Mulberry Mischief (A Berry Basket Mystery)
Cozy Mystery
4th in Series
Kensington (August 27, 2019)
Mass Market Paperback: 352 pages

Synopsis

Autumn has arrived on the shores of Lake Michigan, but Marlee Jacob, proprietor of The Berry Basket, is feeling a chill for other reasons …

With the Harvest Health Fair in full swing, Marlee makes sure to stock up on elderberry products for cold and flu season. But this year there’s also a run on mulberry when an eccentric customer wants to use the dried berries to ward off evil forces. True, it’s almost Halloween, but something else seems to be spooking Leticia the Lake Lady, Oriole Point’s oddest resident. She believes someone plans to kill her—and the ghost. Only mulberries can protect them. Marlee doesn’t take her fears seriously until a man named Felix Bonaventure arrives in the village, asking questions about a mysterious woman.

The next day, Marlee finds Bonaventure dead on Leticia’s property—shot through the heart with an arrow made of mulberry wood. And Leticia has disappeared. Marlee soon learns the Lake Lady has a deadly past that is connected to the famous Sable family who are in town for the health fair. A bunch of clues start to come together—and figuring out what’s going on puts Marlee in a real jam …

Includes Berry Recipes!

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Review

I was introduced to this author last year (or the year before, time flies by too quickly) and ever since I read the first book, Dying for Strawberries, I have been a fan of this series.  Living on a lake, running a store, and berries of all sorts everywhere.  Sounds like a perfect combination to me!

Marlee and the gang are back to solve another murder.  I don’t think Marlee likes stumbling across dead bodies, just seems to be the way her life goes (as it seems to be with any cozy protagonist!) but this time, the potentially accused murderer has a lot more to hide than just being eccentric in their small town.  Leticia the Lake Lady is well known for her crazy antics and orange hair.  Little does anyone know the truth about her past until strange things keep happening and someone ends up dead.

I really enjoy all that I learn about different berries in this series.  This book focuses on the Mulberry and the information shared about this berry is fascinating and I never would have known any of these tidbits had I not read this book.  When it comes to the killer, there are multiple possibilities as to who it might be and I didn’t figure it out until the killer was revealed.  That is the sign of a good book to me when there are many clues and the obvious answer is not evident.

I loved how many of the residents of the town were volunteering at a health fair and were in costume since the event was close to Halloween.  I cracked up at someone in a Chip costume (Chip ‘n Dale) and had the citizen in the It costume (Stephen King) tapped me on the shoulder I might have screamed a bit!  I enjoyed the return of many of Marlee’s friends like Natasha and Theo.

There is the romance between Marlee and Kit that is still going strong and they play well off of each other despite the fact that she tends to put herself in some dangerous situations.

This series gets better with each book and we give this one 5 paws up.

About the Author

Sharon Farrow is the latest pen name of award winning author Sharon Pisacreta. Born and raised in Detroit, Michigan, Sharon has been a freelance writer since her twenties. Published in mystery, fantasy, and romance, Sharon currently writes The Berry Basket cozy mystery series, which debuted October 2016 with Dying For Strawberries. She is also one half of the writing team D.E. Ireland, who co-author the Agatha nominated Eliza Doolittle and Henry Higgins mysteries.

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