Thank you to the authors, publishers, and NetGalley for providing these ARCs in exchange for honest reviews. The recipe reviews and food pairing found on my Instagram feed are of my own doing.
A Berry Suspicious Death
The Cranberry Cover Mysteries #9
Peg Cochran
Beyond the Page Publishing
This is the 9th book in the series and it starts out with Monica‘s half-brother Jeff getting married at the Sassamanash cranberry farm. Everything starts out joyous and thankfully the happy couple is on their way to their honeymoon before the body is found by our sleuth. Monica had only just met Jolie Spencer when her talented baker/employee Mick introduced her as his wife…Monica didn’t even know he was dating. Guess who ends up at the top of the suspect list when Jolie turns up dead? As usual, our sleuth feels compelled to look into things because she just can’t imagine Mick killing anyone. Mick hasn’t exactly been 100% truthful with Monica but a being a killer is not one of the things he is hiding. It turns out that Jolie is a recent widow who had a rather well off and much older husband, whom she had met while working as his health aide while he was terribly sick. He died not long after they were married leaving behind Jolie and his two adult daughters. One can imagine what the adult daughters think about their now rich stepmom. Thus the plot thickens like a nice soup you might find at the Pepper Pot, and excellent restaurant who Monica often goes for dinner with husband or lunch with a friend. Another possible suspect is Jolie’s daughter who is not as well off as Jolie, in fact she is struggling financially and works at a seedy bar to make ends meet. Monica having recently become a mom herself, does a pretty good job of balancing “new mom” responsibilities with hunting down clues. She even takes time to get in a little exercising with Jeff’s mom, Gina. The visits to the fitness facility lead Monica down an entirely different rabbit hole...and perhaps another suspect as well. The story has you guessing and second guessing with well laid clues and tricky red herrings. In addition to an engaging and entertaining mystery you also have a great seasonal bread recipe using fresh cranberries, bananas, and walnuts waiting for you at the conclusion of the story.
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