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Cooper Lydell #2
Hung Up in Bemidji
Old, tired Cooper Lydell goes back to work to keep himself and his son afloat after Tommy is injured in an accident. Unfortunately, quitting one lousy job for another only makes things worse. Yes, Florida was hot and humid, but Bemidji, Minnesota?? Not only does the job suck, but the sheriff won't let them leave.
- GenresMystery
198 pages, Kindle Edition
Published May 1, 2014
3 people are currently reading
166 people want to read
About the author
Kathy Cohen
13 books33 followersKathy Cohen currently lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Kathy writes mysteries. Some are humorous cozies and some are whodunnits.
Kathy writes mysteries. Some are humorous cozies and some are whodunnits.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
May 23, 2014
While waiting for his son, Tommy, the real breadwinner in the family to recover from his accident, Cooper Lydell reluctantly takes a job as a barrel man to make ends meet.
"What the heck is a barrel man?" you may be asking. I sure did.
In larger rodeos, the barrel man is a clown who helps protect the bull riders from the rampaging animal by providing a distraction. When the action gets too hot, he jumps into a padded barrel.
Though sometimes this happens...
Ouch!
You can probably see why this line of work would not appeal to a gentleman who's approaching retirement age.
As if this isn't bad enough...
There have been two murders in two weeks. Is someone trying to put an end to the rodeo company? Or does someone just keep missing the real target? Was Coop the intended victim or is he one of the main suspects?
Whatever the answer, poor Coop is getting W-A-Y too old for this crap.
As in Lydell's first adventure, Bullwhacked, there are thrills, chills, spills and plenty of laughs. Kathy Cohen has created a likeable and memorable character in her curmudgeonly Cooper Lydell.
Let's hope he's got many grumpy years ahead of him.
"What the heck is a barrel man?" you may be asking. I sure did.
In larger rodeos, the barrel man is a clown who helps protect the bull riders from the rampaging animal by providing a distraction. When the action gets too hot, he jumps into a padded barrel.
Though sometimes this happens...
Ouch!
You can probably see why this line of work would not appeal to a gentleman who's approaching retirement age.
As if this isn't bad enough...
There have been two murders in two weeks. Is someone trying to put an end to the rodeo company? Or does someone just keep missing the real target? Was Coop the intended victim or is he one of the main suspects?
Whatever the answer, poor Coop is getting W-A-Y too old for this crap.
As in Lydell's first adventure, Bullwhacked, there are thrills, chills, spills and plenty of laughs. Kathy Cohen has created a likeable and memorable character in her curmudgeonly Cooper Lydell.
Let's hope he's got many grumpy years ahead of him.
May 24, 2014
Too much free time is just not good for some people.
Retired bull rider Cooper Lydell signs on to be a barrel man for a traveling rodeo whose previous barrel man was murdered. By doing this, he makes himself a target for angry bulls and, quite possibly, a dangerous killer.
When another member of the rodeo company is killed and the show is stuck in Bemidji, Minn. with nothing to do, Coop, with the dubious assistance of his son Tommy and a few of their friends, sets out to find the killer. That is, before the killer can get to them, first.
Author Kathy Cohen, in reprising characters from her earlier book Bullwhacked, has a knack for knowing both how to pace a story and how much detail is just the right amount. The characters are well developed in non-obvious ways, and we get enough glimpses of their pasts and presents so that everybody is a suspect until the climactic end.
Hung Up In Bemidji is a well-written and thoroughly enjoyable novel. I look forward to future adventures featuring Coop and company.
Retired bull rider Cooper Lydell signs on to be a barrel man for a traveling rodeo whose previous barrel man was murdered. By doing this, he makes himself a target for angry bulls and, quite possibly, a dangerous killer.
When another member of the rodeo company is killed and the show is stuck in Bemidji, Minn. with nothing to do, Coop, with the dubious assistance of his son Tommy and a few of their friends, sets out to find the killer. That is, before the killer can get to them, first.
