Death of the Kona Man: A Carrie Jorgenson Aloha Lagoon Mystery

Aloha Lagoon Mysteries, Book 9

By: Catherine Bruns

Narrated by: Amy Deuchler

From USA Today best-selling author Catherine Bruns comes the next deadly delicious Carrie Jorgenson adventure in paradise....

Carrie Jorgenson is living the dream in Hawaii. She has a steady job as a waitress at the Loco Moco Café, a hot new love interest in her manager, and the curtain’s about to rise on her role in a local theater production. But when she's asked to deliver food to a guest at the Aloha Lagoon resort - who then drops dead! - her dreams quickly become the stuff of nightmares.

World renowned food critic Randolph Cremshaw has no shortage of enemies. He's rude, patronizing, and famous for his one-star reviews. After the coffee Carrie delivers is discovered to have been poisoned, she and the café quickly rise to the top of the suspects list. A jealous co-worker, thefts at the restaurant, and a performance that threatens to blow up in Carrie's face only make things worse. With an already full plate, Carrie is also forced into making a decision that may change everything for her. But this all pales in comparison when she comes face to face with Randolph's killer and what might be the final curtain call...of her life.

Recipes included!

The Aloha Lagoon Mysteries:
Ukulele Murder (book one)
Murder on the Aloha Express (book two)
Deadly Wipeout (book three)
Deadly Bubbles in the Wine (book four)
Mele Kalikimaka Murder (book five)
Death of the Big Kahuna (book six)
Ukulele Deadly (book seven)
Bikinis and Bloodshed (book eight)
Death of the Kona Man (book nine)
Lethal Tide (book 10)
Beachboy Murder (book 11)
Handbags and Homicide (book 12)

About Aloha Lagoon:
There's trouble in paradise....
Welcome to Aloha Lagoon, one of Hawaii's hidden treasures. A little bit of tropical paradise nestled along the coast of Kauai, this resort town boasts luxurious accommodation, friendly island atmosphere...and only a slightly higher than normal murder rate. While mysterious circumstances may be the norm on our corner of the island, we're certain that our staff and Lagoon natives will make your stay in Aloha Lagoon one you will never forget!

Visit us at alohalagoonmysteries.com

©2017 Catherine Bruns (P)2019 Catherine Bruns

Eating His Words

Carrie Jorgenson has settled into the good life in paradise. She has a great boyfriend, a steady job at the Loco Moco Cafe, a small apartment and a role in a local theater production. When food critic Randolph Cremshaw comes into the Cafe and all he’ll breaks out. When he drops dead after drinking coffee from the restaurant everyone becomes a suspect. A great series.

Perfect summer listening

I really found Death of the Kona Man enjoyable to listen to while I floated in the pool.
The pace of the story was great as everything moved along nicely. Nothing was dragged out too long. The characters felt like they could be real people that I know. Waitresses, struggling student, chef, mom, dad and their son. Just regular people so it was easy to be drawn into the story. The narration was well done and kept my attention.

Great story in the series!

Love the Laguna series and this book is no exception!! Great story and I love the characters. Can’t wait to see where this one heads!
Good as a stand alone as well


I received a free copy and left my honest review

Book 9 in series

I was gifted this audiobook with the understanding that I would leave an honest review.
This is book #9 in the Aloha Lagoon Mysteries by Catherine Bruns and the first in the series I have read. The book was okay and might have been a lot better if I had read the books before this one. Amy Deuchler is the narrator and she does a good job of narrating this audiobook. I enjoyed the book just was a little lost at times.

Earns 5+/5 Cups of Kona Coffee Sans the Poison!

Audiobooks aren’t for everyone, but I always challenge readers to become listeners. I have always loved being read to by my parents, my teachers, my students, my husband, and now many narrators who go beyond the traditional reading to include accents, dialects, gender tones, and a wide range of emotions that keep me mesmerized. That’s what I love, and that’s what I get from Amy Deuchler in Catherine Bruns’s “Death of the Kona Man.” She has a delightful tone in her voice and performs well the emotions and different personalities. The biggest challenge for any female narrator is getting those male voices correct, and in this book there are several. Amy, however, does a great job from Poncho’s Mexican/Hawaiian accent to the detective’s and Keanu’s straightforward tone. The whole experience was very entertaining!

