A Wicked Welcome to Lynn Cahoon!

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Welcome back to the blog Lynn!

Making Memories With Setting

by Lynn Cahoon

Farm to Fork mysteries are set in Idaho. I’ve made up River Vista, but truly, it’s a mixture of my little hometown as well as other little towns around where I grew up. So the places are real, the distance, the names, the people, they have all been changed to protect the innocent.

Well, not all of them. In One Potato, Two Potato, Dead, the college the culinary professor works for is my Alma Mater, Boise State University. Now, I’m not sure BSU has ever even had a culinary program, but I do know that the greenbelt runs between the campus and the Boise River. The dormitories are near the river and the stadium. The feel of the small campus quad that I remember – that’s what I hope comes through the story. Those things are the facts I want to portray in the story, not the fact there is a intramural football league.

It’s those touches of home that I want to bring to the cozy reader. Boise isn’t much of a small town anymore, not like when I grew up just south of Idaho’s capital. I actually met Governor Evans when we went to the Capital to take pictures for Boys/Girls State. But that small-town feel is still there. The ability to fish in town or visit the zoo five minutes away.

Angie Turner, the owner/head chef, of The County Seat, lives in her Nona’s farm house that she inherited. I can see that old farmhouse with a large garden between the fenced yard and the large barn. Mabel, the lone black and white hen, thinks she owns the place and Precious, her accidental pet goat, just loves to be with Angie. I built Angie’s kitchen to match the dream kitchen in my head that I’ve always wanted.

I’m going home in a couple of months and I’ll be snapping a lot of pictures. Pictures of places that mean things to me. That have emotions attached. Like Boise State. And the Basque community center. And my little town that isn’t called River Vista in real life.  

Did you live in a small town? Do you dream of life in a small town? Or are you a big city type?

Bio:

Lynn Cahoon is the award-winning author of several NYT and USA Today best-selling cozy mystery series. The Tourist Trap series is set in central coastal California with six holiday novellas releasing in 2018-2019. She also pens the Cat Latimer series available in mass market paperback. Her newest series, the Farm to Fork mystery series, released in 2018. She lives in a small town like the ones she loves to write about with her husband and two fur babies. Sign up for her newsletter at www.lynncahoon.com

One Potato, Two Potato, Dead

Angie Turner’s restaurant, The County Seat, is conveniently located near a first-class farmers market—so her menu is full of fresh ingredients. But a visiting culinary professor has just had a taste of something very unhealthy . . .

Angie first meets Daniel Monet at a local mission, where she and her chef-in-training, Hope, are serving barbeque chicken poutine to the homeless. Monet is one of Hope’s teachers—but Angie’s boyfriend knows him from his youthful days in England. But soon, the bon vivant is no longer vivant. When Monet is found dead, with Hope’s prints on the wine glass next to him, it will be Angie who has to sauce out the real killer . . .

Published by Julie Hennrikus aka Julia Henry

One woman, three names, many books. As Julia Henry she writes the Garden Squad series for Kensington. As J.A. Hennrikus she writes the Theater Cop series, and as Julianne Holmes she wrote the Clock Shop series. Click on my profile picture to connect with me on Facebook and Instagram! @JHAuthors

21 Thoughts

  2. At one time, hubby would have told you that I would never live in the country. However, it was my idea to sell out and move to the country long time ago. Jump forward some 20+ years and again it was me that said “Hey we can do this”. So we sold out and moved to our dream destination – the Ozark Mountains. We live outside the town we call home on a small acreage. The town is less than 3000 people and is the county seat. Yes we live in small town USA and love it! There’s everything we need here and what isn’t here isn’t far away.

    Can’t wait for the opportunity to read “One Potato, Two Potato, Dead” and to read more about Angie’s adventures and her home town.
    2clowns at arkansas dot net

  3. I am an Air Force brat, so bases can be small towns. I also did a lot of my formative growing up in Fort Scott Kansas with my maternal grandparents. I liked living in the country on the farm. I am in the suburbs of Denver now. I wouldn’t mind living in a small town again one day. I’d have to talk my husband into it though.

  4. I am an Air Force brat so bases can be like small towns. I also did a lot of my formative growing up on my maternal grandparents’ farm in Fort Scott Kansas. I wouldn’t mind living in a small town again, but it would have to be the right one and I’d have to talk my husband and daughter into it. We do like the ‘burbs of Denver we live in now.

  5. Welcome, Lynn! I don’t live in a small town – but Pittsburgh isn’t quite the big city, either. But I’d love to move down to where my series is set, the Laurel Highlands, which is small town all the way. Ah, maybe some day.

  6. I lived in a very small town for 14 years. It wasn’t a dream. It was a nightmare.

  7. I don’t live in a small town. I love to visit both real and fictional small towns, but I think I would miss the conveniences of the burbs if I tried to live in one all the time.

    1. That’s the problem. I moved from an area where I had my choice of five grocery chains within a mile or so to where I have one store – two if I want to go a town over.

  8. I’ve lived in a small city all my life. Since I don’t drive at night or bad weather, I wouldn’t want to lose the convenience of buses and cabs. Even though the neighbors and traffic can be annoying at times, I’m comforted that they are close by. I enjoyed seeing small towns and rural landscapes when I traveled and still like to read about them.

    1. I like the idea of little neighborhoods in cities. I started a romance series based on that idea but didn’t have the time to finish it. Yet.

  9. I think I would be ok with living in a small town as long as there was a big town close by.

    1. That’s the best scenario. We go to a ‘bigger’ town probably monthly to do our big shopping. And nice dinners out.

  10. I grew up in a small town and enjoyed the closeness of friends, family, and neighbors. I knew I had to behave because someone would certainly let my parents know if I didn’t. Small enough that most of my grade school teachers attended the same church I did and several were also my Sunday school teachers so I sometime felt I was in school/church 6 days a week but that was ok. In 8th grade we built a house in the country in a neighboring district and I attended a public school that was “Footloose” but never got to have a dance. (not that I needed to dance) Very conservative area. I wouldn’t trade my childhood for anything but could not live in an area now where many of the people I still know have not changed their views from the early ’60’s. I would not be able to hold my tongue. I still have wonderful friends and family members there but it no longer feels like home.

  11. I live 8 miles from a small town and LOVE it for the peace and quiet.

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