Killer Jam (Dewberry Farm #1)
Paperback, 272 pages
Published July 28th 2015 by Thomas & Mercer
Goodreads synopsis:
When Houston reporter Lucy Resnick cashes in her retirement to buy her grandmother’s farm in Buttercup, Texas, she’s looking forward to a simple life as a homesteader. But Lucy has barely finished putting up her first batch of Killer Dewberry Jam when an oil exploration truck rolls up to the farm and announces plans to replace her broccoli patch with an oil derrick. Two days later, Nettie Kocurek, the woman who ordered the drilling, turns up dead at the Founders’ Day Festival with a bratwurst skewer through her heart and one of Lucy’s jam jars beside her…and the sheriff fingers Lucy as the prime suspect.
Horrified, Lucy begins to talk to Nettie’s neighbors, but the more she gets to know the townspeople, the more she realizes she’s not the only one who had a beef with Nettie. Can she clear her name, or will her dream life turn into a nightmare?
***
4 stars
Lucy Resnick decides to give up her newspaper reporting job in order to live life on her grandmother’s farm. She makes her living from making candles, jams and other baked goodies. Due to a long rivalry between the last owner of the property (Nettie) and Lucy’s grandfather, Nettie has retained the mineral rights to her grandparent’s property and plans to dig for oil if it is found on her land. This upsets Lucy and then she soon discovers that Nettie has been doing similar things to many other residents in town. So, when Nettie ends up dead, it is a coin toss who could have done it. But Nettie’s son’s gaze is fixed straight on Lucy since it was her jam jar that had committed the murder. And the sherif (Nettie’s son) , plans on making Lucy pay for her so called crime.
This was a great story. The protagonist was particularly good. I loved to hate Nettie. I can’t recommend this more highly. If you love cozy mysteries, please read this. Definitely a series I plan to follow.
I received this as an ARC (Advanced Reader Copy) in return for an honest review. I thank NetGalley, the publisher and the author for allowing me to read this title.
