Mulch Ado about Murder by Edith Maxwell is the fifth book in A Local Foods Mystery series. Cam Flaherty owns Attic Hill Organic Farm in Westbury, Massachusetts. It is the end of May and a busy time for Cam on the farm. Cam heads into town to drop off some basil and lettuce seedlings to Nicole Kingsbury. Nicole is starting Seacoast Fresh, a hydroponic organic greenhouse. Cam arrives at Seacoast Fresh and discovers protestors outside the building. One of the demonstrators is her mother, Deb Flaherty. Her parents decided to surprise Cam with a visit. Cam skirts around the picketers and enters the greenhouse calling out for Nicole. Cam discovers Nicole deceased by the slurry vat clutching a rosary. Once again Cam is embroiled in a murder investigation with her mother on the suspect list. Cam wants to get her mother cleared of the crime and starts digging into Nicole’s life. Cam gets an unlikely sidekick in her father, William. Will this duo be able to uproot the killer?

Mulch Ado about Murder is an easy to read cozy mystery. The book is nicely written and has a good pace (can be finished in just a couple of hours). I liked the main characters and enjoyed the addition of her parents (especially William). It was good to get more background on Cam and how her family influenced her life choices. Mulch Ado about Murder is a light cozy mystery with focus on Cam’s day to day life (the crops, taking care of the chickens, eating out, her boyfriend, parade, her friends). The mystery was medium level. There are a couple of suspects and a unique method of murder (the best part). When reading a mystery novel, the little details are the most important. That was definitely the case in Mulch Ado about Murder. I give Mulch Ado about Murder 3.5 out of 5 stars. I did find some information to be repeated a few times throughout the story. There were also some details brought up that were never addressed (what was in Nicole’s slurry, chemical smell Cam smelled). For instance, D.J. had left his bike at Cam’s farm while out of town. At the end of the book, D.J. arrives at Cam’s on his bike (had just returned to town and he had not been out to farm yet). While Mulch Ado about Murder is the fifth book in the series, it can be read alone. The author provides all the needed background information for someone to read and understand the story. I did like reading Mulch Ado about Murder and look forward to the next book in A Local Foods Mystery series.

Cam Flaherty is helping new hydroponics farmer, Nicole, by starting a few plants for her. She’s dropping off a few of those plants when she finds Nicole dead in her greenhouse. The police question those protesting Nicole’s hydroponic methods, including Cam’s visiting mother, Deb. Deb is clearly hiding something from the police. Will it get her arrested for murder?

I hadn’t realized how much I had come to love these characters until I was visiting them again. They are wonderful, and I enjoyed getting to catch up on their lives. We’ve gotten to see a lot of growth in Cam over the course of the series, and watching her interact with her parents provides an opportunity for more. And the mystery? It starts quickly and moves along at a brisk pace with plenty of secrets and suspects before we reach the climax.

This is a great book; this is the fifth book in the Local Foods Mystery series written by Edith Maxwell. It’s been a hot, dry spring in Westbury, Massachusetts. As organic farmer Cam Flaherty waits for much-needed rain, storm clouds of mystery begin to gather. Once again, it’s time to put away her sun hat and put on her sleuthing cap when a fellow farmer is found dead in a vat of hydroponic slurry—clutching a set of rosary beads. Showers may be scarce this spring, but there’s no shortage of suspects, including the dead woman’s embittered ex husband, the Other Man whose affair ruined their marriage, and Cam’s own visiting mother. Lucky for Cam, her father turns out to have a knack for sleuthing. This is a great book with a wonderful story and well developed characters. This book will keep you reading long into the night and you will not want to put this book down until you finish. This was such a great read and full of surprises. I am looking forward to reading the next book by this great author. I voluntarily reviewed an advanced reader’s copy of this book. The free book held no determination on my personal review.

This is a good read for those who both like cozies and are intrigued by organic farming. Cam's got a lot on her plate and doesn't really need to be dealing with the possibility that her mom is responsible for a murder. Luckily, however, her dad is a pretty darn good amateur detective. I had not read the previous books in this series but that wasn't a problem- this was an entertaining and fun read so I'm going to look for more from Maxwell. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.

