Dead and Berried (A Cranberry Cove Mystery #3)

Author:  Peg Cochran
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/

Berry the Hatchet (A Cranberry Cove Mystery #2)

Author:  Peg Cochran
Genre:   Mystery

Mass Market Paperback: Digital Book
ISBN #:  9780425274514
Berkley Prime Crime Publishing
290 Pages
$7.99; $5.99 Amazon
May 3, 2016

⭐⭐⭐

The entire town of Cranberry Cove is popping with excitement.  Monica Albertson is baking cranberry goodies by the dozen and shopkeepers are decking out their storefronts for the first annual Winter Walk -- an event dreamed up by the mayor to bring visitors to the town during a normally dead time of year.

But it's the mayor who turns up dead during the grand opening ceremony, his lifeless body making its entrance in a horse-drawn sleigh.  Monica's mother and stepmother quickly become the prime suspects when it's discovered that the mayor was dating both of them, and to make things worse, her half brother, Jeff, uncovers a clue buried near one of the bogs on Sassamanash Farm.  Now it's up to Monica to find out who really put the mayor on ice.

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Monica Albertson left her home in Chicago to move to small-town Cranberry Cove, Michigan, to help her half brother on his cranberry farm.  She bakes goods for their store, and does whatever else he needs her to do.  She's been settling in nicely, and even has begun a new relationship with a local bookstore owner.

Also present is her brother Jeff's mother, Gina, who's opened a store and move there, too.  Now, though, her own mother, Nancy, because she's met a man who lives in Cranberry Cove and has decided to pay a visit to both him and Monica.  But soon after her arrival, he's murdered -- and she discovers that not only was he seeing her, but Gina.  Now the local police have told her not to leave town, because both women might be suspects.  To make it worse, Monica finds that her friend Tempest is also a suspect in the murder.  So Monica decides to do an investigation on her own, and hopefully find a killer who just might get away with it...

This is the second book in the series and I am glad to say that I liked it much better than the first.  While it started out slow, I was happy to see that in this book Monica has developed a bit of a backbone, and I also like the fact that even though Nancy disliked Gina, they aren't at each other's throats and have come to a common ground.  (I really dislike the 'evil nemesis' angle in books).

Although Monica knows both women are innocent, she begins to wonder who hated the mayor enough to kill him.  While there aren't a lot of suspects, Monica sets her sights on one in particular, but then something occurs to make her wonder if she's looking in the right direction.  She gives what clues she does discover to the police, and hopes that Detective Stevens will follow through on them.

While this book isn't too involved in throwing everyone red herrings, one thing I didn't care for was the fact that Monica was like a dog with a bone.  She wasn't going to let go of her insistence on this person being the guilty party, and had made up scenarios in her own head how they could have done it.  I get that she wanted to prove her mother, Gina, and Tempest innocent, but I didn't feel that there was really anything pointing to them specifically anyway.

When the ending came and the killer was revealed, the reason for the murder was again an interesting one that was unexpected, and I did enjoy the way the murderer was caught.  It was done differently, and that was a nice change.  As stated above, I did enjoy this book more than the last and I will continue the series to see if it improves even further.

https://www.amazon.com/Berry-Hatchet-Cranberry-Cove-Mystery/dp/0425274519/ref

Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3230630942

More on Peg Cochran's Books:  https://www.fantasticfiction.com/c/peg-cochran/

Berried Secrets (A Cranberry Cove Mystery #1)

Author:  Peg Cochran
Genre:   Mystery

Mass Market Paperback; Digital Book
ISBN #:  9780425274507
Berkley Prime Crime Publishing
288 Pages
$7.99; $2.99 Amazon
August 4, 2015

⭐⭐

When Monica Albertson comes to Cranberry Cove -- a charming town on the eastern shore of Lake Michigan -- to help her half brother, Jeff, on his cranberry farm, the last thing she expects to harvest is a dead body.

It seems that Sam Culbert, who ran the farm while Jeff was deployed overseas, had some juicy secrets that would soon prove fatal, and Jeff is ripe for picking as a prime suspect.  Forming an uneasy alliance with her high-maintenance stepmother, Monica has her hands full trying to save the farm while searching for a killer.  Culbert made plenty of enemies in the quaint small town...but which one was desperate enough to kill?

