With Baited Breath

Lotus Bay Mysteries #1

by Lorraine Bartlett

Tori Cannon and her grandfather, Herb, return from her grandmother’s funeral, and it’s with sadness that she learns the bait shop and small motel they ran has fallen on hard times. Jammed into one of the motel’s units is the body of one of Herb’s customers, his mouth filled with spikes. The victim had no enemies, except for the rich woman who wanted to level his eyesore of a home. But he’s also got a daughter who’s resentful her father wasn’t a major force in her life, and friends who were anything but.

Tori’s friend, Kathy, arrives to help spruce up the property, and the two of them find themselves mixed up in the petty jealousies and deadly consequences that murder entails. Can they save the bait shop and find a murderer before they, too, sleep with the fishes?

Genres: Mystery, Cozy Mystery, Cozy, Fiction, Audiobook

262 pages, ebook

First published January 6, 2015

About the author

The immensely popular Booktown Mystery series is what put Lorraine Bartlett’s pen name Lorna Barrett on the New York Times Bestseller list, but it’s her talent -- whether writing as Lorna, or L.L. Bartlett, or Lorraine Bartlett -- that keeps her in her readers' hearts. This multi-published, Agatha-nominated author pens the exciting Jeff Resnick Mysteries as well as the acclaimed Victoria Square Mystery series, and now the Tales of Telenia fantasy saga, and has many short stories and novellas to her name(s). Check out the descriptions and links to all her works, and sign up for her emailed newsletter here: http://www.lorrainebartlett.com

She lives in Rochester, NY, with her husband and two cats.

Reviews

[Lorraine Bartlett]

I wrote it. I like it!

[Ian · Rating 2 out of 5]

For a few minutes this must have seemed like a good idea...

[Kathy Kirkland · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fabulous cozy mystery!! Well written and very believable scenario as well as a heartwarming story.
Here's hoping this is just the first of many books for this series.
If I could, I would definitely give this story more than 5 stars. Very enjoyable!

[FangirlNation · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tori Cannon is having a really rotten day in With Baited Breath by Lorraine Bartlett. She returns with her grandfather, Herb, to his bait shop in Lotus Bay near Erie, New York after burying her grandmother. Then, as they examine Herb’s house that Tori’s grandma filled with her packrat junk, they open the door to the shuttered motel the couple once ran and discover the murdered body of Michael Jackson, the local handyman. No one can understand who might have had it in for Jackson, though racist attitudes about his being the sole African American in the area, run in a subtle undercurrent among the community. Having lost her job as high school English teacher due to cuts in funding and thus having plenty of time on her hands, Tori determines to do what it takes to fix up the shop and get the motel running again.

Read the rest of this review, more reviews, and other wonderful, geeky articles on FangirlNation

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the first book of a great new series by Lorraine Bartlett.
Tori comes back to Lotus Bay to help her grandfather after her grandmother has passed away. Tori with the help of her friend Kathy and her childhood friend Anissa clean up the Bait shop, motel and house, and she finds out just what a pack rat her grandmother was.

What Tori and her grandfather find in one of the motel units is a surprise. A lot of surprises come to light. Oh and I forgot to mention there is a murder!
A great book with some interesting characters.
Very much looking forward to the next book in this series!

[Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tori Canon has returned to Lotus Bay to attend her grandmother’s funeral. Having recently lost her job as a teacher due to cutbacks Tori convinces her grandfather, Herb, to let her stay and help him clean and fix up around the Canon Compound. Since her grandmother has been ill for a while the house, bait shop, and motel has fallen into disarray. Tori and Herb are walking around taking in what needs to be done and finds a dead body inside one of the rooms of the motel. Tori’s best friend Kathy comes to help Tori not only with the cleaning but with emotional support. After arriving Kathy falls in love with a house that most would say needs to be torn down but she is determined to buy it and turn it into a B&B. The body Tori finds just happened to be the father of one of her childhood friends Anissa Jackson. Anissa what to know who killed her father so Tori and Kathy agree to help. Can the three women find the killer? Will Kathy get her house? Will Tori have to find another job or can she convince her grandfather to let her stay on and run the businesses?

