Death by Potato Salad: A Murder-by-the Minute Short Story Featuring Mrs. Berns

by Jess Lourey

In this Murder-by-the-Minute mystery, Mrs. Berns is roped into attending the All Church Retreat in Bemidji, Minnesota. The three-to-one female to male ratio has her down, but her weekend grows a silver lining when she’s called on to solve a killing committed with the unlikeliest murder weapon in history. SHORT STORY (3300 words).

Genres: Short Stories

25 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 19, 2014

About the author

My name is Jess Lourey, and I write about secrets.

The story of my first published novel is both devastating and transformative, something I speak about in my TEDx Talk (https://youtu.be/a5vSLh3oPXI). I've come a long way since then. I'm proud to call myself a bestselling, twice Edgar-nominated, and twice Goodreads Readers Choice Awards shortlisted author who has won the ITW Thriller, Minnesota Book, and Anthony Awards. I write crime fiction, young adult, nonfiction, children's books, and book club fiction.

I've reached over a million readers since 2020. I'm also a former writing and sociology professor who still loves to teach transformative creative writing workshops built around my Rewrite Your Life method.

I live in Minneapolis with a rotating batch of foster kittens (and occasional foster puppies, but man those goobers are a lot of work). Pop on over to Lourey's Literati, my VIP Reader group on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/groups/38538...) and/or sign up for my molasses newsletter (https://jessicalourey.com/newsletter) for the latest news, giveaways, and insider information.

p.s. You can find the Unspeakable Things epilogue here: https://jessicalourey.com/survey-two.

Reviews

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Looking for something short I turned to this story by Jess Lourey. I have read some of her full-length pieces and wanted to take a stab at something swift. Mrs. Berns has been convinced to attend a church retreat in rural Minnesota. While she is not sure if this is more religious that raucous, she soon finds herself in the middle of a number of geriatrics seeking to pass the time. While in a cooking course of sorts, one of the participants dies in front of the others. Mrs. Berns knows it's someone in the room and the victim's personality makes the list of suspects even longer. She has little time to solve this one, but never sell her short. Jess Lourey entertains well with this one.

This piece by Jess Lourey was a quick and somewhat entertaining read. I have not read any of this series, but am somewhat curious. Things flowed well and I was eager to get a handle on things. The story gained some momentum as the characters bantered and the murder scene was well positioned. While things sped along and came to a crashing conclusion, it worked for me. No time to really ponder options and the murder weapon was a stroke of genius!

Characters offered up a good flavouring for the piece. Not knowing Mrs. Berns, I entered this blind, but she does have something about her I want to explore more. Her personality, alongside that of others in the story, made things flow easily and left me eager to explore this series a little more. Not sure who is a regular and which are entirely one-off people, I will have to see if I choose to delve into this rabbit hole.

The plot worked well for me and kept me interested from beginning to end. It was a lighter mystery and nothing too intense, but still with a few surprises. Lourey has impressed in the past and her writing abilities beg for more twists to keep the story tense. I wonder if the series novels are just as well placed, leaving the reader to find something exciting with the murders and the apparent romcom aspects. I suppose I will have to see, should I choose to take the plunge.
Kudos, Madam Lourey, for an entertaining and quick read!

Love/hate the review? An ever-growing collection of others appears at:
http://pecheyponderings.wordpress.com/

[William · Rating 5 out of 5]

Entertaining mystery listening 🎶🔰

This kindle e-book novella is from my Kindle Unlimited account

A quick cute novella about a death by mayo. Natural or murder?

I would recommend this novella and author to 👍 readers looking for a quick read. 2024 👒😀

[Tori Aguazul · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5-3 super short funny with old folks

[Kristi Lamont · Rating 4 out of 5]

BOOK REPORT
So I’ve been fan-girling on Jess Lourey of late….which led me to signing up for her newsletter, which gave me the benefit of getting some downloads of short stories.

Totally enjoyed Death by Potato Salad, not in the least which because I so love my MawMaw’s potato salad. Well, loved? It’s a tense thing….she’s long since shuffled off this mortal coil, but I still make her version….

