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The Buenaventura Beach Mystery Series #4
Pumpkin Punch and the Poisoning of a Few
At the beach, the only things scarier than the sharks are the witches.
Avery Baldwin is taking a minute to catch her breath. Now that the summer’s over and things have gone back to normal in the little town of Buenaventura Beach, she’s looking forward to spending her days teaching students how to create works of art and her nights cuddling with Chance and his son, Cubby. But on Halloween, when Avery, Chance, and Cubby go visit the coffee shop, The Witch’s Brew, they find trouble waiting for them.
While standing in line to get a cup of Beatrix Weston’s signature pumpkin punch straight from the cauldron, a man takes a sip and immediately starts choking. Just before he dies, he warns others not to touch the drink.
Accusations fly. Most people think Beatrix poisoned the punch. But Avery can’t let her friend take the blame for this accident. So, she rises to Beatrix’s defense immediately.
Can Avery figure out what caused the man to keel over in the middle of the Fall Festival celebration? And…can she find who’s really at fault before the witch hunt turns serious?
Find out by reading book four in the Buenaventura Beach Mystery Pumpkin Punch and the Poisoning of a Few.
Avery Baldwin is taking a minute to catch her breath. Now that the summer’s over and things have gone back to normal in the little town of Buenaventura Beach, she’s looking forward to spending her days teaching students how to create works of art and her nights cuddling with Chance and his son, Cubby. But on Halloween, when Avery, Chance, and Cubby go visit the coffee shop, The Witch’s Brew, they find trouble waiting for them.
While standing in line to get a cup of Beatrix Weston’s signature pumpkin punch straight from the cauldron, a man takes a sip and immediately starts choking. Just before he dies, he warns others not to touch the drink.
Accusations fly. Most people think Beatrix poisoned the punch. But Avery can’t let her friend take the blame for this accident. So, she rises to Beatrix’s defense immediately.
Can Avery figure out what caused the man to keel over in the middle of the Fall Festival celebration? And…can she find who’s really at fault before the witch hunt turns serious?
Find out by reading book four in the Buenaventura Beach Mystery Pumpkin Punch and the Poisoning of a Few.
225 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 1, 2024
7 people are currently reading
42 people want to read
About the author
Mindy Killgrove
60 books22 followersMindy Killgrove is the author of the KATE KELLNER TRILOGY, the MISSY LAWRENCE TRILOGY, the KANEDY PRODUCTIONS SERIES, the BUENAVENTURA BEACH MYSTERY SERIES and is the creator of the RILEY ROUNDTREE SOCIAL STORY LEARNING ADVENTURE SERIES.
In 2013, shortly after its publication, MEET ME AT THE POND, the first book in the Missy Lawrence trilogy, was selected as the Reader's Choice Award winner for "Chick Lit./ Romance" by the Blogger Book Fair group.
Most notably, Killgrove is a professional ghostwriter. She has penned one play, forty-one short stories, and thirty-six novels all while working as a freelance author.
In addition to crafting romance stories, Killgrove has devoted decades to creating classroom resources that can be used in grades K-12. More than 250 educational resources are available through her TeachersPayTeachers Store. Her work with the RILEY ROUNDTREE SOCIAL STORY LEARNING ADVENTURE SERIES is currently featured on her popular YouTube channel under the heading: THAT'S ALL SHE WROTE PRODUCTIONS.
Her past writing credits include working for the New London Record as a sports reporter and the Heidelberg University newspaper, the Kilikilik. Her work was also published in Heidelberg University's Morpheus Literary Magazine.
She passed on her love of literature and athletics to her students for more than fifteen years as a teacher. In that time, she served as the advisor for a high school newsmagazine, the drama director, and the coach of various sports teams, including softball, girls basketball, dance, and cross country.
She has a bachelor’s degree from Heidelberg University and a master’s degree from Bowling Green State University. Killgrove is a member of the Autism Society of Greater Orlando (ASGO), the Philalethean Society, and the Jane Austen Society of North America (JASNA). She lives in Orlando, Florida with her adoring husband and three rambunctious, but beautiful children. When she’s not writing or reading, she’s exploring local theme parks, lounging on the beach, or aiming to bake the very best chocolate chip cookies in the world.
