Genre: Mystery
Mass Market Paperback; Digital Book
ISBN #: 9780425282045
Berkley Publishing
304 Pages
$7.99; $7.99 Amazon
June 5, 2018
✮✮✮✮
Wedding preparations are in full swing at Love Blossom Farm as food-and-lifestyle blogger Shelby McDonald transforms the property for her friend Kelly's down-home country-style reception. But when the lead singer of the wedding band turns up dead - drowned in a trough full of rainwater and strung up like a scarecrow - the police round themselves up a barnful of suspects.
It seems that Travis sowed the seeds of discord wherever he went and when it becomes clear that everyone from the groom to Shelby's own staff has motive, tracking down Travis' killer is going to be more difficult than finding a needle in a haystack. As Shelby finds herself drawn deeper into the investigation, she'll have to move quickly before the killer decides to put her out to pasture...
✽✽✽✽✽✽✽✽
When Shelby's best friend Kelly is getting married, she wants to have the celebration at Shelby's farm. Performing is the band that Kelly's cousin is in, but Kelly doesn't know that there's a long-ago resentment between the lead singer Travis and Kelly's fiancé Seth. It seems Travis caused Seth to miss a much-needed exam in order to graduate from medical school, and it caused his grade to drop by a hair.
At any rate, when the party is over and the guests are departing Shelby's friend Bert mentions something about Shelby's scarecrow. When she tells Bert she doesn't have one, they go to investigate. But the 'scarecrow' happens to be Travis, strung on the empty pole and wearing Seth's hat. Once officials are called, the barn becomes a crime scene.
Still, life must go on, and Shelby tries to keep everything normal for her kids. Little does she know that trouble is still brewing, closer than she thinks, and then someone else is murdered. Now if she doesn't stop asking questions there might just be a third one on the way...
I will say that I liked this book better than the first two. The writing has improved and the plot is a very good one. However, there was still something that bothered me: her kids do nothing - and I mean nothing - around the house. Shelby is doing all the cooking, cleaning, and working around the farm, while her daughter spends time in her room texting her friends and sitting on her computer and her son just plays and watches television. I don't know about you, but I would guess kids growing up on farms don't get a free pass to entitlement - they have to actually help out; but not her kids. They don't help with the planting or weeding; don't help with meal prep or cleanup (there was one mention that Amelia helped Kelly clean up, but if Shelby wasn't there how would she know?) She has to hire someone to help out along with her friend Bert; so why is she complaining about money being tight when she could save some if her kids would actually get off their behinds and do a little work? She's not helping them except to be lazy adults who live at home when they're out of school. Trust me, we all had chores growing up, and I lived in the city.
Aside from this, I did like the fact that there were plenty of suspects thrown out and a lot of lies to sift through to get to the truth. I also liked the fact that she's moving toward Matt romantically; there was just a small 'ick' factor when she was considering dating her brother-in-law in the last book.
The author did a good job on this book, giving us plenty to think about and a nice scene toward the end that was a bit of a nail-biter; it was very well done indeed. When the killer was discovered and everything fell into place it did so quite satisfactorily, and the reader ends up feeling that their time has been very well spent indeed. Recommended.
https://www.amazon.com/Bought-Farm-Farmers-Daughter-Mystery/dp/042528204X/
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2384921024
More on Peg Cochran's Books: https://www.fantasticfiction.com/c/peg-cochran/
No comments:
Post a Comment