Dead on the Vine by Elle Brooke White is the first book in the NEW “Finn Family Farm” cozy mystery series. Publisher: Crooked Lane Books, coming April 7, 2020.
Reluctant farmer Charlotte Finn needs the help of the livestock to sleuth a mysterious death.
Charlotte Finn never wanted to inherit the family’s produce farm–much less plow a heap of money into it. Her plan is to hammer a great big FOR SALE sign into the farm’s fallow furrows–but Charlotte’s sunny hopes of a quick sale succumb to a killing frost when she finds a dead body entwined supine in the tomato vines. The poor man, it seems, was run through. . .with a pitchfork?
Now, Charlotte is stuck with running the farm in the midst of a murder investigation. Charlotte’s knowledge of farming is smaller than her bank balance, so she relies on caretakers Joe and Alice Wong and their farmhands. Can she trust them? She doesn’t know them. There’s also farmer Samuel Brown, who still carries a childhood grudge. But the case gets personal when Charlotte learns that the victim might have been her own kin–and seeds of suspicion grow into a fertile field of suspects.
Charlotte turns to the farm’s baby pig to help root out the killer. Soon, the goats, geese, and horse join in, but will Charlotte harvest a murderer–or buy the farm?
Dru’s Musing:
I had such a fun time reading this book.
This was a fast-paced and well-written drama that I could not put down, until all was said and done. I like how this mystery was staged with suspects here and there and clues planted to keep me intrigued throughout. The author knows how to tell a story with visually descriptive narrative that placed me in the middle of all the action. I had a great time watching this all play out with a few twists and turns that were key to the reveal of the killer’s identity. I like how humor was interjected into a variety of scenes that had me laughing out loud. Boasting a quirky cast of characters – wait till you meet them, engaging dialogue and a comfortable setting, this was a delightfully entertaining whodunit and I look forward to more adventures with Charlotte and her friends.
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FTC Full Disclosure – I received an Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) from the publisher.
Sounds interesting.