Murder at the Mushroom Festival

Written by Janet Finsilver

Narrated by Reba Buhr

There's a corpse among the chanterelles!

Redwood Cove Bed and Breakfast manager Kelly Jackson is hosting a cooking class during the week of the Mushroom Festival to attract guests, not drama. But soon after she finishes foraging for an edible mushroom species on sacred Native American land, a local newspaper reporter gets shot dead at the same site. With suspicions spreading like fungi in the quaint Northern Californian community over the culprit's identity, Kelly and a savvy gang of sleuthing seniors known as the "Silver Sentinels" must uncover the truth about the secluded property before a tricky killer prepares another lethal surprise . . .

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tantor Media, Inc
• Release date: Dec 10, 2019
• ISBN: 9781541437470

Janet Finsilver

Janet Finsilver and her husband live in the San Francisco Bay Area. She loves animals and has two dogs—Kylie, a Rhodesian ridgeback, and Ellie, a boxer/coonhound mix. Janet enjoys horseback riding, snow skiing, and cooking. She is currently working on her next Redwood Cove mystery. Readers can visit her website at www.JanetFinsilver.com.

Reviews for Murder at the Mushroom Festival

[cathyskye · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I dearly love crime fiction. I love the insights into the human mind. I love trying to solve each case. I love bringing justice to the world even if it is merely fictional. But there are times when the darkness of crime fiction can be a bit too much. It is at these times that I like to turn to mysteries that are kinder and gentler. Justice is still served, yet the vast majority of the cast are good people who contribute to their communities, are good to others, and who know all about doing what's right instead of what's convenient. No one's a diva, they're just plain good folks. "Nice" if you will, even though "nice" seems to get short shrift in this world.Janet Finsilver's Kelly Jackson mystery series is one of the kindler, gentler series I turn to when I need to step out of the darkness. Finsilver always provides a solid mystery for her cast of characters to solve. A bonus is that she also provides working dogs in rather unusual occupations. For example, one book had a dog that sniffed out bedbugs and other insect infestations. Murder at the Mushroom Festival has a dog that sniffs out mushrooms.There are a couple of men in this book that I really enjoyed. Clarence and Thomas are on a mission to challenge each other to learn new things. One year, it was knitting; this year it's mushrooms and cooking. More folks should be like them. And it's not just the characters and the mystery readers will like. I always learn something about the area in which these books are set-- California's Central Coast with its redwoods. The information Finsilver wove into the story about redwood sinker logs was fascinating even though it may not sound like it.If you love mysteries but need to step out into the light from time to time, I can certainly recommend Janet Finsilver's Kelly Jackson series. They do the heart good.

[kris_anderson-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Murder at the Mushroom Festival by Janet Finsilver is fourth installment in A Kelly Jackson Mystery series. Kelly Jackson, the manager of the Redwood Cove Bed-and-Breakfast, is looking forward to the Mushroom Festival in Redwood Cove, California. She has agreed to let Elise Jackson teach her mushroom class in the multipurpose room. Elise will be teaching the participants how to identify various mushrooms, how to cook with mushrooms and provide maps on where to find the fungi in the local area. One of the highlights of the festival is the mushroom hunting contest. Ned Blaine, reporter for the Redwood Cove Messenger, is attending Elise’s class and manages to anger a few people before it disperses. The next morning Deputy Sheriff Bill Stanton arrives to speak with Kelly. Ned Blaine was found shot dead (I’m so shocked) on sacred tribal land in Mallory National Park. When Daniel ends up the prime suspect, Kelly and the sleuthing seniors known as the Silver Sentinels dig into the case. Ned was investigating illegal redwood logging which included the stealing sinker logs and writing a book on places to locate mushrooms in Redwood Cove. Both items stirred up dark feelings and could have gotten Ned murdered. Someone is not happy with Kelly’s snooping and attempts to take her out of commission. It is up to Kelly and the Silver Sentinels to find the wrongdoer before they strike again.Murder at the Mushroom Festival can be read alone. Everything you need to know about Kelly is included in Murder at the Mushroom Festival. I thought the book contained good writing and had a steady pace. Janet Finsilver has a conversational writing style that makes the story easy to read. I thought the characters were well established. Kelly’s coworkers, friends and the Silver Sentinels are friendly, welcoming characters. They are the type of people I would like to know and have as my friends. I appreciate that there is a diverse group of people. I especially enjoy the younger characters as well as the dogs. They provide levity and humor to the story. Kelly is friendly, caring, smart and level headed. I like the setting of Redwood Cove. It sounds like a great place to live with the water and forests (I have always wanted to life in the Pacific Northwest). It was interesting to learn about mushrooms. I had no idea there were so many varieties and how easy it is to find them. People do need to be careful since there are numerous poisonous varieties (great weapon for a killer). I would never have thought of using mushrooms in a dessert. The mystery had a couple of different components that all come together in the end with the loose ends wrapped up. Identifying the guilty, though, is a piece of cake. I really like that Kelly actively investigates. She asks clever questions while being subtle. Kelly does not blindly dive into dangerous situations (hooray). There are many cozy moments in the book (cooking, chatting, mushroom hunting, cookie baking and decorating, horseback riding, traversing down the river in a canoe) that aid in making Murder at the Mushroom Festival a delight to read. My rating for Murder at the Mushroom Festival 4 out of 5 stars (I liked it). This is my favorite book so far in A Kelly Jackson Mystery series.

[cyderry · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Kelly Jackson, manager at the Redwood Cove B&B, decided that she needs to find out more about the region so she signs up for a few of the events related to the Mushroom Festival. When the body of a local reporter is found murdered in an area where she was with a friend, Kelly knows that she needs to find out what happened. This story revolves around valuable regional resources, greedy, and jealousy. I love how the characters are growing with the stories.