Review by Booklist Review
Shiloh Bellamy returned from L.A. to her hometown of Cherry Glen, Michigan, to run her floundering family farm. At an ice-fishing tournament, she discovers the body of Wallace Fields. When her good friend Kristy's husband, Kent, is determined to have been the last person in contact with Fields, he becomes the chief suspect in the murder, especially as he was also passed over as brewmaster at Fields' microbrewery. Kristy asks Shiloh to investigate and Shiloh agrees, asking questions that expand the suspect pool to some disgruntled fellow microbrewers and members of Fields' family. Shiloh is a complex, sympathetic character with a host of personal problems. She's pinned her hopes for saving the farm on somehow finding her grandmother's hidden treasure, while trying to make peace with her father and possibly embarking on a relationship with a man she's known for years. The difficulties of keeping a family farm afloat enliven the story, and the vivid winter setting adds atmosphere to this third in Flower's series (following Put Out to Pasture, 2022).
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Moving from Hollywood to a Michigan farm involves a dutiful daughter in murder. Shiloh Bellamy gave up a high-powered job to return to Cherry Glen to try to save the family farm. When she and her pug, Huckleberry, slide off an icy road, she's rescued by widowed firefighter Quinn Killian, her late fiance's best friend. She begins to watch Quinn's daughter, Hazel, several times a week, but her attraction to Hazel's father is tempered by the past. Shiloh hopes to sell organic grain to an expanding local brewery that's hosting a party to announce specialty beers, with the winner of the best new beer contest awarded the brewmaster job. Her best friend, Kristy Brown, is so upset when her husband Kent's brew doesn't win that she wonders if the contest was fixed. Next morning, Shiloh takes her father to an ice fishing derby where Quinn and Hazel have saved a spot for him. Shiloh and Huckleberry are on the way to help Kristy at the Cherry Glenn booth when they discover the body of brewery owner Wallace Fields under the ice. Because Kent is a suspect, Shiloh feels she must investigate. And after all, county sheriff Milan Penbrook is much nicer to Shiloh than the local police chief, who didn't appreciate her sticking her nose into murder cases on his turf. She discovers that Fields was far from a popular man; in fact, his own wife hardly appears upset over his death. Shiloh learns much about bird-watching and myriad enemies of the brewer, but she's skating on thin ice with a determined killer. An adorable pug and characters you can invest in enliven a very cherry-centric mystery. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