This is the first book in the series but my 2nd, I really enjoyed seeing how Tori, Kathy, and Anissa friendship began. I love the relationship between these three women, how they support one another through loss and their dreams even when those dreams seem to be a lost cause to others. I love how Herb is kind of grouchy and doesn’t what to give in to Tori’s wanting to take over the rundown businesses. This shows that he really does care for his granddaughter even though it seems like she hasn’t had that from a lot of people in her family. Mrs. Bartlett is wonderful with the imagery. I can really see how run down the buildings are and how much stuff the grandmother has accumulated over the years. The mystery was kept me guessing who was behind the murder and why since it seems that no one really had a reason to kill Mr. Jackson.

I recommend this book to mystery fans. I was given this book in hopes I would give a review. All thoughts and opinions are that of my own and in no way been influenced.

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Both books this month were great!

This was our second book for our cozy mystery reading group. And I loved it!

Tori and her grandpa, Herb were just coming back from her grandma's funeral and trying to decide what to do with all of the things that grandma collected over the years that they owned the bait and tackle shop, along with the bathhouse and motel.

Herb wants to sell, Tori wants to clean up, fix up, and run the business again.

Everything is going well until they find a dead body in one of the motel rooms. It turns out to be a friend of Herb's.

Tori asks her best friend Kathy to come and help her with cleaning out all the buildings. In the meantime the dead guys daughter, Anissa, comes to see where her father died. All three girls become friends and try to help each other with their individual problems.

The book was well planned out and well written with a good story line and I can't wait to get to the next one in the series.

[Sue Ross · Rating 5 out of 5]

Do you need a new series to start? This is a great one to get into on the ground floor.
When Tori came back to Lotus Bay to help her grandfather bury her grandmother, she came back unemployed, not knowing what she was going to do next and with no boyfriend.
Soon after the funeral, Tori sets out to clean out the motel and the house her grandmother loved and ran. What she finds in one of the motel units was a shock. She found the body of her childhood friend’s father.
What happens after that involves Tori, her friend Anissa and Tori’s other friend Kathy who has her heart set on buying a rundown house across the street from Tori’s grandfathers place.
What they discover while trying to find out who killed Anissa’s dad will shock you.
It’s a great book and I’m looking forward to the next one in the series.

[Penelope Hays · Rating 3 out of 5]

Women Solve A Murder

This story appeals because it has women taking charge of their lives and solving a series of murders as they do, but the writing is wooden and uneven, and the characters are grouchy and unpleasant. The overall tone is negative. There's a nice little sub-plot about renovating failing businesses, and the mystery is interesting, if you can get around the characters' bad attitudes.

[Michelle's Book · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very enjoyable

This is really a great read, but a short ending, oh well. This, I hope, will be a great series. I just hope it doesn't get bogged down in the menstruation, so laypeople who haven't read the waterborne don't have to. Having said that, this is a good book!

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good start to what sounds like a fun series!

[Amanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love Lorraine Bartlett's books. They are like comfort food. I got this one in paperback and it included the short story Panty Raid, a funny and cute story about Toni, Kathy, and the case of the missing panties. The ending was quite sweet.

The main story, With Baited Breath, is also about Tori and Kathy, best friends. Tori's having a run of bad luck. She lost her teaching job due to budget cuts and her grandmother has just passed away. After the funeral, she decides to stick around and help her grandfather clear out some of her grandmother's things and work on making some improvements to their family owned and run bait & tackle shop. She calls on her friend Kathy for some help. But that's not all. A customer of her grandfather's shows up dead on the property, a murder victim. Tori and Kathy decide to find out who might have put him there and naturally get themselves in some trouble along the way.

I love a good cozy, and Tori and Kathy are smart and relatable. They have a good friendship and make mistakes. They are also quite sassy and endearing. I look forward to reading book #2 in this series.

[Vickie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed my time reading this cozy. It's definitely more than the mystery, because there isn't a lot of that. There's a murder and sketchy activity, but this is more about the characters and the setting. The story is told by more than one voice, which doesn't often happen. Each voice belongs to a woman who has had a rough time of it recently. Each has come to Lotus Bay to regroup. I love the developing dynamic. I can't wait to see how each character's endeavors turn out.
I want to visit Lotus Bay. I want to visit the bait shop, meet the characters [even the mean ones], maybe help out in the reconstruction of the B&B, fish, walk across the bridge....
I am SO looking forward to reading the next in this series. A REEL CATCH is already on the Nook, pretty much immediately after finishing WITH BAITED BREATH this morning.
I can definitely recommend this book, series and author.

[Mary Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Holy Smoke! It's Michael Jackson!"