Anywhoodles. This piece was great because it was written so tightly, and it was so spot-on funny in so many ways.

[Alan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Soooo, I mainly got this because I had liked Lourey's Unspeakable Things and, though her Murder by Month series didn't particularly appeal to me, I figured a (very) short story available on KU might be worth checking out to be sure. And it proved me right. I guess this is cozy murder, but really it was beyond silly murder. Maybe people who have read the main series would "get" this story better than I did, but beyond the eye rolling silliness, it was also so abrupt and felt more like an outline for a story than a fully realized one.

[Gemini · Rating 4 out of 5]

Easy Read

This was a super short murder mystery. It was silly, but entertaining. I enjoyed finding out each person’s reason for disliking the victim. Mrs. Berns was a funny lady. She was feisty and determined. There wasn’t much to her investigation. She asked a few questions and the mystery was solved. I could’ve used a few more paragraphs to tie it all up, but I liked how it ended. This felt like one of Rose Nylund’s stories about St. Olaf.

[Kristina · Rating 5 out of 5]

I got it on my kindle because of the hilarious title. Had it for a while, and finally one evening decided to read it.

Finished the first page - church, Presbyterians, Catholics, Lutherans. Then I thought to myself "maybe this is not for me after all". I still remembered that I loved the teaser, so I kept reading.
It turned out to be a little gem - short, interesting, fun and refreshing. I loved the writing.

[Donna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Murder by the Month Short Story

Mrs Berns arrives at a retreat for several churches. The retreat begins with a welcome and then flashes on the board classes to take. Not reading the sign she chooses Miracle of Mayonnaise a cooking demonstration. There is a lot of tension in the room which quickly leads to a sudden death.

[James Clevenger · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely hilarious and genius! I love Mrs. Berns and look forward to reading more stories with this character! Jess Lourey is fast becoming one of my favorite authors and I genuinely look forward to reading more of her stories.

[Becky Wells · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute

Death by Potato Salad is a wee little short story that features on of the recurring characters in Jess Lourey's Murder by Month Series. Mrs. Burns is a perennial favorite and, even though she's 90 years old, packs a lot of adventure into her life. This is a fun little story.

[Vintagebooklvr · Rating 3 out of 5]

A spunky older woman. Love it.

[Jade Winter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thoroughly Delightful


I enjoyed the rye humor And the strong personality of the protagonist. What have liked to hear more about her And from her.

[Cindy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun fast read. Makes me want more.

[Kendra Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love Mrs. Berns

This made me laugh. Mrs. Berns is a hoot! I wish I knew someone like her. Would love more books!!!

[Dee A · Rating 3 out of 5]

Too short

I love Mrs. Berns. I need to read more about her. Murder by the month was a great series. Are there more

[Grace Ferch · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mrs. Berns fan

I have been missing Mrs. Burns since the Murder by Month Mysteries, so I had to read this. I love that woman.

[Krista Swedberg · Rating 4 out of 5]

loved it

Short and sweet. All the Minnesota and northern church pot luck stereotypes to make me giggle. As a MN native I highly recommend.

[Courtney (McVay) McKee · Rating 4 out of 5]

A cute little quick read giving Mrs Berns the leading role! 3.5⭐️

[Lizzy Baldwin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Short and fun - an enjoyable read but left me wanting more.

[Mystereity Reviews · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mrs. Berns is up to her old tricks, scouting out the eligible men at a church retreat. In the Miracle of Mayo class, a man keels over dead. Mrs. Berns, who knows about such things, declares it a murder and vows to solve it before the police arrive.

This was a very quick (and a little dirty, but you know how Mrs. Berns is!) little mystery, just a couple of pages long. It really whetted my appetite for the next Murder by Month (March of Crimes) which isn't due out until some time next year. This was laugh out loud funny, the names of the seminars had me rolling.and Mrs. Berns is as salty as always. A really great little read, more amusing than mystery but definitely a delight.