Sunbaked Snowbird

Poppy Pepper's Paradise Cove and Mini Golf #1

by Molly Dox

Poppy Pepper's world just came to a stop. One of her guests, a snowbird from Pennsylvania, just turned up dead at her family’s small, retro camper resort. Paradise Cove and Mini Golf was a quiet vacation destination, popular with retirees looking to get away from cold winters up north.

As a one-time paramedic, Poppy missed the adrenaline rush of the challenging medic job. Channeling her unused energy, and with help from a friend, Poppy can't help but get herself involved in the case. Tangled in details, Poppy finds herself faced with multiple suspects and not enough clues.

Genres: Mystery, Cozy Mystery, Amazon, Novella

42 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 9, 2014

Reviews

[Sabine]

A short and enjoyable read.
There are a few flaws with this story but overall it is a fun and easy story. I wish we would have been told a bit more background about the main characters. Poppy for example always talks about herself as an "old lady" but I felt like she was in her early 40's?
Her ways of investigating are somewhat questionable and she misses some diplomacy.
The writing flows smoothly and kept me interested until the end.
I will definitely read more from this author.

[Sheila]

Poppy runs a camping resort with her father. One day, she and Reggie, the local sheriff and park resident, hear a scream. The wife of a camper has found him dead outside their camper. While they check it out, the ex-wife of the dead man comes up to see what is happening. The two women get into a verbal altercation. When the police appear, the ex leaves. Who is responsible for his death?

I liked this story. It's a quick cozy mystery. Poppy is funny. She is persistent when she thinks about the murder. Her brother, Panda, is the coroner. She gets on him and Reggie to get answers to her questions. I had the same list of suspects as she does. I couldn't decide who did it, but Poppy did. I wish this would have been longer, but I look forward to more of this series.

[Nicole]

A nice enough story — in fact, it showed some potential. However, I got very frustrated by the characterisation. By the illustration on the cover of the ebook, I understood Poppy to be in her twenties, possibly early thirties. She describes herself as an old lady. Reggie, the police officer is a little older than she is and he is in his sixties. In her reactions, she could have been anyway from 30 to 80 years of age. The other characters were similarly gray. I don’t feel that Dox had a clear picture of character in her head when she began writing.

[Lois]

Fun little read

I enjoyed your characters though this story is not really a mystery at all. It's more of a simple account of sad relationships and cheating people. The crime had a clear motive and the reason for death was easily determined.

This story also lost a star because it had over40 errors that would have been caught by an editor (if you paid an editor, ask for a refund).

[Kat]

Poppy on the Case

I quite enjoyed reading this cozey murder mystery Poppy is helping her father look after thier family business down in Florida.She comes across some colourful caracters and a dead body.Poppy is the kind of woman who likes answers and she's tenacious. Aquier a copy of "Sunbaked Snowbird "today so you yourself can enjoy reading it as much as I have. 😯🤔🙄Kat

[Lisa Crenshaw]

This is terribly simplistic and unrealistic. No depth to the characters or the story. And even solving the mystery was silly and absurd at best. I’m glad it turned out to be a short story. I struggled reading through it all. It’s a nice idea but needs more development.

[Kim Loomer]

You never know.

Poppy Pepper runs a small resort where a death occurs. Both his wife and ex-wife are at the resort. It is a tangled web that Poppy is determined to fix even though it really isn't up to her. A short mystery that was pretty good.

[Michelle Ferrari-Johnson]

Cat Fight

Quaint and fun whodunit. Poppy and Reggie make a fun couple but Martin is a hoot! So glad he was around to hear his daughter's life being threatened or we could have had two bodies~

[Charleen]

Great clean and so enjoyed.

Thanks for the great storyline. The more I read the more I wanted. It was entertaining and what I wanted. Thanks!

[Susan Koehne]

Not much to it

Very simple - not much plot or character development. Fast read. Probably won't bother reading more books by this author.

[Sherry McWilliams]

Enjoyed this story, it was the second time I had read it. It is entertaining and interesting.

[Allie York]

Quick, short read. I hope the rest of the series develops the characters further

[Deb Mel]

Sunbaked snowbird

This was the first time I read from this author, it was a very clean light weekend reading. I enjoyed it.
Thanks Molly Dox

[Gert Mohr]

Who know camping was deadly

It was a fun read. Very entertaining with a funny mix of characters. A quick and enjoyable read. I love her mysteries.

[Kathy Wright]

This is the first in the Poppy Pepper cozy mystery series. While the story was entertaining, it didn't really do much for me. I doubt I'll pick up others in the series.

[Jackson]

little cozy

[Lori]

NOT READING AGAIN.

This come across like a 12th grade writing project.

I hope the rest of the books I have by her aren't written like this one.

[Sapphyria]

When a guest at Poppy's camper resort in Florida is found dead in his beach chair by his wife, all seems consistent with a natural death. That is....until his ex-wife also shows up on-scene. Now Poppy can't seem to stop herself from getting involved in the sleuthing and she wants to drag her police friend and her brother the coroner into the mix. Will Poppy figure out who killed her tenant before the snowbirds all fly back home?

This is a very basic cozy mystery. There is very little character development and the plot is very straightforward. I pretty much knew who did it almost immediately. I do, however, feel that the series has potential and hope that the rest of the books in the series are more developed and less predictable. I probably won't continue the series at this time but may pick it back up in the future.

Review copy purchased from Amazon.

[Chelsea]

Poppy Pepper is adventurous and daring! She loves to take things to the next level, even if there may be some sort of consequence. I really enjoyed this short, but fun novella. I feel there could have been a bit more character buildup and maybe just over-all suspense, but it certainly hasn't taken away from wanting to read the rest in the series! Molly Dox is an easy, fun and colorful writer. This is what I look for in a novella, so it was right up my alley, with no major complaints.

[Kandi A. Hudson]

Cozy Short Story

i liked this as it was a quick read and the author kept you guessing. I did raise an eyebrow at the weird name of the brother to Poppy. I felt that a name like Panda is a bit contrived. I thought that maybe that would set the tone for a silly mystery situation but not so. I was pleasantly surprised and look forward to another in the series.

[Allison]

Short read, satisfying mystery, interesting characters and even a potential romance. I would read more in this series. Loved the idea of the trailer park. Seemed like it would be a fun neighborhood to stay in.

[Jean]

A very basic story, with potential. The author repeated herself far too often in a very short story. It lacked development. The characters have potential. They are interesting and possibly worth knowing.

[Vykki]

This was an interesting cozy but I really liked it. The characters were great and it had an easy to follow story. This was alight cozy.

[Linda Cathorall]

Cute little short story

I enjoyed reading this short murder mystery. It contained no sex or violence. It has interesting characters and a good plot.