Okay, so how do you walk away from a book with this quote in it! My daughter and I listened and every time someone said, "Michael Jackson's dead," we would laugh and she said, "this is not going to get old." The story is about a young woman who comes back to Lotus Bay to bury her grandmother and then helps her grandfather with his bait shop and hotel. Her best friend from college comes along to help and she has some great ideas that help bring the fishermen into the shop. But when they find the body of Michael Jackson dead in one of the crammed full rooms of the hotel, she and her friend along with his daughter, another old friend, work to find out who would murder him and why.

This story was so good, I am actually looking forward to the next book in the series.

[Short, Sweet and Cozy · Rating 4 out of 5]

The 1st in a new series by Lorraine Bartlett and it is a winner! Tori lost her job and her boyfriend and her grandmother, so she moves back to help her grandfather with his bait shop and fixing up the house. Tori ' s friend, Kathy comes to help out. Tori also has a high school friend who is back in town because her father was murdered. The 3 women all help each other out. I really enjoyed their friendship. It was a nice addition to the cozy mystery. Kathy is interested in opening a B&B and there is an old rundown house across the street from Tori ' s grandfather's house. While they are looking at it, they realize someone is breaking in and sleeping there. They are also trying to figure out what happened to their friends ' s father. This series has a lot of potential!

[Taylor's♡Shelf · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wanted to start another series by Lorraine Bartlett since I’m enjoying the Victoria Square series immeasurably. This debut had an intriguing, albeit unoriginal, premise. However, there was definitely some originality in the execution.

Tori and Kathy were likable heroines and it was refreshing to have multiple perspectives, especially with a genre in which first-person limited reins supreme. Anissa was easily my favourite character. She could have easily held this book on her own.

I probably won’t continue this series for the incredibly shallow reason that I enjoy romance in my cozies and this literally has none. However, I know several people that avoid cozies with romantic sub-plots. So if that’s your thing, I’d definitely try this series out.

[Diane Yonchuk · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yet another great story from Lorraine Bartlett! Tori, Kathy and Alissa are a great trio and I look forward to seeing a lot more of them in the future (Noreen too)! The short story "Pantry Raid" introducing Tori and Kathy was funny and charming and served as a great intro to the book. I really appreciated the timeliness of the back story that was the basis of the "mystery". I definitely will be travelling back to Lotus Bay.

[Jessica Rothstein · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the book enough to want to finish it. At times it felt like some of the conversations weren’t needed and some things said were so blah. Like, that didn’t need to be in the story.

Overall it was cute and worth the time.

[Sandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

With Baited Breath is the first book in the Lotus Bay Mysteries and a great start to a new series.

I am impressed that the women in this book are not dependent on men to accomplish tasks that need doing.

[Brittany · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was about 75% description of property renovation and 25% mystery. The climax and resolution was less 30 pages of the 242 pages in the book. I wanted to like this book, but it really was just a lot of filler and not much action.

[Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

I REALLY wanted tip like this book, but it was almost tortuous to finish.

[Sherri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed the first in this series. Definitely will continue with it. How rare is it to have three intelligent, strong female characters? Can't wait to see how the characters will develop.

[Candy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Looking forward to reading the next book in the series.

[Terri · Rating 4 out of 5]

New series for me. Really enjoyed the story and liked the main characters a lot. Looking forward to the next book.

[Kathy Albright · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love Artsians Galley

[Lawanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Audiobook performed by Heather Masters

[Drebbles · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tori Cannon has returned to Lotus Bay for her grandmother's funeral and, because she is at a crossroads in her life, she decides to stay with her grandfather for a while. She is saddened to see how run down her grandfather’s bait shop, motel, and house have become and, with the help of her friend Kathy Grant, tries to spruce up the place with the idea of opening the hotel up again. Much to her dismay her grandfather has other ideas but Tori doesn't have much time to dwell on her problems - a murder victim has been found in one of the hotel units. Tori and Kathy get caught up in solving not only that mystery but the mystery surrounding an abandoned house Kathy is hoping to buy. The two of them need to be careful or they too will be bait for a killer.

