Catch Me if Yukon (Passport to Peril #12) by Maddy Hunter

Catch Me if Yukon by Maddy Hunter
My Rating: ★★★★

I received a copy from Midnight Ink through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Emily and her husband have taken their group of world traveling seniors and a small book club to Alaska where they’re sure everyone will survive the trip. After whale watching goes well, the trip quickly takes a turn when a tour member is murdered on a hiking trail. Once it appears that Emily’s father caught the legendary Big Foot on film, everyone questions whether or not it was Big Foot or a member of the tour that murdered their fellow traveler. Emily believes that Big Foot is just a legend, but is it possible that he really exists and attacked a poor unsuspecting hiker? Watch Emily slowly unravel the mystery in the latest installment of this hilarious series!

I am so excited about this installment. Big Foot? Sign me up! Being introduced to this series is probably one of the best things that’s happened because it’s such a fun and heartfelt series that’s also unbelievably hilarious. Just when you think Maddy Hunter has done it all, she brings us another entertaining installment that will leave you in stitches.

This time around, Emily’s parents are traveling with her and her group of regulars as well as the new characters that are a part of a book club. Emily’s mom, Margaret, is usually a bit irritating but she wasn’t so bad this time around. She also has one of the best lines in the novel:

“It’s Bob’s creature. It’s gone on a killing spree!” – Chapter 8

I always love Emily’s father, Bob, and that didn’t change this time around. In fact, he’s a man of little words, but this is probably the most he’s spoken during the series. The regulars are back and continuing their shenanigans with taking pictures and trying to get the most social media hits. I love that something always happens to Bernice. This time around, she gets ignored and has one of her social media posts mistaken as something that Bob posted.

I also love that Big Foot is a mysterious addition to the book. Bob accidentally caught what appears to be Big Foot, or a funny looking tree, in one of his photos, which causes a media frenzy. No one knows if Big Foot is really in the photo, especially because Big Foot has never been confirmed to exist. So many people are questioning their existence, if they killed a member of their tour, and if it was really just a funny looking tree or a wild animal caught in the photo. Funnily enough, who or what Bob caught on camera is confirmed at some point during the book and I love it.

While many of the books in the series can be read in any order, I think this one might be a little harder for people new to the series to follow because of the amount of characters. There are the regulars that are in each book, Emily’s parents, the book club, a tour guide, a bus driver, two detectives, and the unseen spouses of two members of the book club. Plus, there’s Jackie via phone and the members of her tour. I think that it’s easier for fans of the series to follow because we already know the characters that have appeared in past installments, so the new characters are easier to recognize and put a name to. If this was the first book that I ever read from the series, I would’ve had a hard time following along because of the amount of characters. As someone who occasionally starts a series by picking up a random installment, I think that anyone who chooses to start with this book will have a hard time following along.

That said, I cannot recommend this book enough. It’s fun, heartwarming, and bound to make you laugh several times. Emily didn’t do as much investigating as she usually does, but it was still fun to see her come to her own conclusions, which are always wrong. I didn’t figure out who the killer was until it was right in my face, just like Emily. The signs were there but I didn’t put two and two together! Instead, I developed a crack theory of sorts toward the end that was totally wrong. Emily and I were in the same boat on that front! As always, I can’t wait until the next installment.