Author Kathy Cohen, in reprising characters from her earlier book Bullwhacked, has a knack for knowing both how to pace a story and how much detail is just the right amount. The characters are well developed in non-obvious ways, and we get enough glimpses of their pasts and presents so that everybody is a suspect until the climactic end.
Hung Up In Bemidji is a well-written and thoroughly enjoyable novel. I look forward to future adventures featuring Coop and company.
October 12, 2015
First off I would not recommend reading this in public, there was so many places in this story that I found myself laughing out loud,I was getting some pretty strange looks while I was reading this at the gym.
Even if your not into rodeos it is still a very entertaining mystery/humor story and I had no clue who the killer was until it was revealed in the book.
This book works as a stand alone, but I think if you read Bullwacked first you will get to know the characters better & let me tell you they are quite the characters.
While reading both of these books for some reason I kept thinking of some of the characters in the TV series My Name Is Earl, don't know why.
Really looking forward to reading more stories about Cooper & his gang.
Even if your not into rodeos it is still a very entertaining mystery/humor story and I had no clue who the killer was until it was revealed in the book.
This book works as a stand alone, but I think if you read Bullwacked first you will get to know the characters better & let me tell you they are quite the characters.
While reading both of these books for some reason I kept thinking of some of the characters in the TV series My Name Is Earl, don't know why.
Really looking forward to reading more stories about Cooper & his gang.
August 17, 2014
If you’ve read “Bullwhacked” – and I hope you have - you’ll welcome the protagonists like old friends. Kathy Cohen hits the ground running with a dry sense of humour and a wisecracky turn of phrase that fits her chosen setting like a glove. Here are your old favourites: Cooper Lydell - former bull-rider, turned manager of his son Tommy (a better bull-rider, before the kid got injured towards the end of “Bullwhacked”), now taking a job as a barrel-man that his long-time, salt-of-the-earth, capable, barrel-riding girlfriend Darla told him about because there’d been a murder…
And so the scene is set again for more inept, amateur but ultimately somehow successful crime-solving in amongst the bashes and bruises – this time in a flourishing travelling rodeo outfit owned by a guy called Floyd Wiley. No spoilers, but here’s a flavour of the writing you can expect: “Floyd Wiley was a son-of-a-bitch if ever there was one. He even looked like a son-of-a-bitch.”
Cooper doesn’t see himself as a private detective, but life seems to have a habit of pitching him into these situations, with his team of willing but deeply flawed deputies from Book 1 – Pickett, Reanna and Clyde – on hand to help him survive the case. Clyde is a committed hypochondriac who this time can’t keep his balance for dizziness caused by something that sounds to Cooper like ‘Manure’s disease’. Along the way, if you’re as ignorant as I was, you find out things you never knew – about ‘bull-shaggers’, for instance, or the cost of a barrel. You learn quite a lot about how hard rodeo life is, and the philosophy required to deal with it.
Kathy Cohen describes this as a comic novel and that’s precisely what it is - an easy and highly enjoyable read.
And so the scene is set again for more inept, amateur but ultimately somehow successful crime-solving in amongst the bashes and bruises – this time in a flourishing travelling rodeo outfit owned by a guy called Floyd Wiley. No spoilers, but here’s a flavour of the writing you can expect: “Floyd Wiley was a son-of-a-bitch if ever there was one. He even looked like a son-of-a-bitch.”
Cooper doesn’t see himself as a private detective, but life seems to have a habit of pitching him into these situations, with his team of willing but deeply flawed deputies from Book 1 – Pickett, Reanna and Clyde – on hand to help him survive the case. Clyde is a committed hypochondriac who this time can’t keep his balance for dizziness caused by something that sounds to Cooper like ‘Manure’s disease’. Along the way, if you’re as ignorant as I was, you find out things you never knew – about ‘bull-shaggers’, for instance, or the cost of a barrel. You learn quite a lot about how hard rodeo life is, and the philosophy required to deal with it.
Kathy Cohen describes this as a comic novel and that’s precisely what it is - an easy and highly enjoyable read.
