A Ranch and Red Herrings Reading Kit

Ranch and Red Herrings Book

Ranch and Red Herrings is the first book in the Bluegrass Ridge Ranch Mystery Series by Tonya Kappes. The amateur sleuth is Georgia “Cussy” Hollingsworth, a city girl with country roots. Cussy is shocked to learn she has inherited a working horse and cattle ranch from her beloved Uncle Amos and even more shocked to discover someone has murdered him. She never pictured herself running a ranch or conducting a mystery investigation. But with both of those things on the horizon, she’ll have to decide if she’ll let herself be run out of town or if she’ll stay to uncover the truth.

Read more about Ranch and Red Herrings

Ranch and Red Herrings Discussion Questions

Note: If you aren’t in a book club, you can still use these questions to reflect on Ranch and Red Herrings after you read it.

• Who is your favorite character in Ranch and Red Herrings?

• What three words would you use to describe Cussy Hollingsworth?

• Did you want to see a romance bloom between any of the characters?

• Did you have a favorite scene in Ranch and Red Herrings? What did you like about this scene?

• Were you able to identify Amos's killer before Cussy did?

• What red herrings threw you off the killer's trail?

• What did you think of the ending of Ranch and Red Herrings?

• Would you like to live in Bluegrass Ridge?

• Have you ever visited a ranch?

• Have you ever ridden a horse?

• Would you like to see Ranch and Red Herrings turned into a TV series or movie? Who would you pick to play Cussy, Colt, Libby, and Rowan?

• Do you have any predictions for future books in the Bluegrass Ridge Mystery series?

• Will you read the next book in the series, Lassoes and Lies?

Ranch and Red Herrings Supper Menu

Make some of the food mentioned in the book for supper or a book club meeting using this themed Ranch and Red Herrings menu:

• Southern Sweet Tea (Recipe from The Country Cook)

• Cornbread (Recipe from Once Upon a Chef)

• Soup Beans (Recipe from Southern Living)

• Peach Cobbler (Recipe from Tastes Better From Scratch)

Ranch and Red Herrings Coloring Pages and Games

Click on the links to see printable PDFs of Ranch and Red Herrings themed coloring pages and word games.

• Ranch and Red Herrings Cowgirl Coloring Page

• Ranch and Red Herrings Cussy Hollingsworth Coloring Page

• Ranch and Red Herrings Word Search

• Ranch and Red Herrings Word Scramble

• Ranch and Red Herrings Alphabet Soup Game

Fun Activities for a Ranch and Red Herrings Book Club

• Have a cowboy potluck and bring your favorite Southern dish to pass.

• Create a dessert bar with fruit cobblers, derby pie, bourbon balls, bread pudding, and other sweet Kentucky specialties.

• Pour everyone a big glass of sweet tea and gossip your hearts out.

• Take turns naming your favorite small town festival and explaining what you like about it.

• Ask every book club member to write down their favorite country song and make a Buckle and Boots playlist on Spotify or another music player. Or, listen to the Ranch and Red Herrings Mix Tape created by author Tonya Kappes.

Interview with Tonya Kappes

See an interview with Tonya Kappes, the author of Ranch and Red Herrings. Find out how she got started with cozy mysteries and what she does to take a story from an idea to a published novel.

Listen to Ranch and Red Herrings

Listen to author Tonya Kappes read the first three chapters of Ranch and Red Herrings on YouTube.

Visit TonyaKappes.com

Discover more books by Tonya Kappes, learn about upcoming author events, participate in giveaways, get cozy extras (like recipes and author notes), and sign up for Tonya’s newsletter or Patreon at TonyaKappes.com.