It was, appropriately, peach season when I read Peach Clobber, an installment of Karen MacInerney’s Dewberry Farm cozy mystery series. These tales are cute despite the murders that mar the peace of this rural Buttercup Texas setting.
Karen’s Gray Whale Inn mysteries set in Maine are my favorites, but these light reads are great too. In this one, two sisters struggle to save a historic peach orchard in spite of the many unexplained mishaps, including what main character/mini-farm owner/amateur sleuth, Lucy Resnick and others believe was likely a murder on the premises.
Are other lives in danger also? The sisters are actually polar opposites when it comes to the goal of saving the fruit farm from financial ruin. Could that make one of them a murderer? Or are there additional suspects in the running? Lucy has her own issues to contend with including the injury of Hot Lips, one of her favorite goats. Can Lucy’s boyfriend/veterinarian Tobias save the beloved creature?
There’s never a dull moment as Lucy and her neighbors strive to keep their small farms profitable. Lucy ends up confronting a potential murder suspect with the help of an unlikely accomplice and possible suspect. As usual, Karen has included a collection of recipes. I’ll pass on the King Ranch Chicken Casserole, though I love the title. But the Peach Iced Tea sounds juicy and flavorful – quite intriguing.
I’m reminiscing about the sweet, tangy flesh of the Reliance White peach tree my Mom planted in the dooryard of our farmhouse.
Mystery Book Reviews by Penny Mason 