August 25, 2014
Look, I am keen on e_book fiction... not because I've traditionally published a "clutch" of books (academic) with up-market publishers who've basically wasted my time .. but maybe it's because I really appreciate the anarchy of self-publishing ... anyway enough of my prejudices .. let me tell you about HUNG UP IN BEMIDJI ...by Kathy Cohen
It's based in a rodeo .. and though I've been to a few, I never thought I'd find it fascinating .. but Kathy Cohen does just that without even trying .. and really it's just the background ... it's the human interest stories of Cooper Lydell and his "bull rider" son and his eclectic band of fellow travellers who make it a really enjoyable and sometimes funny double murder mystery in the arid back-drop of Minnesota (or was it Iowa) or somewhere like that ... but it could be western Queensland or New South Wales in outback Australia ... The story starts of slow as it should... and picks up pace as the reluctant hero finally accepts his role as private detective and in an inimitable beginner's fashion almost gets himself killed in solving the murder! Full of down-to-earth characters that you've got to love and a bunch of "baddies" not all of whom are likely murder suspects.. A very good read .. highly recommended..
It's based in a rodeo .. and though I've been to a few, I never thought I'd find it fascinating .. but Kathy Cohen does just that without even trying .. and really it's just the background ... it's the human interest stories of Cooper Lydell and his "bull rider" son and his eclectic band of fellow travellers who make it a really enjoyable and sometimes funny double murder mystery in the arid back-drop of Minnesota (or was it Iowa) or somewhere like that ... but it could be western Queensland or New South Wales in outback Australia ... The story starts of slow as it should... and picks up pace as the reluctant hero finally accepts his role as private detective and in an inimitable beginner's fashion almost gets himself killed in solving the murder! Full of down-to-earth characters that you've got to love and a bunch of "baddies" not all of whom are likely murder suspects.. A very good read .. highly recommended..
June 14, 2014
Overall, I thought Hung Up in Bemidji was okay. It was entertaining in parts but I didn't really connect with the characters. There were also a few things with the writing itself that took away from my enjoyment of the story. I found there to be a lot of repetitiveness with how the characters would say things in dialogue and then rehash it all in thought. And the use of simple, choppy sentences made some parts drag along. (Outside he glanced around. He jangled his keys. He was seething. He couldn't control himself.) There's nothing wrong with that, of course, those are just personal pet peeves of mine. I know not all readers will feel the same.
I'm not familiar with the world of bull riding and barrel men so some of the terminology was lost upon me. However, I did find parts of Hung Up in Bemidji enjoyable and I'm grateful for the opportunity to have read it. I'd rate it 2.5.
I'm not familiar with the world of bull riding and barrel men so some of the terminology was lost upon me. However, I did find parts of Hung Up in Bemidji enjoyable and I'm grateful for the opportunity to have read it. I'd rate it 2.5.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 22, 2014
This was a Goodreads book and I enjoyed this book very much.
Living on the east coast, I don't get to many rodeos. I have gone to a few while out west. This brought back good memories.
This is a nice fast paced story.On page 35 it refers to the usual suspects motives for murder.As you read along the characters try to determine who fits various motives. We have to wait til almost the end to see which if any are the motives for these murders.
There is also another story within the main one to keep up you guessing.
Living on the east coast, I don't get to many rodeos. I have gone to a few while out west. This brought back good memories.
This is a nice fast paced story.On page 35 it refers to the usual suspects motives for murder.As you read along the characters try to determine who fits various motives. We have to wait til almost the end to see which if any are the motives for these murders.
There is also another story within the main one to keep up you guessing.
October 4, 2014
The story had plenty of action but there was little character background and a very abrupt ending. I guess that clears the way for subsequent Cooper stories.
July 6, 2019
Rodeo shenanigans
Very cute. Fun characters. Would love to see more of them. Cozy, relaxing read. Fun to get a peek at rodeo life.
Very cute. Fun characters. Would love to see more of them. Cozy, relaxing read. Fun to get a peek at rodeo life.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews