Red Delicious Death by Sheila Connolly is the third book in the “Orchard” mystery series. Publisher: Berkley Prime Crime (Penguin), March 2010

So much for apple-y ever after…

A bunch of baby-faced chefs who are fresh out of cooking school are looking to open a restaurant in Granford. They plan on using locally-grown foods, which is great news for city-girl banker turned newbie orchard-owner Meg Corey. She can contribute apples from the orchard she inherited—while continuing to harvest her romance with Seth, the local plumber.

Yet when one of the chefs is found dead, facedown in a farmer’s pig wallow, plans come to a screeching halt. Who could possibly have murdered this nice young man? Met sets about looking into it without stepping on people’s toes, but her investigation digs up some old town secrets—and Meg soon realizes that they have a locally grown killer on their hands.

Despite being a bit descriptive, this was a good read and I like the characters and I look forward to reading the next book in the series. My rating: 3.5 stars