In 2013, shortly after its publication, MEET ME AT THE POND, the first book in the Missy Lawrence trilogy, was selected as the Reader's Choice Award winner for "Chick Lit./ Romance" by the Blogger Book Fair group.
Most notably, Killgrove is a professional ghostwriter. She has penned one play, forty-one short stories, and thirty-six novels all while working as a freelance author.
In addition to crafting romance stories, Killgrove has devoted decades to creating classroom resources that can be used in grades K-12. More than 250 educational resources are available through her TeachersPayTeachers Store. Her work with the RILEY ROUNDTREE SOCIAL STORY LEARNING ADVENTURE SERIES is currently featured on her popular YouTube channel under the heading: THAT'S ALL SHE WROTE PRODUCTIONS.
Her past writing credits include working for the New London Record as a sports reporter and the Heidelberg University newspaper, the Kilikilik. Her work was also published in Heidelberg University's Morpheus Literary Magazine.
She passed on her love of literature and athletics to her students for more than fifteen years as a teacher. In that time, she served as the advisor for a high school newsmagazine, the drama director, and the coach of various sports teams, including softball, girls basketball, dance, and cross country.
She has a bachelor’s degree from Heidelberg University and a master’s degree from Bowling Green State University. Killgrove is a member of the Autism Society of Greater Orlando (ASGO), the Philalethean Society, and the Jane Austen Society of North America (JASNA). She lives in Orlando, Florida with her adoring husband and three rambunctious, but beautiful children. When she’s not writing or reading, she’s exploring local theme parks, lounging on the beach, or aiming to bake the very best chocolate chip cookies in the world.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
October 2, 2024
Such a cute Halloween story! This story continues to follow Avery, Chance, Cubby, and their quaint little town. I love the inclusivity with including Cubby having autism. There is often so much negativity around autism, this shows a different side. It's really relatable for so many. Avery and Chance have such a cute relationship, I appreciate that this book showed them as less than perfect, navigating a differing of views, and working through it. The town seems so adorable; I love how Mindy describes the town and characters. The story was cute and brought about several suspects to try and figure out the culprit. Definitely a few twists and turns. I really enjoyed the story!
February 5, 2025
I really love how Avery and her two guys seem to make the perfect little family. She's got an awesome way with special needs Cubby who's just about the sweetest kid ever. There was a little tension between Avery and Chance when her good friend was being called out for serving poisoned punch, but it helped them grow as a couple afterward.
There was a twist that sure explained a lot about what was making people show up ill, and a confession followed that was pretty unexpected. I really enjoyed the very ending and sure hope there's another book coming soon!
There was a twist that sure explained a lot about what was making people show up ill, and a confession followed that was pretty unexpected. I really enjoyed the very ending and sure hope there's another book coming soon!
November 24, 2025
Goodreads asked a question on their Instagram page the other day that I found very interesting: When you read, do you see a movie-like production going on in your head, or are you just reading words on a page?
It seems like there are a lot of people on both sides of this question. My response is that I see a full-scale theatrical production in my head...SOMETIMES. For me, it depends on the book. I don't know how some authors do it. I can almost forget I am reading and see everything happening so clearly. I call that great writing. Inspired writing.
But sometimes that does not happen. Is that bad writing? I don't know. I used to thing so, but now that I know that some folks just read words ALL the time, it doesn't really seem fair to blame the writer, does it? So, Goodreads, you have just turned everything I thought I knew about good writing upside down and I no longer know where to begin when I rate a book! Thanks a lot.
So, that's my main problem with this series. I don't feel any magic with the story. The characters are good enough. The story in the first book I read Marshmallow Milkshakes and Missing Persons was good enough, but I just never really connected with it.
I decided to try this one to give the series another chance. I love the artwork on this cover, and I love Halloween stories, so I thought for sure this would be at least better than the first one. But to my dismay, I enjoyed it much less.