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Monica Albertson left a failed restaurant in Chicago to help her brother on his cranberry farm in Michigan.  He bought the farm hoping to make a go of it, but so far it's been tough.  So now she's out in the bogs with the other workers trying to harvest cranberries, when her rake catches on something in the bottom -- and up comes a body.  It turns out that it's Sam Culbert, the man she saw her brother Jeff arguing with a day ago, and now she fears that Jeff will be at the top of the police detective's list.  So, along with her stepmother Gina -- who arrived unexpectedly -- she sets out to find a killer who seems to have been able to escape any notice so far...

I really wanted to like this book, but unfortunately, it ran so slow.  It was difficult to get into the beginning of it, and while cranberry farms might be interesting to some, they aren't to me.  I'd go so far as to say if I were on vacation, unlike tourists in the area, I wouldn't even bother with a tour of one.  (I do like cranberry juice, but that's as far as it goes for me).

Anyway, Monica is not the kind of person I'd like to know.  She's judgmental of others, even going so far as to make fun of her stepmother, who apparently is a decent person and treats her like a daughter.  The only complaint I have with Gina is she calls Jeff "Jeffie," and what grown woman still calls her son something like that?  That's my husband's name, and I'd cringe if my mother-in-law even used it once.

Monica herself is a very bland personality, and I almost gave up on the book because of that, but I wanted to see it through anyway.  I figured out the murderer the minute the person stepped onto the page, which isn't a good thing; also I felt there should have been some clue along the way, but there was nothing until the end.  Monica also put herself into a stupid situation because, as I like to say, she couldn't think on her feet and didn't put it together until the last moment.

There are some great-sounding recipes at the back, so at least that's a plus.  However, I'm not sure if I'll read the next in the series or not.

https://www.amazon.com/Berried-Secrets-Cranberry-Cove-Mystery/dp/0425274500/ref=

Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3227272446

More on Peg Cochran's Books:  https://www.fantasticfiction.com/c/peg-cochran/

Bought the Farm (A Farmer's Daughter Mystery #3)

Author:  Peg Cochran
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...

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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/

Sowed to Death (A Farmer's Daughter Mystery #2)

Author:  Peg Cochran
Genre:  Mystery

Mass Market Paperback; Digital Book
ISBN : 9780425282038
Berkley Publishing
298 Pages
$5.93; $7.99 Amazon
July 4, 2017

✮✮

The county fair is the highlight of the year for the small town of Lovett, Michigan - especially for food-and-lifestyle blogger Shelby McDonald, who writes as the Farmer's Daughter.  She is submitting jams and jellies she's created from the produce she grows at Love Blossom Farm in hopes of harvesting a blue ribbon.

But the townspeople get more than just the excitement of hayrides, tractor pulls, and cotton candy when Shelby's neighbor and volunteer fireman, Jake Taylor, extricates the body of Zeke Barnstable instead of a dummy during a demonstration of the Jaws of Life.  The fact that Jake and Zeke were known to be at odds plants suspicion in the minds of the police.  As evidence against Jake grows, Shelby knows she has to plow through the clues to weed out the true killer and save her friend.

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When Shelby attends the county fair with her kids, she's watching the firemen give a demonstration of how the Jaws of Life work.  But when Jake Taylor is pulling the dummy from the car, it turns out to be a real body - and someone that Jake wasn't fond of.  So of course he's suspected of killing the man, and Shelby does what any good friend would do - she resolves to find the real killer before Jake can be set up for the crime...

This is the second book in the Farmer's Daughter mysteries, and I was really hoping it would get better; but unfortunately, Shelby still isn't a good example of a parent.  She allows her daughter to run roughshod over her, even though she's still a kid herself.  Why are we being treated to the trials and tribulations of being a pre-teen in love?  At what point is Shelby going to act the adult and tell her daughter to straighten up?  So this little girl sees her 'boyfriend' holding hands with another girl and tells her mom that no one loves her.  And this is supposed to endear her to us?  To show us just how immature she really is?  Um, no.  So then her daughter is accused of cheating by a teacher, and Shelby finds out it was the "popular girl" instead.  Amelia (the daughter) won't tell because she'll have to 'sit with the nerds'.  Hmmm...there's a whole lot wrong here.  1) Shelby allows her daughter to think being popular is more important than having integrity or telling the truth; and 2) letting her believe that 'nerds' are the worst thing ever.   (In the first book, she let someone steal from her son, and now she's okay with someone lying to save their own skin.  What kind of person is Shelby?  Spineless, that's what).

