Dollycas's Thoughts
Kate Mulligan has returned to Orchardville, Pennsylvania with a plan following the loss of her husband to an awful car accident and her inheritance of her uncle Stan's orchard. She has mostly recovered from the physical injuries she sustained in the crash and feels she is ready to open a cider house at the orchard. She feels her uncle's orchard manager, Carl Randolph, will help her with the orchard and get the cider house off to a great start. Their first meeting goes well and he has done everything she asked so they are ready to hit the ground running. She is stunned when she later finds him dead in his cottage.
Who would kill Carl and why? The information she received from her uncle's lawyer conflicted with the information she received from Carl. In fact, the attorney had found her a buyer to take the orchard off her hands.
After Carl's death, she finds irregularities in his bank account that confuses her even more. Could these issues be the reason he was killed? And why does someone want her property so badly? Can her new neighbor Daniel Martinez help her answer all her questions or is he part of the problem?
Kate may have a bushel full of trouble. Can she solve all the mysteries and open her cider house? Or will she be forced to leave her dream behind? Worse, will the killer decide she is another threat that needs to be eliminated?
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I enjoyed meeting Kate Mulligan and her fire to follow her dream of having her own cider house. She is missing her husband and dealing with her own recovery but she does her best to tackle everything thrown at her including trying to find the killer of her orchard manager. I liked Carl and was sad he was the victim. We meet a variety of residents of the small town of Orchardville from Uncle Stan's attorney to Rudy Miller of Miller's Grocery Emporium to her old friend Marguerite Yost to her neighbor, Daniel Martinez, and more. Orchardville is a typical small town where everybody knows everybody and usually all their business. All the characters were well-crafted with room to get to know most of them better as the series continues.
The mystery held my attention. I knew early on that one character was up to something fishy but was unsure about all the elements going on behind the scenes. Those elements were all twisted and tangled together and much more involved than I had imagined. Secrets, lies, revenge, and greed played into a very intriguing mystery and set up an interesting showdown with help from an unexpected character.
I enjoyed the author's descriptive writing style. Her words brought to life all the places our protagonist visited. I especially like the details of setting up the cider house in the barn on Kate's property and that the history of the area plays in a major way throughout the story. It is nice to get the "lay of the land" in the first book of a series so readers can build a picture of the locations in their mind's eye.
Deadly to the Core has set the Cider House Mysteries off to a terrific start. I enjoyed this stirring mystery with a strong protagonist surrounded by a great supporting cast. I am eager to get to know these characters better and see what Ms. Tremel has planned for them next.
Kate Mulligan has returned to Orchardville, Pennsylvania with a plan following the loss of her husband to an awful car accident and her inheritance of her uncle Stan's orchard. She has mostly recovered from the physical injuries she sustained in the crash and feels she is ready to open a cider house at the orchard. She feels her uncle's orchard manager, Carl Randolph, will help her with the orchard and get the cider house off to a great start. Their first meeting goes well and he has done everything she asked so they are ready to hit the ground running. She is stunned when she later finds him dead in his cottage.
Who would kill Carl and why? The information she received from her uncle's lawyer conflicted with the information she received from Carl. In fact, the attorney had found her a buyer to take the orchard off her hands.
After Carl's death, she finds irregularities in his bank account that confuses her even more. Could these issues be the reason he was killed? And why does someone want her property so badly? Can her new neighbor Daniel Martinez help her answer all her questions or is he part of the problem?
Kate may have a bushel full of trouble. Can she solve all the mysteries and open her cider house? Or will she be forced to leave her dream behind? Worse, will the killer decide she is another threat that needs to be eliminated?
_____
I enjoyed meeting Kate Mulligan and her fire to follow her dream of having her own cider house. She is missing her husband and dealing with her own recovery but she does her best to tackle everything thrown at her including trying to find the killer of her orchard manager. I liked Carl and was sad he was the victim. We meet a variety of residents of the small town of Orchardville from Uncle Stan's attorney to Rudy Miller of Miller's Grocery Emporium to her old friend Marguerite Yost to her neighbor, Daniel Martinez, and more. Orchardville is a typical small town where everybody knows everybody and usually all their business. All the characters were well-crafted with room to get to know most of them better as the series continues.
The mystery held my attention. I knew early on that one character was up to something fishy but was unsure about all the elements going on behind the scenes. Those elements were all twisted and tangled together and much more involved than I had imagined. Secrets, lies, revenge, and greed played into a very intriguing mystery and set up an interesting showdown with help from an unexpected character.
I enjoyed the author's descriptive writing style. Her words brought to life all the places our protagonist visited. I especially like the details of setting up the cider house in the barn on Kate's property and that the history of the area plays in a major way throughout the story. It is nice to get the "lay of the land" in the first book of a series so readers can build a picture of the locations in their mind's eye.
Deadly to the Core has set the Cider House Mysteries off to a terrific start. I enjoyed this stirring mystery with a strong protagonist surrounded by a great supporting cast. I am eager to get to know these characters better and see what Ms. Tremel has planned for them next.