“With Baited Breath” is the nicely done first novel in the Lorraine Bartlett’s Lotus Bay cozy mystery series. Since this is the first book in the series, in some ways it acts just to set up the characters – Tori, her grandfather, Kathy, Annisa, and Noreen - and this is perfectly done. By the end of the book I felt like I knew all the characters, especially Tori and Kathy, and Lotus Bay itself. I love the Lotus Bay setting and wish I could visit there myself. I also love the characters especially Tory and Kathy but I really like Anissa. She has a bit of an edge to her and takes some getting used to as a character but she adds a nice bit of sharpness to the book. Again, because this is the first book in the series and sets up the background for future books, some things in the book are resolved a bit too neatly (although what happens to Tori's grandfather towards the end of the book did make me smile- if only I could be that lucky in real life!) however the reason for the murder in the book is anything but soft and cozy it is all too real, sad, and frightening. This plot-line was particulary well done by Lorraine Bartlett.

“With Baited Breath” is another nicely done cozy mystery by Lorraine Bartlett and a good start to a new series.

[Pixie Poe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Following the death of her grandmother, the newly unemployed and recently single Tori returns to Lotus Bay to help her grandfather Herb get his life and businesses back on track. While inspecting the long-neglected Lotus Lodge, they stumble upon the body of one of Herb's best customers, Michael Jackson. Judging by the spikes shoved in his mouth, he did not die of natural causes.
Despite the disrepair of his businesses and the murder, Tori dreams of making a new start in Lotus Bay by helping her grandfather return Cannon's Bait and Tackle and Lotus Lodge to their former glory. Her entrepreneurial spirit must be contagious, as her longtime friend Kathy returns to town with her own dreams of owning a B and B and Michael's daughter Anissa wants to follow in her father's footsteps as a builder.
But there are those who don't share Tori's dream. Her grandfather wants to retire to Florida and leave Lotus Bay far behind. And then there's the person who killed Mr. Jackson. Was it "Old Lady Bloomfield" who would love to tear down the old buildings and expand her own property? Or did the mysterious lights on the lake that Michael reported seeing somehow cause his untimely demise?
Tori and friends have their work cut out for them as they try to restore the old family businesses and solve the murder before the killer strikes again.
The characters and story will hook you and leave you waiting with baited breath for the second book in the Lotus Bay Mystery series.

[Sally · Rating 4 out of 5]

The beginning of the book was very compelling. I read a sample and was so hooked that I had to buy the book right away. Tori has a lot going on in her life, things haven't worked out as she had planned and hoped, and now her grandmother has died and she is going to stay with her grandfather for awhile. Her grandparents owned a bait shop that has fallen to neglect and disrepair. Tori realizes that she has always felt happy there and wants to stay, but her grandfather has other ideas - and of course there is the body she finds and a few other complications.

As Tori begins to settle in the book starts to bog down a bit. Her Grandpa Herb isn't all that likable most of the time, and Tori and her friends Kathy and Anissa are sometimes annoyingly immature for grown women. At times they are almost like three high schoolers in how they talk, think and act. The book seems a bit rushed, which might account for why it feels like Tori and company are not thinking things through as well as they should.

That said, this was a very enjoyable read and I didn't want to put it down. The mystery was solved with a twist that I hadn't expected and lives are starting to sort themselves out. There are a lot of possibilities for Tori with the bait shop and Kathy with her B&B and Anissa with her construction work, and I am looking forward to the next book in the series to see what is in store for Tori next.

[Jeannie and Louis Rigod · Rating 5 out of 5]

This novel was just that a Mystery Novel. It is of the Cozy genre and was a delight to read.

Honestly, I have been behind reading my favorite authors and snapped up this title when I saw Lorraine Bartlett as the Author. I did not realize that it was the first in a new series, or at least I hope so, known as the 'Lotus Bay Mysteries.'

As a gift, Ms. Bartlett enclosed the short story that began the novel and I truly am Thankful. I grew to adore these two young women, Kathy and Tori. Someone was stealing underwear...could have been yucky but wasn't. It was humorous and clever. I loved the ending.

Now Tori's grandmother has passed and she has returned to Grandpa's to find disarray and severely run-down buildings. These buildings were her Grandparent's home and businesses. Tori is shocked and decides to restore them. She, of course, needs the help of her best friend, Kathy. It helps that Kathy also wants to get-away, and that she is a heck of a baker.

When the girls brave the lodge, they find a corpse! What is going on? The man is the Father of another childhood friend, Anissa. The three girls decide to live their dream lives, help Grandfather, and find out who murdered Anissa's father.

It was a great readable cozy. I liked the characters, the situation, the surprising plot, and the bonus of cookie recipes (Kathy's of course!)

I look forward to volume two. Now to find the titles of Ms. Bartlett's other Novels that I'm behind on.