Dying for Strawberries (Berry Basket, Bk 1)
Author:
Genre: Mystery, Thriller & Suspense
Book Type: Mass Market Paperback
Author:
Genre: Mystery, Thriller & Suspense
Book Type: Mass Market Paperback
Helpful Score: 3
Marlee Jacobs lives in Oriole Point, Michigan and runs a little shop called The Berry Basket. She was raised here but has just returned two years ago after being embroiled in a media shocking murder investigation in New York. Marlee loves her life here, is engaged to a gorgeous man, and has an amazing house on the lake. When a fellow shop owner is murdered and Marlee just happens to be on his house at the time, thinks start to haywire. Marlee is positive that the murder is tied into a real estate deal and blackmail, and she is going to prove it, even if it means alienating herself from the rest of the town.
This is the first book in the Berry Basket Mystery series. It amazed me that this was the first book. I felt like I had missed so much backstory. She keeps referring back to stuff, like the reader is suppose to know what she is talking about, so I was positive this was at least book 2 or 3 in the series. With it being the first, it is confusing why Ms. Farrow would write it this way. Maybe I am missing something...
As for the characters, some were good and some were cardboard cutouts. The main character, Marlee, was likable, but I didn't really understand her. The murder had nothing to do with her really, yet she went all out to solve it. And why would these other shop owners tell her stuff. I don't get it. I mean she was all for justice telling everyone that finding the murderer trumped their heartfelt secrets, but who was she to pick and choose what the police got to know and what they didn't. I didn't understand any of the motivations of most of the characters, except the murderer.
The mystery was good. I liked how it really could have been multiple people. It was a pretty straightforward cozy, except it really felt like you were reading the third book in the series. It was an okay read. I wouldn't preorder the next in the series, but I might read it. A give it a solid C.
* I voluntarily read an Advance Reader Copy of this book and gave an honest review *
This is the first book in the Berry Basket Mystery series. It amazed me that this was the first book. I felt like I had missed so much backstory. She keeps referring back to stuff, like the reader is suppose to know what she is talking about, so I was positive this was at least book 2 or 3 in the series. With it being the first, it is confusing why Ms. Farrow would write it this way. Maybe I am missing something...
As for the characters, some were good and some were cardboard cutouts. The main character, Marlee, was likable, but I didn't really understand her. The murder had nothing to do with her really, yet she went all out to solve it. And why would these other shop owners tell her stuff. I don't get it. I mean she was all for justice telling everyone that finding the murderer trumped their heartfelt secrets, but who was she to pick and choose what the police got to know and what they didn't. I didn't understand any of the motivations of most of the characters, except the murderer.
The mystery was good. I liked how it really could have been multiple people. It was a pretty straightforward cozy, except it really felt like you were reading the third book in the series. It was an okay read. I wouldn't preorder the next in the series, but I might read it. A give it a solid C.
* I voluntarily read an Advance Reader Copy of this book and gave an honest review *
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