I enjoyed this book I have always enjoy Cam as a main character and I loved that in Mulch Ado about Murder she was trying to manage her business and get parents. The murder was very interesting and I liked that iincluded parts of organic and hydroponics farming. The story had a great flow and I liked that Cam's father helped her to clear her mother's name. I did figure out who the killer was earlier than I like but I didn't mind in this book with all the other great story lines going on. I would recommend this series to everyone.

A clever mystery with lots of possibilities. An overabundance of characters, but it is not difficult to keep them straight. Friends, family, police, suspects galore. Our busy farmer helps solve the mystery and gets reacquainted with her parents. A few heart-warming moments, along with some scary ones.

MULCH ADO ABOUT MURDER, the fifth book in Edith Maxwell’s Local Foods Mystery series, brings the reader back to Westbury, Massachusetts. We find organic farmer Cam Flaherty hard at work tending her fields and chickens, when her academic parents decide to come for a visit. Cam’s parents were more interested in their studies and researching abroad every year than spending time with her while she was growing up and as a result, they were never close. Cam has always felt insecure in their love for her and isn’t sure that she wants them there for too long of a visit, especially when her mother starts protesting against Nicole, a new hydroponics farmer in town.

I found the introduction of the controversy over hydroponics in organic farming very interesting. My husband grows flowering plants in hydroponics and semi-hydroponics and I’m intrigued at the possibility of growing food using that method. The town is divided over the issue and when Nicole is murdered, Cam’s visiting mother becomes a suspect. Cam knows her mother must be innocent but she appears to be hiding a dark secret and won’t confide in Cam or anyone else. The author weaves in the theme of looking for acceptance and finding yourself while making peace with the past. Cam’s mother may be hard to get to know but her father seems more amiable, kind of a forgetful, bumbling at times, professor who brings a sweetness to the story. The mystery of who killed the hydroponics farmer is satisfying with plenty of suspects to keep you guessing. The story is well paced with a suspenseful ending that had me up late, turning pages to find out how it ended!

Edith provides several delicious recipes at the end of the book and many are farm-fresh recipes that make me think of spring and summer. I tried her recipe for Swedish Cheesecake: a light, not too sweet, dessert that provides a perfect ending to a summery dinner. The directions were easy to follow and the results were tasty.

Mulch Ado About Murder is the fifth book in the Local Foods Mystery series.

A timely book in that Spring is coming and time to start with my garden, as is Cam on her Cam’s Attic Hill Organic Farm.

Spring is a bad time of year to have company, but her mother and father have come for one of the their visits with Cam. When Cam goes to deliver some seedlings to Nicole Kingsbury’s new hydroponic greenhouse she is shocked to see that one of the protesters is none other than her mother Deb. As Cam enters the greenhouse she calls out to Nicole, but gets no reply. Cam soon finds Nicole’s lifeless body hanging over the edge of a vat of slurry, clenched in her hand is a rosary with some beads missing.

Since Deb was in the area where Nicole died, she is soon on the police’s radar. In addition, Cam feels that there is something that Deb is not willing to share concerning Nicole.

As Cam was about to enter the greengouse she spotted a man, who was unknown to her, leaving the area. Later she learns that it was Nicole’s estranged husband. When she learns that he is in need money, she sees the need to look into his activities. As she continues to investigate she learns that a local insurance agent had been at a marriage counseling retreat when Nicole had and they had an affair. She wonders if Nicole had rejected him and he killed her. Another that she is considering is Orson Page who runs Fresh Page which is the same type of business Nicole’s and he decided to get rid of the competition. Cam needs to figure out who the killer is before her mother is fitted for an orange jumpsuit.

Some of the regular cast are back, but Cam’s father, William is there to take the edge off the murder investigation. William is a brilliant professor, but in not much of gardener. Cam finds that he is great at handling the chickens and collecting the eggs, but has been banned from weeding, as she soon learns he doesn’t know the difference between a plant and a weed.

Ms. Maxwell once again provides the reader with a well-plotted and told story with a cast of interesting characters.

I particularly enjoy this series and enjoy learning more about what goes into the running on an organic garden.

I will be watching for the next book in this exciting and informative series.

Another fresh, intelligent story in the Local Foods Mystery series.

I get so excited each time I start a new book by author Edith Maxwell. I am always anxious at first thinking there is no way it can be as good as her other works. And then only a few pages in, I know how silly I was being, because each tale she writes is better than the one before! The proof is in the reading because MULCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING is the cream of the crop.