Plus, Shelby has three men who want to date her and she's agonizing over it because she doesn't know if she's ready to date.  Yes, folks, a love quadrangle.  And one of those men is her brother-in-law.  While this may not be creepy to some, I can't even imagine sleeping with either of my brothers-in-law (shudder).  Too close to home, if you get my drift.  Uncle goes to Daddy real fast in that case.  Maybe she should think about things and allow the kids to spend time with the other two men (since they already know Uncle Frank).  She might come up with a few surprises, anyway.

All in all, not much improvement over the first in the series.  Shelby has no idea how to deal with a daughter, and when her son Billy gets older who knows what will happen then.  She'd better get married fast so at least there'll be one parent in the family.

https://www.amazon.com/Sowed-Death-Farmers-Daughter-Mystery/dp/0425282031/

Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2336254838

More on Peg Cochran's Books:  https://www.fantasticfiction.com/c/peg-cochran/

No Farm, No Foul (A Farmer's Daughter Mystery #1)

Author:  Peg Cochran
Genre:  Mystery

Mass Market Paperback; Digital Book
ISBN #: 9780425282021
Berkley Publishing
303 Pages
$7.19; $7.19 Amazon
September 6, 2016

✮✭

On her blog, The Farmer's Daughter, Shelby McDonald is growing her audience as she posts recipes, garden tips, and her experiences raising two kids and running Love Blossom Farm in the small western Michigan town of Lovett.

Working the farm is demanding but peaceful - until that peace is shattered when the minister's wife is murdered on Shelby's property during a fund-raiser for a local church.  But the manure really hits the fan when Shelby's good friend veterinarian Kelly Thacker emerges as the prime suspect.  Shelby decides to dig in and find the murderer by herself.  As more suspects crop up, she'll have to move fast - before someone else buys the farm...

✽✽✽✽✽✽✽✽

Shelby McDonald is a widow who lives on the family farm with her twelve-year-old daughter and eight-year-old son.  She's offered her farm for a church fundraiser, and everything seems to be going along swimmingly when she steps into her mudroom only to find the body of the minister's wife.  Stunned, she can't think who would want to kill the woman.

But she plans on staying out of the investigation until her best friend Kelly, the local veterinarian, asks her to investigate, because Kelly believes her fiancé Seth could have possibly committed the murder.  What's a woman to do?  Of course she agrees and hopes to find the true killer before the killer finds her...

Well, since this is the first in a new series, I usually give the author a pass and at least offer two stars if the book isn't up to par...and I did try, indeed I did.  But there was so much I just couldn't get past to give it any more than that.

She has her daughter - did I mention she's twelve? - sneaking out behind her back with a fourteen-year-old boy and everyone around her thinks it's just fine except for her.  Are her friends hillbillies who think girls need to be married at thirteen or they become old maids?  What the heck is the matter with them?  She's twelve, for heaven's sake!  I hope Shelby's not surprised when she's a grandmother in a year or two.  Mom doesn't want to confront her daughter figuring it's a phase.  Can you say spineless?  Because that's what Shelby is.  Tell your daughter no, and tell the boy's mother no.  Bad parenting is what it is.  Also, she might want to think about having her kids do a few chores around the farm.  They live there, too.  Would it be so difficult if they collected eggs or fed the chickens?