One can’t forget that it always starts with the story. Catherine Bruns‘s well-written, steady paced, humor-laced cozy brings us Carrie Jorgenson, a delightful, young woman whose gaining confidence and independence after the end of a relationship. She is a waitress at the Aloha Lagoon Resort’s Moco Loco Café and learns that a cutthroat food critic has arrived on the Island. Her worst fears are realized when Randolph Cremshaw, dubbed “The Kona Man” because of his well-known 10-cup a day coffee addiction, shows up in true obnoxious, demanding form. A lunch fiasco turns into a 1-1/2 star review, customers staying away, and the owner furious. But, Karma does his worst, or best as you might hope, with coffee sweetened with a bit of cyanide!

This page-turner uncovers a treasure trove of suspects who all have motive to spike the man’s coffee: more than a few disgruntled relatives, the café owners, Carrie who found the body…again, and even hints of other victims of the man’s vicious reviews. Exciting…Catherine epitomizes the ‘cozy’ genre treating murder lightly and focusing more on the mystery, strong characters, and lots of twists and turns that lead to a nail biting end that puts Carrie in personal jeopardy. Included, to add a bit of realism, are side conflicts, thefts at the café, a theater performance, and a budding relationship for Carrie. And the recipes are included! Catherine treats us to some Island delicacies straight from Chef Poncho’s kitchen at the Loco Moco Café: Loco Moco (Yeah!), Aloha Mix-Up Cookies, Ahi Tuna, and Pineapple Cookies!

I highly recommend this multi-author Gemma Halliday Publishing series, and with two thumbs up, I give high praise for Catherine Bruns’s books and Amy Deuchler’s narration.

Carrie can really get herself in trouble..........

Death of the Kona Man is the second book in this cozy mystery series featuring Carrie Jorgenson and her fellow employees at the Loco Moco Cafe in Hawaii. Although the author gives enough background to enjoy this book as a standalone, I highly recommend reading the first book in the series to get a better understanding of Carrie's upbringing, history and quirky personality. As usual, trouble seems to follow Carrie constantly - in part due to her inquisitive nature, and it isn't far into the book until she finds another dead body. This time it is the food critic despised by all with whom Carrie had numerous altercations in the days proceeding his murder. Once again, the police see her as a prime suspect, and she is compelled to investigate and save herself and the Loco Moco from certain doom.

As with all of Catherine Bruns' books, Death of the Kona Man has a terrific mystery with a plethora of suspects that keeps Carrie and the reader constantly second guessing the direction of her investigation. I was completely surprised by both the motive and the murderer's identity, which is the sign of a great mystery. However, even more than the mystery portion of the book, I loved the interactions between Carrie and her boyfriend, Keanu. He is my dream book boyfriend, and I absolutely love him for Carrie. I wanted to shake her several times for her self-doubts, but Keanu's love and patience won over not only Carrie but this reader, too. The book ends on a bit of a cliffhanger, so I am very excited to read the next book in the series soon.

Amy Deuchler has an amazing voice, and she is an incredibly talented narrator. She is the perfect Carrie, but she also handles all the characters with skill. I especially enjoy how she uses slight emphasis to ramp up the excitement level at the scarier scenes. With her flawless performance and smooth delivery, Deuchler makes these already fun stories even more enjoyable as an audiobook.

I received a copy of this audiobook at my request in exchange for this honest review.

Love it

This book kept me entertained throughout the book. I loved the Death of the Big Kahuna and loved the characters then. I was glad to see another story about Carrie Poor Carrie she seems to keep finding bodies. I recommend this book and this entire series. I have not listened/read a bad one yet. I was gifted this book in exchange for an honest review.

The narrator, Amy Deuchler does a fantastic job.

Good!

This was a great all around light mystery! Amy did a great job with voices. Characters were developed and light hearted. Story line was great and easy to follow. Truly enjoyed this book.

Entertaining Listen

Interesting slant on a relationship and good little mystery to be solved. heroine was a bit over needy for my liking but otherwise good listen.
note .... I requested this free audio book and this is my unbiased free review.

Death of Kona Man

This was an enjoyable read. I think it would have been better if I would have started into the series sooner. I liked it though.I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.