The Tourist Trap Mystery series takes place in cozy South Cove, California. Jill owns the local coffee and book store and consistently inserts herself into the latest crime to be solved. As the small town prepares for its annual July 4th celebration, the new volunteer fire chief is exerting his power on local businesses by demanding they meet his expectations of fire safety. In a bizarre turn of events, the fire chief, Barry, is found dead inside an old barn after it’s burned by the fire department in a training exercise. Despite dating a detective, Jill can’t resist conducting an investigation of her own. I’ve read a few books in this series and find it just okay. I’ve mostly read the installments set during a holiday season. This is likely my last one. ( )

The volunteer fire chief isn’t making any friends with the business sect when he informs the owners they will have to close unless they can comply with his overly strict fire code. And when he is found dead in a controlled fire training session in a burning barn, there are three main suspects - the men he was training. Jill just doesn’t believe any of these guys is guilty, but then, who is? It’s a short novella, but still well written with details about the characters and a pretty intriguing plot. ( )

Thank you for this wonderful short story! I am really looking forward to the next Tourist Trap Mystery book in the fall. This one is a great quality short story. LOVE LOVE Tourist Trap series. ( )

This is a short but sweet novella in the Tourist Trap Mystery Series. As the title hints, it takes place around the 4th of July and the businesses in South Cover are planning for Independence Day Celebrations. When the new fire chief is found dead in a house being used for a training exercise, there are only three suspects, the three volunteer firemen who are there for the exercise. There were a lot of people upset with him over his threats to shut down businesses for fire code violations, but none of them were in attendance. Once again, Jill Gardner sticks her nose in the investigation making sure that an innocent man is not railroaded. You get a brief look at the town of South Cove and glimpse the life of some of the main characters. If you have not read any books in this series, this could be a brief introduction to it, but do not make a hasty judgement, as the series is fun, interesting, has lots of local cultures, some quirky characters and great mysteries to solve. A short mystery that was a nice interlude before the next full story in this series. ( )

This novella, set around the 4th of July, has Jill trying to find out who murdered the Fire Chief without stepping on the toes of her boyfriend who is town homicide detective. Barry Gleason, Fire Chief, had threatened just about every local business with a shut down order due to fire code violations, so when he was found dead there were numerous suspects including Jill.

I love this series and even this short novella is well written with the characters interacting naturally and the clues well placed and the solution well thought out. ( )