DEAD AND BERRIED

By Peg Cochran

Life is going well for Monica Albertson, who has moved to the small Michigan town of Cranberry Cove to go into the cranberry business with her half brother, Jeff. Jeff is the owner of Sassamanash Farm, and not only produces the fruit but also has a store on the premises to sell a wide variety of yummy food all of which contain—you guessed it—cranberries.  Jeff takes care of the crop and Monica bakes and runs the store with the assistance of part-time employees, Nora Taylor and Arline Loomis.

There’s more to producing a successful cranberry crop than Monica (and I) ever realized. For example, cranberry flowers can’t self-fertilize, and fertilization is critical to expand the number of plants. To give them some help, Jeff has rented bees (yes, you read that correctly) under the watchful supervision of local bee-keeper Rick Taylor, Nora’s husband, who arrives with a truckload of honeybees and his assistant, Lori Wenk.  It’s obvious to Monica that Lori has a king-size crush on her boss and doesn’t care who knows it, including Rick’s wife. It’s even more obvious that, once a few of the bees are released, Lori’s in the wrong profession, because she’s stung so many times that she immediately dies. Something is definitely wrong, because Rick had decided against releasing the bees because of an approaching rain storm, and the bees don’t like getting wet. Who released the bees? And why? Is it murder? And what a way to die.

The police immediately suspect Nora. They’re also suspicious of Rick, who was uncomfortable with Lori’s advances. But when Monica starts nosing around, she finds Lori had a history of antagonizing people that stretched way back. Monica is determined to find the truth about her death, no matter what the cost.

“Dead and Berried” is a fun mystery that cozy fans will love. The book has true to life characters, a realistic plot, and clever twists and turns that are totally unexpected.