Farm Fresh Murder

First Line: "What?" I yelled into my cell phone.

When Becca Robins' aunt and uncle were killed in a car accident, her twin sister Allison inherited enough money to pay off her college loans and save some for her children's educations, and Becca inherited the couple's farm. Allison manages Bailey's Farmers' Market in rural South Carolina, and the morning she calls her sister in a panic, Becca has to stop working on her latest batch of jam to head straight over there.

Becca is well acquainted with Bailey's since she makes a living selling her jams and preserves there. When she arrives, she discovers that one of the new vendors, Matt Simonsen, has been murdered. The prime suspect? "Old, bald, and cranky" Abner Justen, seller of show more extraordinary wildflowers and the man who treats Becca like a daughter. Things are looking bad for Abner-- who's disappeared-- and Becca is determined to call a halt to her jam making until she's found the clues that will lead to the real killer.

This first book in the Farmers' Market series introduces us to homegrown and handmade treasures, a murder that involves unlocking many past secrets, and a cast of very interesting characters. If you're the type of reader who doesn't care for southern vernacular speech, you're not going to find it here. One of the few things that I didn't particularly care for was the fact that the book didn't really feel as though it was set in South Carolina, and I don't mean to infer that a writer needs to have all the characters spouting "y'all" in every sentence. The rural and small town atmosphere, however, is done very well. The mystery is also a good one. I unraveled several clues, did my own deduction, but I still hadn't figured it all out.

As with most cozy mysteries, it was the cast of characters that drew most of my attention. Becca is the most interesting, not just because she is the main character, but because she's flawed. She tends to be very focused and self-centered, and as a result, she's really only socialized with her co-workers at the farmers' market itself. She doesn't know where most of her friends live, and she's only ever invited them to her own home if she's needed help with her work. I liked watching her learn a few uncomfortable truths about herself during the course of her investigation, and I look forward to seeing if she's really learned her lesson. I also liked the character of cranky old Abner as well as another stall owner named Jeanine, who "didn't make a habit of being friendly, but she wasn't rude." Naturally Becca was the character in the spotlight throughout Farm Fresh Murder, and I'm looking forward to seeing the other characters Shelton created being developed more fully in subsequent books.

The farmers' market is a winning setting. Combine that with a keen eye for a mystery and a cast of characters you want to get to know better, and I know I'll be wandering through Bailey's Farmers' Market again in the future. show less

I especially like it when a mystery gets right to the action, the death happens within the first five pages...now THAT'S what I'm talkin' 'bout. The rest of the book is all about getting Becca involved (in a satisfying to me way....come on you know how I am) in solving the murder.
I enjoyed the whole process, watching Becca meet the hottie new guy, Ian, and the possible new guy, police Officer Brion. Becca admits she doesn't have a fab history with men, so she treads carefully with both.
The mystery is well written and I had my favorite "WTH?" moment when the killer was revealed. And the action didn't stop! Very cool.
I know I love a story, too, when I want to move to the town where the action is happening. I want to move to South show more Carolina, I want to have a stall at Baileys' Farmers' Market and I want to have a farm like Becca's and make jam all the live long day....and I want to find the MMMMM-Amazing lemon meringue pie that Mamma Maria creates...read the book and you'll see why on all counts...

Five enticing jam-filled beans..... show less

The one day Becca Robins is running late, she arrives at the farmer's market to find that one of her fellow vendors has been murdered. Matt Simonson was a long-time vendor at a farmers' market in a neighboring community and hadn't been at Bailey's Farmers' Market long. Apparently he was there long enough to provoke someone to murder. Suspicion soon falls on Becca's good friend, Abner, who had a public quarrel with the dead man shortly before the murder. Becca's fraternal twin, Allison, manages Bailey's market, and Becca wants to do whatever she can to help Allison calm the fears of the remaining vendors. When Abner disappears before the police can arrest him, Becca is even more determined to do some sleuthing of her own to see if she show more can uncover the real murderer. Her fellow vendors may be more willing to confide in her than in the police.

