Living in the home state of the Honey Crisp apple the Orchardville setting hit a special spot for me. The story line had you guessing and sitting at the edge of your seat, what will happen next. I felt like this was a super quick read/listen.

I would recommend to read this book over listen to it. I felt the narrator had too mature of a voice for the main character to be just 30 so that did keep throwing me off a bit. A more youthful narrator would have earned this book an additional star. Will look for something else by Joyce Tremel and will read not listen next time.

Short read, and not so sweet at times… but terrific!

Kate is a young widow who lost her husband recently, in a car crash. She was seriously injured too. She’s trying to pick up the pieces of her life when she is notified that her great uncle has passed and left her an orchard.

She sees this as a new opportunity and jumps on it!

She corresponds with the orchard manager and then finally meets him, and the people in the surrounding town, who take her in, immediately. But she does have a past there, as she spent time there with her friend growing up.

But, things take a turn for the worse when the manager is killed in his home on the orchard.

Kate is a suspect, and then decides that she is going to investigate this herself!

Sweet. Fun. Small town vibes. And yet Gettysburg and Hershey are in the backdrop! So, some big city vibes too!
And, being as I have family In Gettysburg and spent many summer weeks in Hershey, well, this one just couldn’t miss!!

Is there more than what meets the eye here?

You’ll have to pick this one up to find out!

#DeadlyToTheCore by #JoyceTremel. And, beautifully narrated (with such a calm, sweet voice) by #HillaryHuber.

Thanks so much to #NetGalley and #DreamscapeMedia for an ARC of the audiobook which was released on 1/16/24.

4 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ for me!
And it’s listed as book #1. So, hopefully, more to come!

Follow and like me on Goodreads, IG @ #BookReviews_with_emsr, or my new Facebook Book Club @ #BookReviewsWithElaine to see all my upcoming reviews and previews!

And, as always, happy reading! 📚📖😉

It’s always fun to join a cozy mystery series at book one. Joyce Tremel’s Deadly to the Core is the first in the Cider House Mysteries, and it was particularly interesting to me (a cider lover) because it centers around a woman who inherits her great uncle’s fruit orchard and decides to open a cidery in the renovated barn. A great start to a fun new mystery series!

Review | Deadly to the Core

Crisp, refreshing, and sweetly tart as a bite of a fresh apple, Deadly to the Core is a great start to a new cozy mystery series. The book centers around Kate Mulligan, a woman in her mid-thirties who recently became widowed after losing her husband in a car crash. Kate’s tragic loss doesn’t bring the book down (she has gone through a lot of healing before the book starts), but it added depth to Kate that made her instantly relatable as a character. Many readers will find empathy for Kate and she tries to piece together her life without the person she thought she’d spend it with.

Another tragedy (but perhaps a blessing in disguise for Kate comes when she learns that her great uncle Stan left her his fruit orchard located just outside Gettysburg, Pennsylvania in his will. Kate sees this as a chance for a fresh start. She hasn’t been back to the orchard owned by Stan and her grandmother since she was thirteen, but as soon as she returns all of the sweet memories come rushing back.

Despite encouragement from her uncle’s attorney, Robert Larabee, to sell the orchard, Kate wants to turn the barn into a cidery. She’s lucky when her uncle’s right-hand man, Carl Randolph, loves the idea and already began to renovations to the barn before she even arrived. But Kate’s progress comes to a halt when she discovers Carl’s body in the orchard, murdered. Kate may know how to make cider and do home renovations (largely learned from her late husband, Brian), but she has no idea how to solve a murder.

There are plenty of characters around to help Kate, including the handsome owner of the next door orchard, Daniel Martinez, and Kate’s childhood friend and owner of local café Margie’s Morsels, Marguerite Yost. A local woman named Ruth Miller fills Kate in on why her mother and grandmother were estranged. It seems that most of the locals are welcoming Kate with open arms—but that doesn’t mean there aren’t plenty of secrets to uncover on the search for Carl’s murderer.

It isn’t just the attorney, Robert, encouraging Kate to sell. Kate soon learns that many of the neighboring orchards have received large offers to sell their property. Something seems rotten about that scenario, and Kate’s suspicions are raised. Even more troubling, Kate’s own cane that she kept from her physical therapy was the murder weapon.

There was a lot going on in this mystery, which really made it fun to read. The murder victim Carl was such a sad loss—I really liked him from the early chapters and it was clear he was a great help to Kate’s late uncle Stan. No one seemed to know much about Carl before he arrived in Gettysburg. Theories about his backstory range from the negative (he’s an escaped convict) to the mysterious (he’s in witness protection). But regardless, he’s a loss to Kate and others.

In addition to the murder, Kate uncovers some other things going on. I mentioned how many of the orchards and property in the area have received large offers to sell. Kate and Daniel discover some documents and a map in Carl’s freezer that lead to a trail of deception, from property rights disputes, blackmail, forgery, local gossip, and a shady corporation with nefarious motives. There are a lot of lies and secrets to uncover in this town!

We are kept guessing through most of the book how much Kate (and us) can trust Daniel. He often seems like he may know more than he is sharing, and despite how much he his helping Kate, I often wondered why he was so keen to offer his help. Doesn’t he have an entire orchard to run? You’ll have to read to find out!

The small town setting, a root-able main character with a tragic backstory, the beautiful orchards, quaint local stores, and a town full of secrets and gossip made this a stellar start to a cozy mystery series. There are some twists and turns and I liked that Kate was still feeling out what information and sources she could trust as she investigates. Charming and engaging, I’m looking forward to the next book!

Audiobook Review | Hillary Huber

Cozy mysteries vary in terms of how strong the narrator the choose is (and whether they seem to match the character telling the story). I though Hillary Huber’s narration was perfect—she captured Kate’s easy-going nature, sharp intellect, and voice perfectly. Definitely consider doing Deadly to the Core on audiobook if you are a fan of that format! My local library had the audiobook available on Hoopla to download instantly, which I always love. I listened to it while I was cooking dinner, doing some errands, and finished a puzzle. Perfect!

Rating: 3.5

Hard cider should have been Kate’s biggest concern, not murder

Kate is starting a new life as a Cider House owner on her late grandfather’s farm in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania after the sudden, tragic death of her husband and her prolonged recovery. She fondly remembers the farm from summers she spent there as a kid. With long-time friend, now diner owner, her mysteries but handsome neighbor Daniel and other new friends, Kate can begin to feel at home. Shortly after her arrival, trusted groundskeeper Carl is killed. Unraveling why and by whom, while getting her Cider House ready keeps Kate busy.

Their story has a good balance of cider making education against murder investigation. No big conflict with the local police which is a good thing. There are plenty of suspects to keep you guessing.

A nice easy read that draws you in and before you know it, you’ve gone all the way to the end. Looking forward to the next book and the adventures of Kate and the Cider House.

Thank you to #NetGalley for the opportunity to do an early read and share my thoughts on the story.
Happy Reading!

I love a good cozy mystery, but this one fell a little flat for me. The mystery itself was good but it was bogged down by pacing issues and the fact that Kate, our main character, would describe her surroundings in extreme detail every single time the setting changed. I don't usually mind a good description, but it was prevalent enough for even me to notice and be thrown off by it.

It didn't help that Kate was giving away her deceased employees belongings without having the right to. Her cidery also came together super quickly. Too quickly to be believable. It felt like it took just a couple of weeks for her to have it up and running from scratch. I can't believe that it takes such little time.

Overall, I thought this was a decent first book in this series. I would be interested to read a second book to see how things go once Kate really cranks up the cider production.

Thank you to Dreamscape Media and Netgalley for the audio arc of this book!

2.5 stars. I just finished Deadly to the Core Book 1 in the Cider House Mystery series by Joyce Tremel. Overall, the story was not quite grabbing my attention. My mind wandered off quite a bit. It was just an okay cozy mystery. There were some twists and turns that I enjoyed. The narrator, Hillary Huber, was excellent. I liked that she had distinct voices for all of the characters.

Huge thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the advanced copy of the audiobook. #netgalley #deadlytothecore

I really enjoyed this new cozy mystery based in a cider shop! I love the idea of Kate, being an older protagonist that was starting a new chapter after the unfortunate death of her husband and her being gravely injured. The character seemed extremely believable, and I fell in love with the small town of Ciderville. I am looking forward to the next installment of this series.

This book was such a fun read, short and cozy. I liked the characters a lot, and the backdrop they were written in. This is another book that got me through a cold day with no power, and I loved reading it.

