This lively seasonal-themed offering brings us to the Old Idaho Penitentiary. The building is now a museum and the team at the town’s farm-to-fork restaurant, the County Seat, have come for some team-building. This Halloween novella, PENNED IN, is a must for followers of the series, but don’t expect much in the way of food, given the location.

Angie Turner is in charge of the staff and she’s also brought her St. Bernard dog. The team and some extra visitors are paying to be locked in overnight to experience a spooky historical re-enactment. The male and female actors playing prison guards insist all cellphones are checked in to lockers. Nobody can leave or contact the outside. While most people are getting into the mood, telling ghost stories or historical tidbits, somehow Angie feels the mood is strained and not everyone is co-operating. Readers of cosy mysteries don’t need me to tell them what happens next.

Lynn Cahoon is one of the busiest mystery authors around, with three series on the go, including the Tourist Trap series, which may explain why she has given us a novella length book this time in the Farm To Fork Mystery series. Or maybe she sensibly decided not to stretch a one-night adventure by padding with extra threads. I found the format works nicely; the sleuthing has to start at once, without waiting for police, and nobody is sure if they are in danger or not. Are they going to get picked off if they separate? What was that scream? The mood is kept on the boil. Although Angie is mindful of her dog Dom, he’s not a guard dog or a sniffer dog. The Idaho Penitentiary sounds like a fascinating location, and anyone living near enough will probably want to go and have a look after reading the book PENNED IN.