This is the author's first cozy. It's better than many first-in-series books, but there isn't anything that makes it stand out in the crowd of other cozies with a food, farming, or rural theme. The sense of place isn't strong enough to draw readers, either. The book is set in South Carolina, but the farmer's market sounds like it could be in any rural community in the South or Midwest. By the end of the book, Becca has two potential romantic interests competing for her attention. Hopefully the author won't allow that situation to drag on as long as Joanne Fluke did with Hannah Swensen's two boyfriends in her long-running series. show less

I really enjoyed this first installment in the Farmers Market mystery series. The main character is Becca Robins who sells preserves at Bailey's Farmers' Market, somewhere in South Carolina, and in somewhat close proximity to the Smithfield Farmers' Market. One of the newer vendors is found murdered at the market. Becca doesn't want to see her friend and fellow vendor Abner framed for it, but that's what appears to be happening so she sets out to investigate. Becca's been divorced twice, but she is interested in one of her fellow vendors (Ian) who is ten years her junior and in the investigating officer Sam Brion. While Becca definitely got herself in messes in which she should have avoided and Sam's warning to her to quit investigating show more almost seems useless when he allows her to question people in front of him, it's still an enjoyable read. There's humor interspersed in the narrative at just the right moments. I liked the setting and the characters and plan to continue with the series. show less

Becca Robins, preserve maker extraordinaire, arrives at Bailey's Farmers' Market to sell her goods one morning only to discover that customers might be a little put off by the atmosphere. A dead body and a bunch of police will do that though. Becca needs this murder solved quickly so that her sister doesn't lose her job, a close friend doesn't end up going to jail and she doesn't end up as the next victim.

It was very difficult for me to rate this book. What I enjoyed, I loved, and what I didn't care for, drove me absolutely crazy (expect some ranting but keep in mind these parts in the book were usually very short). I loved the farmers' market setting, it was a lot of fun and I loved everything it entailed (gardening, cooking etc). Some show more of my favorite parts of the book were simply reading about Becca getting her inventory ready or other ordinary occurrences. I felt that this was a great place to have a murder happen in.

Becca was a wonderful cozy mystery personality with an interesting voice. She was a lot funnier than I had been expecting. For the most part, I loved Becca... except when she was 'crime solving'. Whenever Becca attempted sleuthing I couldn't stand her. The writing in these parts became very repetitive too, to the point where it was distracting from the story. Becca would discover something and then we'd learn it all over again as she made note cards then again as she talked to herself then again when she shared her suspicions with other characters. At one point I honestly thought I might have accidentally been rereading pages. I like that Becca was a normal person and reacted like a normal person would to a murder. However, her reactions to 'tense' situations were too exaggerated and almost childlike. Becca at one point locks herself in her sister's office as she's sleuthing. Someone knocks on the door, who Becca assumes is just a customer, and Becca completely loses it in anxiety. You would have thought that she was instead locked in the office with the killer from the way she was acting. Becca is very independent, easy going, loves animals etc and if I ever met her, I'd probably want her as a best friend. My first order of business though would be to teach her that the 'sleuthing' solution to every unknown fact isn't blurting out the question to the suspect or just asking Officer Brion. There's a big difference between incompetence and whatever Becca was doing. Incompetent sleuthing can be amusing or used as a tool for character growth. Whatever Becca was doing was neither. Anyway, my point is that Becca was a perfect character until moments where the plot moved forward.

Because this book was primarily a cozy mystery, there wasn't much of what I loved most about that book. My absolutely favorite aspect of this book was the beginnings of an older woman and younger man relationship (Becca/Ian). It was glorious and perfectly written. Even if the last 75 pages of the book hadn't completely made up for my previous ranting, I would read the next book in the series just to see more of their budding relationship. The last 75 pages really did fix all of my complaints though. Literally not a single complaint I just ranted about appeared in those pages. I'm so glad that the murderer was a complete surprise too but also not so far out there that it would have been impossible to guess.

Despite my complaints that make this book sound worse than it really was, I did enjoy this book. I think if you know about its flaws before going into it, that you'll be able to enjoy the book more. I'm looking forward to the next book as well as trying out some yummy looking recipes from this one.

See my blog for quotes and my thoughts as I read: http://bitten-books.blogspot.com/2011/05/review-farm-fresh-murder-farmers-market... show less

This was a quick, nice summertime read. While it included one of my cozy mystery pet peeves, a nosey protagonist who is asked not to snoop but does it anyway, I still enjoyed the book, by and large. I bet I'll read some more in the series to see what happens in the romance department. (I like farmers markets too!)

While I finished the book and was sufficiently surprised with the killers reveal, I don't think I will read the next in the series. The main character, Becca, was extremely wooden. She was too perfect, I think. I can't really put my finger on why I disliked her so much. She is supposedly very close to Abner, yet you don't get the impression that she is very upset by the possibility of him being the killer. Yes, she seeks out the true killer, but it was more for the farmer's market's reputation.