Pennsylvania, widow, grief, grieving, new-beginnings, new-business, new-series, first-in-series, rural, small-business, small-town, friendship, friends, ex-cop, recipes, amateur-sleuth, cider, murder-investigation, murder*****

Very interesting to learn about the making of cider for a small operation while trying to solve the murder and enjoy all of the hometown characters. The man who was murdered was a transplant but the reason was unknown. Unraveling the motive was very convoluted and more interesting than many. Good sleuthing.
I requested and reviewed an EARC from Crooked Lane Books via NetGalley. Thank you! 12/26/23
01/14/24 I was given the opportunity to listen to the audio version as performed by voice actor Hillary Huber and it was even better than the visual because of the differentiation of characters.

A Cider House Mystery

Deadly To The Core is a fantastic new cozy mystery! The characters are really likeable and interesting and the mystery kept me guessing although I suspected the culprit. Kate inherits her Uncle’s orchard so she moves to start a new life. Her husband died a year ago in a car accident and she was seriously injured. Carl is her orchard manager, Daniel owns the orchard next door and her best friend owns a cafe in town. Kate ends up a suspect when someone dies on her land. Kate is smart, independent and generally has common sense. The story has a good pace with enough going on to keep it interesting. Kate and her friends work together to help the police solve the murder. This was a truly enjoyable book and audiobook. The audiobook is well done by narrator Hillary Huber and she does a good job with the various voices. I can’t wait for the next book! #DeadlyToTheCore. #NetGalley. #Dreamscape

After an accident that killed her husband and severely injured her, xxx decides to start a cider house at the orchard she inherited from her uncle. When someone who worked for her uncle is murdered with her cane, xxx sets out to find who wanted him dead.

This has all the pieces that make for a good cozy: a small town xxx used to visit as a child, people who knew her uncle and the dead man, a helpful and handsome neighboring orchardist, an unknown source of money, and plenty of history and secrets. I enjoyed learning a bit about making cider and following the search for a killer. The narrator added to the easy feel of this story, clearly differentiating between characters and adding to the warm feeling. I’ll happily read -or listen to - more in this series. Recommended.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for a review audiobook.

That tag line mentioning Amanda Flower and Julie Anne Lindsey sold me on this new series. I’ve loved both Flower’s ‘Farm to Table’ mysteries as well as Lindsey’s ‘Cider Shop’ series and I’d rank ‘The Cider House Mysteries’ by Joyce Tremel right up there with them. — judging by this first book anyway.

First off – love the setting. Small town, tight-knit community and all the give and take that comes from country living. This is definitely a case of equal parts cozy and mystery, beautifully balanced in intriguing detail.

And I have to say it’s one of the best introductions to a mystery series that I’ve ever read. We meet up with a lot of characters right from the start but it’s done in such a way that each one makes an impression and is easy to remember — which is important as the mystery evolves.

Kate is easily relatable and, as someone who lives with a chronic pain condition, I appreciate that representation in a novel. (Kate was in a serious car accident and while she has mostly recovered, there are some lingering side effects that she has to deal with off and on.) She’s also a widow and I thought the way the author portrayed her grief journey was realistic and encouraging and brought depth to her story.

A solid mystery with a bevy of likely suspects made for some exciting armchair sleuthing (I was somewhat right, but mostly wrong!) I do so love a mystery that keeps me puzzling out the clues.

I listened to the audio edition narrated by Hillary Huber and enjoyed her interpretation of these characters very much. Made for an entertaining listening experience.

My thanks to Net Galley and the publisher for providing me with a copy of the audio edition of Deadly to the Core.

This is a Cozy Mystery, and this is the first book in A Cider House Mystery series. This is a great start to a new cozy mystery series, and I really enjoyed getting to know this new town and all the characters. I really cannot wait for the next book in this series. There was so much in this book, but it was done so perfectly. I loved how this story unfolded, and I enjoyed the ending of this book. This was an enjoyable read. I did listen to the audiobook of this book, and I really like the narrator. I received an ARC of this book. This review is my own honest opinion about the book like all my reviews are.

This was a GREAT story to listen to! AWESOME narration! Great main characters. The plot was easy to find. The story was engaging and easy to follow. Will be purchasing this book. Shout out to Netgalley and publishing for allowing me to listen and review this story.

4 STARS!

Kindle ARC
2 Stars
While I liked certain aspects of this book [the premise was intriguing], most of it just fell completely flat to me. While the murder doesn't happen in the first chapter [which is refreshing], the rest of the book was just an attempt to keep my eyes from continually rolling [the cop who demands to interrogate her after the murder and then seems to want to date her after she is cleared {OH the eye-roll}the inner dialogue moments, the idea that someone who owns a business would hire people with only another orchard owners recommendation and not looking into them further, going into semi-dangerous situations, A LOVE TRIANGLE????] and the absolutely lazy writing that happens in the middle of the book [I will say that the fact that Kate was savvy enough to realize what was being told her was just so fake was encouraging - she wasn't just some pushover and again, I had hope for the book, then in the very next chapter, all that hope was dashed] just made this such a slog to get through, though I had hope for the ending, which was dashed when I realized that I had 14 minutes left in the audiobook and there were still 4 chapters AND no reveal. Seriously? Rushed much? And the ending was so tepid that...well, again, this book just wasn't for me [and I am disappointed because I was truly looking forward to reading this one] and I will not be searching out any more should they be written.

Audiobook ARC
Hillary Huber - Narrator
4 Stars ♥
I was granted the audiobook for this book as well, and I will say that that was a pleasant surprise. I don't always like the narrator, but in this case, she did an amazing job and at certain points, HER NARRATION was the best part of the book. She is now back on my "great to listen to" list and I look forward to my next book with her narration.

Thank you to NetGalley, Joyce Tremel, Hillary Huber - Narrator, Crooked Lane Books, and Dreamscape Media for providing the eBook and audiobook ARC's in exchange for an honest review.

A great introduction to a new series. Karts were a bit slow for me which is why I rated it a bit lower but I’m interested in seeing where this series goes from here. Enjoyed the narrator as well.

A lovely, cozy mystery, the narrator did a great job in this audiobook. I appreciate it that the main character was allowing herself to mourn her husband instead of jumping right into relationships.

The way things weave together, especially with the financial dealings, helps make this plot interesting

This was a fun cozy series debut by author Joyce Tremel. I loved the time she took to let us meet the characters and become invested before the murder and investigation began. The actual investigation was fun to follow and felt like it was actual going places as you read. I absolutely loved the Cider House theme in addition to the orchard. Kate, our protagonist, was very competent and endearing. I cannot wait to read more in this series!

Thank you to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for providing an audio ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Deadly to the Core, the inaugural installment in the Cider House Mystery series by Joyce Tremel and narrated by Hillary Huber, is an absolute gem that weaves a compelling murder mystery into the charming backdrop of a fruit orchard.

Kate, the protagonist, finds herself at a crossroads after a tragic loss, but an unexpected inheritance—a fruit orchard in Pennsylvania—sparks a new sense of hope and purpose in her life. Tremel's storytelling immediately draws readers into Kate's world, where the dream of opening a cider house takes a frightening turn with the discovery of the orchard manager's body, setting the stage for an enthralling mystery.

Hillary Huber's narration is captivating, breathing life into the characters and expertly conveying the emotions and nuances of the story. Her narration style effortlessly immerses listeners in the atmospheric setting, making every scene vivid and engaging.
Tremel skillfully crafts a multi-layered mystery that keeps readers guessing until the very end. The complexities surrounding the murder of Carl Randolph unravel gradually, unveiling a web of secrets, financial discrepancies, and suspicious behavior among the orchard's inhabitants. Kate's determination to uncover the truth amidst the various twists and turns of the investigation is both admirable and relatable.

The exploration of the cider-making process and the intricacies of orchard management add depth and authenticity to the narrative, enriching the overall reading experience. The ensemble of characters is well-developed, each with their own quirks and motivations. From the enigmatic neighboring orchard owner, Daniel Martinez, to the mysterious offers to buy neighboring properties, every character adds intrigue and suspicion to the storyline.

Deadly to the Core is a riveting blend of mystery, small-town charm, and a touch of suspense that keeps readers engrossed from start to finish. (I received an advance reader copy of this book and all opinions are my own.) This is a promising start to what is sure to be an addictive series for mystery aficionados.

3.5 stars!
This was definitely a solid start for this new series. The main character Kate finds herself the new owner of a fruit orchard left to her by her great uncle. She has some baggage she is dealing with and is looking to make a new start. I really liked the cast of characters but at times had a few problems with the way Kate spoke to people. She was at times too brusque and it felt like she thought people owed her their stories. I think it might have been due to trying to build the world so quickly. Overall though the mystery was intriguing and a fun solve. I will be reading the next installment in the series as I had a great time listening to this one. The narrator was fantastic by the way! I highly recommend getting the audiobook.

Thank you to NetGalley, Dreamscape Media, and Joyce Tremel for giving me the opportunity to review this advanced reader copy. All opinions are my own.