Nipped in the Bud is an exciting addition to this series by Sheila Connolly.
Meg Chapin is embracing married life, but is itching to get her apple orchard ready for the next season.
When a dead body is found on her property, Meg can't resist the temptation to investigate. What she discovers shatters her image of small town living.
This story is full of twists and turns and will leave the reader on the edge of their seat.
I would highly recommend this book to all cozy mystery fans.

I volunteered to read and review an ARC of this book provided by the publisher and NetGalley.

From my blog: www.cozymysteryreviews.org

In Book 12 of Sheila Connolly’s Orchard Mysteries, orchard owner Meg Chapin and her new husband, Seth are enjoying a peaceful but brief respite from orchard responsibilities when tragedy strikes. Winter still has its icy grasp upon the small Massachusetts town of Granford, giving Meg and Seth a chance to catch up on neglected projects, including the construction of a “tiny house” for their new orchard manager, Larry. While walking the grounds of their property one afternoon, Meg and Seth hear a gunshot in the distance, and their golden retriever, Max disappears in pursuit, and Seth follows him. What he finds is shocking: A woman lay face down, a gunshot wound to her back.

Who was this woman? And why was she in Granford of all places? Deciding to investigate, Meg discovers the woman worked as a reporter for the Boston Globe, and was investigating suspected drug activity in the area. Suspects begin to surface, including a young man claiming to be dead woman’s boyfriend, a group of male collegiates renting Seth’s old home, and even Meg’s orchard manager, Larry, an awkward man with a questionable past. With no help from the state police, who have warned them not become involved, Meg and Seth seek out their own clues, ones that lead all too close to home.

Fast-paced and well-written, Connolly’s Nipped in the Bud, sports convincing characters and a cozy winter setting. Lacking the light heartedness and humor of other cozies, Nipped in the Bud adopts a more serious and realistic approach to amateur detection. In this book you will not find any ditzy protagonists, bumbling their way through the case, putting themselves and those around them in danger. (That being said, those ditzy protagonists and their zany sidekicks can be quite fun and entertaining at times.) Clues do not fall into Meg’s lap nor does she go to unrealistic means to attain them. Connolly’s characters read like real people, ones who have experienced the trauma of finding a dead stranger on their property. Whether one prefers a lighter or more serious approach to his or her cozies, is up to the individual reader. I enjoy both styles depending on my mood.

The plot could be a bit redundant at times, with Meg, Seth, and policeman Art, hashing and rehashing the same evidence and theories over and over again. While this helped me stay abreast of who was who and what was what, it did not make the book more interesting. In addition, the guilt party was obvious, at least to me, early on in the book.

Nevertheless, this is a pleasant read for a chilly autumn day by the fire.