Member Reviews
Shiloh knew her dad was having issues but she didn't expect to find the family farm quite so run down. She's come home to Michigan after 15 years in Hollywood with a plan to make the place organic. To do so, she's signed a deal with Jackson Crocker, who her father Sully and others in the town of Cherry Glen think is a bad guy. And then, of course, Crocker is murdered, Sully is a suspect, as is Shiloh, and Shiloh investigates. Cozy readers know this is about ore than Crocker's plan for a wind farm and that there will be multiple suspects. Who can Shiloh trust in this small town? Why doesn't Shiloh buy an electric or gas mower? This is the first installment in a series so these characters might not be as well rounded as some readers might like but they're instantly recognizable. The mystery is twisty enough and it's got a nice light humor. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. A nice start to a series.
Kindle Copy for Review from NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press.
I received a free, advance copy of this book and this is my unbiased and voluntary review.
Cashing in her 401K and moving back to save her family farm, city girl Shiloh Bellamy knew it would not be easy to turn into an organic farm. She manages to get an investor but soon after the paperwork is signed, the investor is found dead at the farmer’s market that her father was against doing business with.
She will have to clear her family name as well as save her family farm. It will not be easy since her father is fighting progress and a cousin who keeps belittling her.
Will it all be worth it in the end, can she manage to save the farm and find a killer? A nice start to a delightful farm based cozy.
Thank you NetGalley, Amanda Flower and Poisoned Pen Press for the ARC of Farm to Trouble.
This is my personal review.
Farm to Trouble is the first book in the new cozy series Farm to Table Mysteries.
Shiloh left her job in the city to return to Michigan to help save her family farm Bellamy Farms and turn it in to a profitable organic farm.
When Shiloh returns, she finds out just by the first look at the farm she has a huge job ahead of her to make that happen. She had to find an investor to supply cash to get the farm running. But little did she know her choice of investors was the one she should never had decided to use.
Her problems only get worse when she has set a meeting up to meet him and get more details in place only to stumble on to his dead body at the man she hoped to work with.
Shiloh knows she must find the killer because now the entire town in convinced either Shiloh or her father is the killer.
The story is one you will want to read to find out who the really culprit is and motive for the murder.
I enjoyed this first book in the series and look forward to the next book.
A new series with lots of potential! I love that Flower touches in important topics like immigration rights and environmental protection in this book.
I am a huge Amanda Flower fan so I was excited to start this new series and this didn't disappoint. I loved the farm-to-table concept and the setting of Michigan farmland was a new one for me (I've always wanted to visit - haven't quite made it yet). I read an ARC so there were some missing words in sentences and typos but I knew what she was trying to say so it was a distraction but didn't ruin the story. There was also quite a bit of repetition but that should be cleaned up before the final copy comes out. Can't wait for the next one!
I received a copy from #NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Coming home and finding the family farm in worse shape than she knew wasn't the only thing in store for Shiloh. Finding her investor dead and being a person of interest was the worst!!
I enjoyed getting to know Shiloh, her pug Huckleberry, Sully her father and a cast of interesting characters. I look forward to reading more! I was given a digital copy in exchange for an honest review.
#netgalley #poisonedpenpress
Another book by Amanda Flower, Farm to Trouble was an advanced reader copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Shiloh Bellamy is heading back to Cherry Glenn, Michigan. Her father injured his back and needs her help. She has been a television producer for many years in Los Angeles, California, but she misses the farm she grew up on. While walking to meet an investor at the farmer's market, she finds him dead and is accused of murder. She's only been in Cherry Glen two days and is already in trouble! The investor is hated by everyone, but Shiloh is being accused. She has not had a very happy welcome back to the town.
What a lot of hard work to keep a large farm going. This story describes the intricacies of coming back home to help out her father who has neglected the farm. I enjoyed reading about Shiloh's adventures.
When Shiloh Bellamy moved back to Cherry Glen to help her father save their family farm she never thought things could go so bad. When the inverter in the farm winds up dead she and her father are the prime suspects. Can Shiloh solve the murder in time to clear their names and save the farm? A great new series. Such a refreshing storyline. I cannot wait for the next in the series.
Through NetGalley, I received a free copy of FARM TO TROUBLE (Book 1 of the Farm to Table Mysteries) by Amanda Flower in exchange for an honest review. It’s time to go home for Shiloh Bellamy; her father and her family farm need her. However, Shiloh’s arrives home to hostility. There’s the speeding ticket, the lecture by the officer about her failings as a daughter, her father and cousin’s barely civil greeting, the confrontation with her childhood frenemy, and the fight over and with the farm’s new investor, and that was just the first day. The following days are even worse when the town villain is murdered, both Shiloh and her father are being shoe-horned into the role of prime suspects, and Shiloh finds out she can still lose the farm through an eminent domain ruling. Can Shiloh save herself, her father, and her farm? We’ll see.
I really liked this book and thought it was a great start to a new series. I’m a fan of Amanda Flower’s other books, as well. I recommend this book to fans of cozy mysteries featuring murder, farms, small towns, organic food, town revitalization, old wounds, and pet sidekicks.
I've read many cozy mysteries by this author, and I always find them enjoyable.
