The mysteries are always good but it is the soul that envelops them that makes them such a treat. We should all have the pleasure of knowing someone special like Stella.

Five purrs and two paws up.

I love Granny Reid, her daughter Savannah and this author! So i will more than willingly devour any book she has written. This one with Stella, the third book in this series, is no different. No matter which mystery series it is the author keeps you guessing while also entertaining your heart with all the characters. Authors don’t get much better than this!

I voluntarily reviewed a copy of this book provided by NetGalley.

Another fine installment in the series of Granny Reid and her 7, wait, make that 8 grandkids, that she is caring for since their good for nothing mother is in prison and their dad can't seem to be bothered with. Granny doesn't have much spare time, but the spare time she does have is spent riding along with Sheriff Manny who is her longtime friend and romantic interest.
The story revved around a no good young man who's assaulted a local sweetheart, and the town is steaming mad at his and his buddies' racist hate filled agenda. Someone gives him his comeuppance and puts him out of commission.. Granny, Stella, and Sheriff Manny spend their time trying to find out whodunit.

Love, love, love this and the Savannah Reid series.
The dialog makes you feel like you can hear it and are right in the story. The family unit and the community effort are endearing and the story stays with you after the book is closed.
Thank you Kensington and NetGalley for the ARC.

I just love these Granny Reid mysteries, even more than the ones that focus on her grown granddaughter. Perhaps because they are set in the 1980s, as opposed to current day. But also, I love the character of Stella (Granny) Reid, strong, feisty, and clever. While caring for her seven grandchildren, she also assists the small town sheriff in solving the case of an assaulted young woman. She and the sheriff, who both have lost their mates, are becoming closer and this adds another element to the story. The culprit in the assault is a young man who is a neo-Nazi. This brings up lots of bad feelings in the small town, since the woman assaulted was Hispanic. The plot of this story is very well constructed and leaves you wondering which of several plausible suspects killed the young man in a very unusual manner. There's also some humor, particularly in the antics of the children and with the character of the lazy deputy.

[I am reviewing this book based on listening to the audio version.]

*received for free from netgalley for honest review* There was some things i didnt care much for in this book but this books was pretty good and different than most cozy mysteries :)