I mean, some of the plot points were not enjoyable at all. You have a preacher going around accusing people of witchcraft -- really? Is that still seriously done?
And the resolution to the mystery was horrible! Not horrible - as in a psycho killer on the loose - but horrible as in kids doing something SO stupid that it's hard to believe they even did it. I mean these were not little kids who didn't know better.
I felt less in touch with this story, even though the topic was one I was really looking forward to and even waited until October to read it.
Maybe it's just Killgrove's writing style that doesn't work for me. I find some phrases and sentences to just be odd. They make me stop and think - why did she just say that in such an odd way?? There were also a few of these that I suspected might not be the best grammar usage too - but don't quote me on that. I'm just sorry that I couldn't say more good things about this series.
It seems like there are a lot of people on both sides of this question. My response is that I see a full-scale theatrical production in my head...SOMETIMES. For me, it depends on the book. I don't know how some authors do it. I can almost forget I am reading and see everything happening so clearly. I call that great writing. Inspired writing.
But sometimes that does not happen. Is that bad writing? I don't know. I used to thing so, but now that I know that some folks just read words ALL the time, it doesn't really seem fair to blame the writer, does it? So, Goodreads, you have just turned everything I thought I knew about good writing upside down and I no longer know where to begin when I rate a book! Thanks a lot.
So, that's my main problem with this series. I don't feel any magic with the story. The characters are good enough. The story in the first book I read Marshmallow Milkshakes and Missing Persons was good enough, but I just never really connected with it.
I decided to try this one to give the series another chance. I love the artwork on this cover, and I love Halloween stories, so I thought for sure this would be at least better than the first one. But to my dismay, I enjoyed it much less.
I mean, some of the plot points were not enjoyable at all. You have a preacher going around accusing people of witchcraft -- really? Is that still seriously done?
And the resolution to the mystery was horrible! Not horrible - as in a psycho killer on the loose - but horrible as in kids doing something SO stupid that it's hard to believe they even did it. I mean these were not little kids who didn't know better.
I felt less in touch with this story, even though the topic was one I was really looking forward to and even waited until October to read it.
Maybe it's just Killgrove's writing style that doesn't work for me. I find some phrases and sentences to just be odd. They make me stop and think - why did she just say that in such an odd way?? There were also a few of these that I suspected might not be the best grammar usage too - but don't quote me on that. I'm just sorry that I couldn't say more good things about this series.
February 9, 2025
I was thrilled to read this Buenadventura Beach book. I read the first in the series and tucked away the characters and was so excited to reunite with them in this story. Character development is absolutely perfect, especially with young Cubby. He is special needs, predominantly non verbal and lends the magic touch in the lives of all. As I read this series out of order, I can add that it didn't matter. I just picked up where the story took me and enjoyed. Highly Recommended for all!
September 25, 2024
Another exciting chapter in the Buenaventura Beach mystery saga . . . I always enjoy the developing relationship between Chance and Avery as well as the wholesome interactions with Cubby. The author does a good job staying true to the underlying story while developing each new unique mystery.
I received an advance copy. My review is left voluntarily and represents my honest opinion.
I received an advance copy. My review is left voluntarily and represents my honest opinion.
October 6, 2024
This was a good book a Halloween mystery with a little love story thrown in. A good show of how a town should act around a child with autism and the rumor mill of a small seemingly southern town. It was a little confusing in parts, and made me question myself a. But but overall it was actually pretty good!
November 13, 2025
This was a fun story Avery is enjoying the Halloween festival when a man falls ill after drinking a pumpkin punch and dies. Her friend Bea is accused of the crime and Avery knows she is innocent. Several people become ill and are rushed to the hospital. After Bea and Avery are accused of being a witch Avery decides to solve the case. I enjoyed this story and I recommend it.
October 10, 2025
I listened to this one on audio and the narrator did a great job. The story was cute, cozy, clean, a well-written. This one had one twist I would have never guessed.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews