I love Amanda Flower's cozy series for the most part. And while Farm to Table wasn't my favorite I still enjoyed this book. A book that kept me guessing until the end. My favorite character was Huckleberry the pug. He stole the book.

I found this to be a totally immersive read. If you want a book to get your teeth into with twists and turns this is the one for you! Many thanks to both netgalley and the author for allowing me to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

This new series by Amanda Flower is on target with the current trend toward sustainable farming and buying local as well as being a great mystery.
Shiloh Bellamy gives up her high paying job in California to come home and save the family farm. She has dreams of turning it into a local sustainable farm and possible restaurant but first she must contend with skeptical townspeople, unhappy family members, and discovering a dead man who she had a real estate deal with.
Great set of characters, terrific subplots, and humor interspersed throughout the novel. I really enjoyed it!

Farm To Trouble
Farm To Table Mysteries, Book #1
Amanda Flower
5 Stars

Synopsis:

First in a new series!

Shiloh Bellamy cashed in her big city job and 401K to return home to Michigan to save the family farm, but turning Bellamy Farms into a sustainable, organic operation is no small feat. Especially when her new investor is found dead at the farmers market not long after the contract is signed, a contract that the whole town knows her father was wholeheartedly against.

Now, Shiloh must clear her family's name and track down the real killer before her farm dreams wilt before her very eyes. But with her father trying to stop any progress on his land, her cousin belittling her every effort, and the whole town believing her family at fault, Shiloh has to carry the investigation on her shoulders or risk all her dreams drying up before they begin.

Review:

Shilo has a big challenge ahead of her, turning her failing family farm into a successful organic operation. She also has to get her father on board with her plan, which will not be easy. And when her investor is found dead, the task seems insurmountable. She has her work cut out for her if she is ever going to get the farm up and running. She will need the help of her father, her cousin and her neighbors to find the killer.

The writing style flows smoothly and it defines the characters very clearly by their actions and words. The author is very talented in her descriptive writing and these descriptions pulled me into the story from the very beginning. I felt like I was right there on the farm, watching all of the action taking place. The mystery was well plotted and not easily solved. There were enough suspects to consider and clues to sift through.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a well crafted cozy mystery. You know when you pick up a book to read by this author, you are in for a real treat.

I voluntarily reviewed an ARC of this book provided by the publisher, Poisoned Pen Press, and NetGalley, which I greatly appreciate.

Farm to Trouble by Amanda Flower is a new series featuring a totally new heroine: Shiloh Bellamy, who is returning to Cherry Creek, Michigan after years away in Los Angeles, building a career as a television producer. She has returned now to help her father save the family farm. She has been helping, financially, from afar, but now it's time to roll up her sleeves, and join the farm to table movement. She is shocked when she arrives at the farm, to see the shape it's in. She hadn't realized. Good thing she had a loan in place. She couldn't do it without an infusion of cash. Sadly it turned out that the lender was hated by nearly everyone, most especially by her dad. Then he ends up dead. This is not good. She and her dad, and 80-year-old in a walker are both suspects. It is all so complicated.

Shiloh had run away after her grandmother died and then her boyfriend, the love of her life, in a car wreck. People blamed her. He was coming to see her. She had a broken heart and she ran. Now she was home and her father's closest neighbor was Logan's best friend, Quinn Killian, whose father was the chief of police. She couldn't even go into the cafe, because people stared and her and blamed her, despite the fact that everyone hated Jefferson Crocker, but they still stared at her. She stood strong. She believed in herself and in her dad. She believed in her farm. She was creative and intelligent and they would not beat her. She is a terrific protagonist. They mystery was decent enough and there was not an Amish person in sight. New for Flower. It is an auspicious beginning and I am looking for great things from this new series. Go, Amanda Flower!

I was invited to read a free ARC of Farm to Trouble by Netgalley. All opinions contained herein are solely my own. #netgalley #farmtotrouble

Shiloh Bellamy is the star of Farm to Trouble, a new mystery series by Amanda Flower.
Shiloh left her home town of Cherry Glen, Michigan 15 years ago. She was fleeing the death of her grandmother and fiancé. She went to California and became a successful producer. Now her father's health and financial situation is bad enough that she puts all her savings on the line and returns home to take over the farm.
Shiloh made a deal with a Mr. Crocker to get investment funds to make changes on the farm. Before any money changes hands Crocker is killed. Shiloh and her father are the main suspects of Chief Randy, the local sheriff.
Sometimes the pieces all come together to make a fantastic debut and sometimes they don't. I don't like Shiloh as well as some of Amanda's other main characters in other mystery series. There is quite a bit going on and all the mental conversations that go on just didn't resonate with me. Shiloh seems like an intelligent woman but then makes some really dumb decisions regarding the farm, which create the set up for her and Sully to be come the main suspects.
I will read the second book to see if Shiloh and the farm deal grows on me, but I can only give this 3 starts since I only liked the book. I enjoy some of the author’s other series more.

Farm to Table is a very fun cozy mystery set on the UP in the midwest. Shiloh is returning back to her hometown farm after her father has had some health issues and makes quite the first impression. As she learns the new realities of the farm, her father, and her home town Shiloh sees that not everything is just how she left it. The town has evolved, but unfortunately it didn't take her farm along with it. Shiloh takes it into her own hands to get the farm back in working condition, however when the potential investor for the farm ends up dead all eyes turn to her father, the person who has made it known he doesn't want any investor at the farm. I was not expecting this ending, which made the book much more exciting.

4/5 Stars!

Thank you to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for providing me with an e-arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this new series kickoff book and the various characters in the small town of Cherry Glen. I think Quinn's daughter Hazel was my favorite, Shiloh's dad despite his being a little grumpy kind of grew on me, but her cousin Stacey needs to grow on me a little more. I liked the little side mystery that Shiloh found that appears to be an ongoing thing for the next book.

I wasn't exactly sure who the killer was until nearly the end. The showdown was a good one, and I liked how everything was wrapped up and explained. I've found I like everything I've read so far that Amanda Flower writes, and I think she's got a winner in this series!

I voluntarily read and reviewed an ARC of this book provided by the publisher via NetGalley, and my opinions are my own.

I need to preface this review with this; I love Amanda Flower as an author. I currently read three of her other series [with one more on deck] and I L O V E those books/series. So when I was approved for this book in her new series, I was one excited girl.

Sigh.

All I can think is that even really good author's can have a dud once in awhile right?

THIS was not what I was expecting from the author that I love so much. This was a lame, "use every trope available [and use most of them poorly] to a cozy author", weakly written, WHAT WAS THAT REVEAL/ENDING kind of book. One that I didn't enjoy [not even an adorable pug named Huckleberry could save this since the MC feels she can and SHOULD be able to take him anywhere and everywhere with her] and once I started, would put down and not even want to gravitate back to. It took forcing myself to finish this so I could review it and move on. in my opinion, this book isn't worthy of the what the author typically puts out and to say I was disappointed is a huge understatement.

Thank you to NetGalley, Amanda Flower, and Poisoned Pen Press for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

First in a new series. Some stories make you look back on your life and make you wonder if you would have changed anything. Well, Shiloh made the decision to leave the big city and return home to make the family farm an organic oasis. This is a charming book of change, decision making, and family (all in a good way) written to entertain. Grab this wonderful book, a cozy blanket, and a great cup of hot chocolate and enjoy a few hours of ultimate pleasure.

I received an ARC from Netgalley and this is my voluntary, honest review.

FARM TO TROUBLE is the endearing debut in the Farm to Table Mystery series by the ever prolific and entertaining Amanda Flower. Full of small town color and gossip, and a compelling mystery to solve, it is a fun read.

Shiloh Bellamy essentially ran away from home after her fiancé’s death fifteen years ago to become a successful Hollywood producer. She cashes in her savings and quits her job to literally save the family farm, but she arrives to find her father’s health failing and the farm in even worse shape than she imagined. Knowing she needs even more money to turn the farm into a thriving organic farm and cafe, she signed a contract with local investor Jefferson Crocker only to realize too late that Crocker owns a good portion of the town of Cherry Glen, Michigan, and has plans of his own for Bellamy Farm. When Shiloh finds Crocker murdered at the farmers market, she and her father quickly become the prime suspects. Realizing that her years away from her hometown have now made her an outsider, she does all she can to clear the Bellamy family name and find the real killer.

Shiloh makes a promising amateur sleuth. She is intelligent and loyal with just enough city-girl cynicism to stand out from the other residents of her hometown. Her strained relationship with her cousin and father, as well as with her fiancé’s best friend Quin, makes the atmosphere tense for much of the book, but I enjoy watching them all work through their issues. The town residents, some quirky, some unpleasant, all add lots of variety and small country town flavor. Huckleberry, Shiloh’s pug, steals just about every scene in which he appears. I really like Quin’s eleven-year-old daughter Hazel, too. The story takes a bit to get going, but the time is well spent introducing characters and the town. It is always enjoyable. I do wish Shiloh had spent more time actively investigating; it mostly felt like she stumbled across most of the clues. I definitely did not figure out the mystery before Shiloh, and this kept me engaged from the first to last page.

I enjoyed my time spent in Cherry Glen with Shiloh and look forward to reading many more adventures featuring the Bellamy Farm. Highly recommended.

I received an ARC of this book from the Author and Poisoned Pen Press through NetGalley and voluntarily shared my thoughts here.

This is the first in the new Farm to Table mystery series. Shiloh Bellamy has driven back to Cherry Glen Michigan in her red convertible with her pet pug Huckleberry. As she is driving into town she gets a speeding ticket. She arrives at the family farm (which over the last 15 years she has been sending money to pay off the mortgages and cashed out her 401k to pay back taxes) finds it in total disrepair and then learns the only investor she was able to get to invest in the farm is the sworn enemy of her father Sully. Sully is furious that she has signed a deal with Jefferson Crocker who has been trying to buy Bellamy Farms for years. Her Father never wanted to talk about investors and Shiloh took the only offer on the table as she is trying to save the family farm but everyone thinks she has made a deal with the devil. Nothing can be done about it and Shiloh agrees to meet Crocker the next day at the Farmer’s Market. She can’t find him and when she finally does he is dead and everyone assumes she has done it. Shiloh knows she must find the killer to save herself and her Father from jail. I liked the story and there is a backstory of why she left 15 years ago to leave for Hollywood (her fiancée Logan was killed in a car accident by a drunk driver as he was driving to meet with her after a fight). The relationship with her Father is tense and her cousin Stacy is not very welcoming and Quinn (who was Logan’s best friend and blamed her for his death at the funeral 15 years ago) is more a frenemy who is judgmental of her as well as his family and the Sheriff is his father. I felt bad in the beginning for Shiloh as it seems if all the cards are stacked against her since her Father is distant and not willing to help with the farm or even talk to her. She is clearly trying to help and there are so many things to do and she has put all her money into saving the farm and it seems like her Father does not even care. I can’t say I like her cousin much either. She has run into some old friends but she is pretty much on her own. Her father is arrested and she eventually figures everything out to get him out of jail. Will be interesting to see where this goes in the future and I cannot wait for the next installment.

A delicious book you just want to sink your teeth into! Trying to save the family farm, an investor found dead before the ink is dry, and a character trying to clear her family’s name before the wrong person is caught as the killer. Twists and turns with the author weaving the story in a way the reader can totally immerse themselves. A great read!

Farm to Trouble is the first book in a new series by prolific author Amanda Flower. Released 23rd Feb 2021 by Poisoned Pen Press, it's 288 pages and available in paperback, audio, and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately.

I'm a huge sucker for cozies. Bonus points for pets (cats or dogs, I'm not picky), baked goods, knitting, book clubs, and I don't mind the occasional obligatory hunky sheriff/detective love interest. This book ticked a lot of boxes for me. Underdog heroine/amateur sleuth lead character moves back to her small-town home from "the big city", complicated history with the local hunky lawman, an adorable pug sidekick (awww), and a few other appealing plot features which might be a little standard, but that's why we devour cozy mysteries.

This one is pretty well written, with good characterizations and pacing. The book's written in first person point of view which could have been a little distracting, but it didn't detract from my overall enjoyment - the author is quite adept at her craft. There are a scant few places where the dialogue was a bit rough, but again, nothing that killed my suspension of disbelief or lessened my enjoyment.

The language is clean, the crimes are (mostly) bloodless, and there's a romance subplot but nothing sexually graphic. There are some minor plot elements leading to the next book, but no major cliffhangers. It's a safe and fun read.

Four stars. Recommended for cozy mystery lovers.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

This one starts off pretty slowly, but that is not unusual for the first book in a new cozy series. The premise of an organic farm is certainly timely, and how can anyone dislike a pug named Huckleberry? The rest of the tropes used are very recognizable. Nothing seems to come together until about halfway through with the introduction of a fresh young character and some genuine emotional connection. I wasn’t surprised at all by the reveal; nevertheless, there are enough promising aspects to encourage me to read book number two.

Thank you to Amanda Flower, Poisoned Pen Press, and NetGalley for an Advance Reader Copy in exchange for an honest review.

Shiloh moves back to the family farm to find her dad ailing and the family farm in worse ship than what she was expecting. Her investor in the farm is someone who wants his hands on the farm for his own purposes. Let's not forget that Shiloh s dad hates the investor. Father and daughter become the main suspects in the investor's death. Like the characters and the setting. Looking forward to the next book.

I was kindly provided an e-copy of this book by the publisher and/or author via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is the first in the new Farm to Table mystery series. Shiloh Bellamy has driven back to Cherry Glen Michigan in her red convertible with her pet pug Huckleberry. As she is driving into town she gets a speeding ticket. She arrives at the family farm (which over the last 15 years she has been sending money to pay off the mortgages and cashed out her 401k to pay back taxes) finds it in total disrepair and then learns the only investor she was able to get to invest in the farm is the sworn enemy of her father Sully. Sully is furious that she has signed a deal with Jefferson Crocker who has been trying to buy Bellamy Farms for years. Her Father never wanted to talk about investors and Shiloh took the only offer on the table as she is trying to save the family farm but everyone thinks she has made a deal with the devil. Nothing can be done about it and Shiloh agrees to meet Crocker the next day at the Farmer’s Market. She can’t find him and when she finally does he is dead and everyone assumes she has done it. Shiloh knows she must find the killer to save herself and her Father from jail. I liked the story and there is a backstory of why she left 15 years ago to leave for Hollywood (her fiancée Logan was killed in a car accident by a drunk driver as he was driving to meet with her after a fight). The relationship with her Father is tense and her cousin Stacy is not very welcoming and Quinn (who was Logan’s best friend and blamed her for his death at the funeral 15 years ago) is more a frenemy who is judgmental of her as well as his family and the Sheriff is his father. I felt bad in the beginning for Shiloh as it seems if all the cards are stacked against her since her Father is distant and not willing to help with the farm or even talk to her. She is clearly trying to help and there are so many things to do and she has put all her money into saving the farm and it seems like her Father does not even care. I can’t say I like her cousin much either. She has run into some old friends but she is pretty much on her own. Her father is arrested and she eventually figures everything out to get him out of jail. Will be interesting to see where this goes in the future and I cannot wait for the next installment.

What happens when an LA television producer returns home to save the family farm in Michigan? Well, for Shiloh, a lot of not great things, every one of them unexpected and I was impressed that she didn’t pack it in!

Shiloh hasn’t been home in 15 years, not once, but has cashed in all of her savings and quit her job to return to her childhood home and turn the farm around. One thing I noticed quickly was that everyone is mean to her, even her Dad, and like unreasonably mean. I know that the townspeople were supposed to be gossipy and singularly minded but I felt like this cozy was missing some coziness! The relationship with her Dad was not what I’m used to in a cozy either, they barely had any connection and I just felt kind of lousy for her. The plot took a long time to develop and there was a lot of her mowing the lawn, I think I was getting more stressed about her fixing up the farm then I was about the murder mystery. This mystery is a bit slow going but picks up midway through and I was more engaged.

I would have like more resolution at the end, we were left with a big chunk of the plot left as a cliffhanger and I am still stressed about the farm chores lol!

The shining star of the story was her pug Huckleberry, he was adorable!

Thanks to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for the ARC, this book publishes on Feb 23rd!

I enjoy reading cozy mysteries written by Amanda Flower, so I was very excited to have the opportunity to read and review the first book in her new Farm to Table Mysteries.

Shiloh has returned to her hometown to help her father run the family farm...and to make some much-needed improvements. She's a little short on the cash needed to make those improvements, so she makes loan arrangements with a man named Crocker. Little does she realize Crocker is a much-hated man who is trying to take over the town. Barely two days in town and Shiloh is drawn into a murder after she finds Crocker dead. And when the police look at her and her grandfather as possible suspects, she decides to try and solve the mystery herself.

And interesting start to this new series. It was a little slow at the beginning, but then picked up and had a satisfying conclusion. And I like the family mystery that carries on to the next book (can't wait to see what happens there). I'm still getting a feel for Shiloh and the rest of the townspeople, but I think I'm going to like this series.

Thank you to the publisher, Poisoned Pen Press, for granting my wish to read a copy of this book, via NetGalley. My thoughts and opinions are my own and without bias or favor.

Amanda Flower is one of my favorite authors so it was a no brainer to want to get my hands on her latest mystery. She has started a new series called Farm to Table and it's off to a great start. The setting is Cherry Glen, Michigan and the series centers on Shiloh Bellamy and her return to her home town to help save the family farm. She's been out in L.A. long enough to be out of touch with the daily life of Cherry Glen and it turns out it's information that would have been a big help from the moment she got the request from her ailing father to come home. Lots of secrets are being kept and not just by those close to her. First, she had no idea how rundown the family farm really was and when her plan to revive the farm by turning it into a farm to table operation with the help of a local investor, well her father, (along with others in the family), is far from happy. It seems that her father is dead set against the man, Jefferson Crocker, having anything to do with the farm. Just about the whole town agrees with him. When Crocker turns up dead at the farmer's market there are plenty of suspects to keep the police busy. Unfortunately Shiloh and her father are at the top of the list.
I have to say that her family isn't very nice, especially to Shiloh and her ability to hold it all together when dealing with them ...well let's just say I wouldn't have been so charitable towards any of them. After all, she had a good life in California and she dropped it all to come home to try and save the farm. By the end of this well crafted mystery I did find myself saving a spot on my TBR list for the next one to see how some of the dangling threads are tied up.
My thanks to the publisher Poisoned Pen Press and to NetGalley for giving me an advance copy in exchange for my honest review.