And speaking of bad parenting, someone steals her son's zucchini that he was going to enter in the county fair.  Her son is eight.  He's a child.  So when she finds out who steals it, she confronts the woman, and the woman's response is that her own son just needs to win the contest.  So that makes it alright?  Theft is fine as long as it benefits someone else?  Her son's feelings don't matter?  So what does she do?  She asks her about the murder!  That's right, asks her about the murder.  It's perfectly fine to steal her son's zucchini and break his heart as long as she gets information.  Are you freakin' kidding me?  I would have left, and as I was going out the door, I would have told her that she can forget about it because I was going to the fair judges to tell them what she'd done.  How many times has this woman done this in the past, and if she gets away with it once, she'll do it again.  But it's okay because she could ask questions about the murder, right?  Yeah, go home and tell your boy that you told her you knew what she'd done but you didn't do anything about it because you wanted to ask her a question.  That will make him feel better.

Then we come to the subject of Kelly who thinks her boyfriend is capable of murder.  Why is she marrying him then?  Are there no other men in this town?  Sorry, but if you believe the man you're going to wed has committed murder, then maybe you should back out of the marriage.  Don't make him mad or you could be next...

Sorry, but Shelby is a weak woman; she seems to be apologizing to everyone and walks on eggshells around her daughter.  Grow a backbone, woman!  So, in the end, I will read the next in this series and see if it improves.  Perhaps Shelby will have grown up by then.

https://www.amazon.com/Farm-Foul-Farmers-Daughter-Mystery/dp/0425282023/

Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2336215801

More on Peg Cochran's Books:  https://www.fantasticfiction.com/c/peg-cochran/

Hit and Nun (A Lucille Mystery Book 3)

Author:  Peg Cochran
Genre:  Mystery

Five Stars

When the owner of Lucille's favorite pizzeria drops dead at her feet, she’s left wondering who could have harmed such a kind man—and wondering where she’ll get her favorite food now. Deciding to go undercover as a pizza maker to sniff out the clues—and maybe an extra slice or two—Lucille’s determined to track down the culprit before they can strike again. 

As the hunt for the killer heats up, Lucille and her friend Flo dig deeper into the crime and discover a jealous wife, a competitive pizza man who would kill for more business, and a decades-old mystery that may hold the key to the murder. Trouble is, the one person who could break the case wide open is a nun who took a vow of silence—and she’s not talking.

********

Lucille stops in at her favorite pizzeria and speaks briefly with the owner's wife, Tiffany, and purchases a couple of slices for her lunch.  She then goes to work at St. Rocco's, and while checking flowers, the pizzeria's owner, Sal, runs into the church asking for the priest.  It turns out, Sal has been stabbed, and dies before he can tell Lucille who did this.  Thus begins the search for his killer...

Now we already know Lucille and her friend Flo are going to investigate the murder, even though they know they shouldn't.  But what makes this book good is the fact that the investigation seems to go in so many different directions.  They have no problem questioning anyone, even if it means the police are eventually going to show up.

I enjoyed the mystery as well as the back story between Lucille and her family.  I did come away with the thought that her daughter Bernadette is one of the laziest people I've ever seen in a book.  She almost appears to be a walking zombie, doing nothing but eating and watching television, even if she does have a baby.  (Most young mothers I've met are quite harried, just trying to keep it all together, but this girl barely speaks and doesn't do anything around the house to help her mom at all.)  Flo is a hoot, still trying to hang onto her youth at any cost, and even though one isn't old when one is in their fifties, they're still not twenty, and the relationships between Lucille, Frankie (her husband) and the rest of her relatives seem real.

The mystery itself was indeed inventive.  It made you want to find out what exactly was happening, and why, so much so that I finished the book in one sitting (into the wee hours of the morning and I'll probably suffer for it today!) but I honestly couldn't put it down once things started to get going and more than one person seemed suspicious.  The ending was all I could have hoped for, and more.

If one thing about the book bothered me, it was the way Lucille talked - I get that she's Italian, but she used a lot of double negatives and spoke differently than every other character, including her mother.  Things like "them" instead of "the,"saying "this here" instead of "this," "didn't hear no" instead of  "didn't hear any."  Her daughter nor her husband speak like that, either, so I don't understand why she does, but I didn't allow it to spoil my enjoying the book, and neither should anyone else.  In the end, highly recommended.

http://www.amazon.com/Hit-Nun-Lucille-Mystery-Book-ebook/dp/B00RW5Q6HW/

Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1190752486