This is the start of a new series. The pace started out a bit slow, but it evened out as the story unfolded. The heroine seemed to spend a lot of time mowing the grass and doing other mundane tasks, which created a bit of a lull to the storyline. Things weren't quite as cheery and cozy as I have come to expect (especially the first part of the book), but it's still an enjoyable mystery overall. I do prefer the author's Amish Candy Shop series better, however. The characters in Flower's' latest aren't quite as likeable and relatable. Perhaps that will change as the series continues. I appreciated the details on organic farming, as well as the included farming tips.
<I>Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy, but I wasn't required to leave a positive review.</i>
I will read anything that Amanda Flower writes and her new series Farm to Trouble was no exception. I don't know how Flower writes so many different series concurretly and keeps them all in order.
Farm to Trouble brings home Shiloh Bellamy to Cherry Glen, Michigan to help her father save the family farm. It looks like Shiloh has made a deal with the devil when she chose an investor for the farm. That devil, Jefferson Crocker, is found murdered at the farmer's market and Shiloh and her father fast become suspects of murdering Crocker. It's up to Shiloh to find the real killer,with numerous suspects abound.
A good cozy read for a winter's day. Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for a digital ARC of this book. All opinions are my own.
Farm to Trouble is a new series by Amanda Flower. It took me quite a few chapters to get into but it got better. Shiloh grew up in Cherry Glen on a farm. When her boyfriend was killed in an accident, She left and went to California and became a movie producer. After 15 years (!) she returns home because her father has health issues. The beginning of the book is a bit maudlin and negative. Shiloh doesn't get along with her father or cousin Stacey or neighbor Quinn. She doesn't have hardly any friends. The family farm is in worse shape than she expected and they need a lot of money to fix it up. Shiloh makes a deal with Crocker which angers her father. Shiloh goes to the farmers market to meet Crocker about their deal but she finds him dead. Everyone in town thinks she did it because she is from out of town even though her father is the prime suspect. It starts to get better after all of this. Shiloh needs to clear both hers and her father's names. Shiloh's cousin Stacey renovated the town theater and is putting on a play about Julius Caesar which was a good addition to the story. I loved Amanda Flower's Amish Candy Shop series and Dead-End Detective so I had high hopes for this book but it isn't on the same level as them. I know Amanda Flower just got married to a farmer and some of this book is based on that but it just doesn't have her usual smooth flowing story or likable characters. It does have potential and it did improve.
The first in a new cozy mystery series, Farm to Trouble has potential and I look forward to the next installment.
Being a country girl at heart, I embraced the opportunity to read this new farm-to-table cozy series from Amanda Flower.
I appreciated several key ideas in FARM TO TROUBLE. I enjoy the idea of organic farm living and the laid back surroundings a country setting provides. Protagonist, Shiloh Bellamy has her hands full with her dad ailing and acting like a sourpuss, and dealing with the headaches of his severely neglected 200 acre farm. But, Shiloh’s not a quitter, and I admired her for that quality. I adored her little pug, Huckleberry, who’s her constant companion and took to the country life like he was born into it!
Once the murder takes place, the townspeople are quick to judge Shiloh’s dad, Sully, and he becomes Suspect #1. Shiloh follows in second place because she had a deal with the deceased to help save the farm. The town is clannish, which is typical of small farming communities, and no one is very friendly to Shiloh. I felt like the author wrote those characters that way—it made the people more authentic to the fact that they didn’t like change, or people who advocated for change.
I didn’t solve who the killer was until Shiloh did, but I knew something was ‘off’ with this one person. The book ends in somewhat of a cliffhanger regarding a secret from Shiloh’s Grandma Bellamy. Overall, I enjoyed the story and look forward to my next visit to Bellamy Farm. Farm tips included.
I honestly reviewed an unedited digital arc provided by NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press. All opinions are my own. Thank you.
Shiloh Bellamy comes home to Cherry Glen where she was raised to help her father get their family farm back in order. Little did she know that the investor she found to help her save the farm would turn out to be a shark waiting to take the farm away for his own plans. When Shiloh finds the man's body at the local flea market she and her father are immediate suspects in his murder. Shiloh is determined to prove that she and her father had nothing to do with the man's demise.
This is the first book in the A Farm to Table Mystery series. I enjoyed it very much and I also enjoyed the characters. At first I was a bit put off by Shiloh's father's treatment of her but it made for a touching scene later in the story so then I was happier! I'm hoping that Quinn and his daughter will be regulars in the series and definitely hoping for a relationship between Shiloh and him. I think there is a lot of past that needs to be worked through though before that happens. As always Amanda Flower adds cute animals as characters in her books and I absolutely loved Huckleberry the pug! I love how Shiloh talks to him and how his cute responses are almost human. A lost cat shows up and it looks like they are going to be pretty tight buddies which I'm sure will bring lots of laughs! The mystery of who done it was pretty good even though I had a bit of an inkling of who it was, I had no clue why so it was an exciting reveal for me. A solid first book for the series and I am looking forward to visiting Cherry Glen and all of it's inhabitants again!
What a wonderful start to a new series. This is a well written book that will keep you turning the pages to see what happens next. It has just the right amount of drama and suspense and the murder mystery will keep you guessing until the end. I can't wait for the next book in this series! 5 stars all the way! Thank you Poisoned Pen Press via NetGalley for the ARC copy of this book. All opinions expressed are my own.