I’m not an outdoorsy person, and I don’t eat vegetables (though I am a fruit fan), so what am I doing reading the Local Foods Mysteries? Well, as I mentioned above, I am a fan of this author’s writing. But I am also fascinated with the thought of little seeds becoming big, beautiful, eatable food. And Ms. Maxwell does make it sound fun . . . almost. ;-)

I love spending time with series lead, Cam Flaherty. I think she’s a brilliantly written character. She’s independent, and knowledgeable, but not 100% perfect, which adds another layer of interest to her. It was great getting to see her interact with her parents in this story. I quite like her father, but her more I believe is an acquired taste.

The murder mystery in MULCH ADO ABOUT MURDER is exceptional. There are many possible suspects, including Cam’s mom. So many people who would want to see the victim dead. Ms. Maxwell could easily have muddied things for readers with all that was going on, but she blended everything together perfectly, planting doubts, and leaving clues to harvest. And all led up to an action packed reveal, that left me feeling I had lived through the story myself!

MULCH ADO ABOUT MURDER has everything you want in a cozy summer read, including great recipes. You’ve got to pick up a copy of your own!

This series has really developed and grown! In this edition, we finally get to meet Cam's parents when they come to stay with her for a bit to visit. Of course, this being Cam's busy season she doesn't have the time to spare to show them around. When Cam finds a newcomer and new business owner in town dead her mom is suspected because she was protesting the business. This leads to the discovery of more secrets her mom has been hiding.

I very much enjoyed the relationship and friendships developed between all the various characters. This adds a great deal to the book and it's like dropping in on old friends.

I was given an eARC from the publisher through NetGalley.

Spring has arrived in Westbury, Massachusetts and it finds organic farmer Cam Flaherty dealing with her parents unexpected visit and worrying about her crops. While making a flat delivery Cam discovers the body of Nicole Kingsbury, the owner of the new hydroponics greenhouse. One of the suspects in the murder is Cam's own other Deb who was leading a protest against the greenhouse that morning and was seen inside the greenhouse. With the help of her father Will Cam finds herself helping with the investigation to clear her mother's name.

This is the first in the series that I have read. I enjoyed the well written plot & characters. It moved at a good speed. i never felt I was missing out on anything from the prior books. This can be read as a stand alone and be enjoyed. There are no cliff hangers.
I liked the glimpses of farming, sleuthing and the reveal. I will read the others in the series as time permits.

Cam Flaherty is settling in nicely to her new life as an organic farmer. She loves farming and has a great boyfriend, homicide detective Pete Pappas. But trouble brews when Cam finds her mother protesting at a client's business and that client ends up dead. Cam's nominal relationship with her mom is even more strained as Cam tries to get some answers about what happened and how her mother is involved.

The author does a good job of getting the reader involved in Cam's farm life and personal struggles with her mom. The mystery moves at a nice pace with just the right amount of surprises. This is book #5 in the Local Food Mysteries series but could easily be read as a stand alone.

I liked Mulch as much as I liked the previous two books in this series that I have read. This time the new farming technique focused on is hydroponics which I already knew a little about, but the focus was whether it is organic or not. This sets up a possible reason for murder, dun, dun, da. Personally, I think it depends on what's in the slurry.

We also finally get to meet the occasionally mentioned parents. In the previous books, Cam speaks or thinks about her parents as if they were very similar, but I found her father to be quite different from her mother. I really enjoyed their addition to the story, especially how deeply they get involved. We see shades of Cam in her father, William.

The story, like the others, focuses a lot on Cam's day to day life and I still enjoy it much like I did in the Sookie Stackhouse series by Charlaine Harris. Critics of that series mentioned that they didn't like it and wanted the focus more of Sookie and her guy at the time (despite it not being a romance series) and I can see other readers wanting more mystery, less farming/locavore stuff in this series. So, new readers to the series may want to keep that in mind.

One thing I noticed, like in the last book, is that the murder outs themself. Again, the police are investigating the killer and Cam and the reader have our suspicions based on clues/facts so it's not out of the blue. However, what the killer does in the end confirms they are the killer when they should have laid low or gotten out of Dodge. I guess it's the way the author chooses to throw in a climatic moment, but I'd like to see something different next time.

