Genre: Mystery
Mass Market Paperback: Digital Book
ISBN #: 9780425274552
Berkley Publishing
293 Pages
$7.57; $7.99 Amazon
May 2, 2017
⭐⭐⭐
It's June in Cranberry Cove, and Monica Albertson's plan to sell cranberry salsa to chain stores is taking off. The cranberry bogs are in bloom and local beekeeper Rick Taylor and his assistant, Lori Wenk, are bringing in bees to pollinate the blossoms. When a fatal prick fells Lori, the buzz is that Rick is to blame.
In trying to clear her friend's name, Monica discovers that more than a few people in Cranberry Cove have felt the power of Lori's venom, and it looks as if this time she may have agitated the hive a bit too much. With the fate of the farm on the line, Monica must get to the bottom of the crime before another victim gets stung.
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Monica Albertson moved from Chicago to small-town Cranberry Cove, Michigan to help her brother run his cranberry business. While he works the bogs and caring for the cranberries, she bakes, runs the store and sells their products. She's curious one morning when she sees a load of crates being taken to the bogs, and discovers that they're full of bees who will pollinate the cranberry flowers to give more berries, and that they're owned by beekeeper Rick Taylor.
But later on, her brother tells her to call 911 because he thinks Rick's assistant Lori Wenk is dead. When the police arrive, it's apparent from all of the bee stings on Lori's face that she died from them. Or is it? The police also discover an injection site on her -- and later find out she's been murdered. Now Monica wonders if Rick wanted to rid himself of the woman, who was clinging to him; or his wife Nora, who disliked her, too. Then she finds out more -- that Lori had a habit of trying to file sexual harassment suits when she was rebuffed; and also that she was disliked by several other people. But who wanted her dead? That's a question Monica needs the answer to, if she can get it before the killer finds her first...
This is the third book in the series and I would like to say that they're improving, but they're not. Still, at least they're holding their own, and I have hopes yet that they might improve along the way. The reason I say this is because when the murderer appears, it practically slaps you across the face. The motive for the murder was patently obvious also, without it even being explained toward the end of the book. I honestly couldn't understand why Monica didn't figure it out immediately, with everything the murderer was saying to cement their guilt.
Still, I kept reading since I was already involved in the story and wanted to see where the author was going to take it from there. But because of this, I found that it was of no matter whoever Monica thought the killer was, I already knew; and she never even went in that direction until it was almost too late (because we know she will be walking into danger sooner or later). Therefore, there wasn't much of a mystery for me, because I had already solved it and I just wanted to see what else the book had to offer.
I was surprised at a couple of developments - I really don't like the fact that Gina is being portrayed as man hungry, since at first she seemed to be devastated that she was dumped by her husband, but now she seems desperate to have a man in her life. Gina needs some self-esteem. She needs a therapist, and now.
Then there were a couple of other developments that seemed rushed, since this is only the third book, but it's fine and didn't bother me too much. It was basically the fact that I discovered the truth so early on that I just kept reading in order to finish the book, if for nothing else than to see the murderer explain their actions to Monica. In the end, it was an okay book, and I will probably continue reading the series anyway.
https://www.amazon.com/Dead-Berried-Cranberry-Cove-Mystery/dp/0425274551/ref=
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1983035879
More on Peg Cochran's Books: https://www.fantasticfiction.com/c/peg-cochran/
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