I received my copy from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

I usually read a series in order, but this title caught my attention with two of my favorite characteristic, a cozy mystery and food! I was afraid I would be at a disadvantage starting from the end of the series, but the author gave enough of the character's backstory so I could follow. I liked how the characters were developed and the writing of the author in general. I will be reading the others in the series!

This was the first book I have read in the Local Fresh Mystery series and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Being a fellow introvert I totally identified with Cam, and loved her organic farming therapy. I learned a lot. All of Edith Maxwell's characters are believable, especially the damage that can occur in one's life when secrets weigh upon one for years. This was an enjoyable mix between likeable characters, mystery, suspense and a touch of romance. I am going to go back and get the rest of the series so I can get to know more about Cam's life.

Mulch Ado About Murder by Edith Maxwell tells an interesting and captivating story.

Cam Flaherty is hoping for rain. Her crops are dry and if mother nature doesn't send some rain, her crop will wither away.
If that was Cam's only concern, she would find a way to make do, unfortunately, her parents are in town for a rare visit and that's added pressure to Cam's way of life.

Cam's mother soon finds herself embroiled in a murder and Cam tries to do everything in her power to make things right. Cam's mother is full of secrets and even a looming murder charge won't loosen her lips.
What will it take for her mom to open up to Cam and confront the painful truths from her past?

Find out May 30th.

I really liked this book and I enjoyed reading about her parents. Her mom is a tough nut to crack and I had a hard time liking her. Her dad is a wonderful character and his down home charm was a nice addition.

I voluntarily read an ARC of this book provided by Kensington Books and NetGalley.

This book was not my cup of tea. I don't publicly share negative reviews so I will not post one.

Cam Flaherty does not have the luck of the Irish.
An organic farmer, Cam makes a delivery to the new hydroponic/organic farmer in town...only to find Nicole's body in the greenhouse.
Twists and turns in the murder investigation have the police looking at Cam, her mother, the deceased's ex-husband, her ex-boyfriend, and the competition. The ex-boyfriend is arrested for trespassing on Cam's farm.
Then the ex-boyfriend turns up dead in a similar fashion to Nicole's.
Determined to clear her mom from suspicion the pair embark on what could their last trip together.
This is a great addition to the Local Foods Mystery series.

Mulch Ado about Murder is the fifth book in Edith Maxwell’s Local Foods Mystery series. Even if you haven’t read the previous books in this series, Ms. Maxwell provides enough character background that you won’t feel lost jumping in so late in the series. The storyline is well thought out and the characters well developed. I enjoyed reading this book; it’s a quick, clean read, with an interesting mystery, relatable characters, and some twists and turns that keep you guessing as to the killer’s identity. There is no adult language, graphic violence, or sexually explicit situations. I recommend this series to anyone who enjoys reading clean mysteries.

Cam Flaherty owns Attic Hill Organic Farm, an organic farm in Westbury, Massachusetts and her parents have shocked her with a surprise visit. Cam is a classic introvert and relishes her alone time and this visit makes that close to impossible. While delivering organic seedlings to Nicole Kingsbury who owns Seacoast Fresh, a soil-free hydroponic greenhouse, there’s a group of demonstrators outside and Cam is dismayed to see Deb Flaherty, her mother, among the small group of protesters. The problem the group has with the hydroponic process is that chemicals are used and they feel that renders the final product as non-organic. When Cam enters the greenhouse, she doesn’t see Nicole or receive a response when she calls out to her, so she sends a text message to let her know she left the flats. She hears Nicole’s cell phone chirp as the text is received and when she walks around to see if she can find her, she finds Nicole leaning over a vat of hydroponic slurry and when she checked, there was no pulse. Deb becomes a person of interest because she was involved in the protest and had spent time alone with Nicole in her greenhouse and since Cam found the body, she isn’t able to spend time with her boyfriend, Homicide Detective Pete Pappas. Cam is determined to clear her mother’s name and in the process, learns there’s no shortage of suspects. Cam’s dad is an easy going, agreeable, and thoughtful person while her mother is quiet and somewhat secretive. Cam grew up knowing her parents were committed to her but their relationship lacked any signs of affection and she felt there were times when they all tended to keep each other at arm’s length but they make some real breakthroughs during this visit.

I received an Advance Reader Copy of this book from NetGalley and voluntarily reviewed it.