This was a quick read. The writing was pretty basic, the story was pretty basic. It was an entertaining, quick read, but there was something lacking, maybe the intensity?

I was not aware that this is the third book in a series. I didn't have any problems getting right into the story as, I'm guessing, each volume functions as a stand alone story. This was a great read and I highly recommend it. I want to track down the rest of the books in this series and start reading them.
Thank you NetGalley, Ivy Bay Press and Brenda Chapman for allowing me to read this ARC.

This is a page turner from the very beginning! I was hooked. The pacing is fast and the mystery intense. I love these complex characters. This is definitely my favorite so far. I was stunned by the reveal! I love when a mystery surprises me. I can't wait for the next one.

Eleven-year-old Matt Clark is spending the summer in a small town outside of Ottawa Canada with Devina and Stu Petrie, friends of his mother's. He returns from fishing with his buddy Jimmy to find them murdered and immediately goes into hiding.

This is the third in the Hunter & Tate mystery series but I think it could be read as a standalone without too much difficulty. You'd miss out on the background of the characters but each book follows a different case, sometimes more than one. Liam Hunter is a detective with the Ottawa Police and Ella Tate is a podcaster/freelance reporter who has collaborated with Liam in the past and is conducting her own investigation into the double murder.

This book focuses more on Liam Hunter's new partner, Rosie Thorburn, and her acquaintance with another detective, including his attempts to thwart her career. Meanwhile the mystery behind the deaths of the Petries and the search for young Matt intensifies as connections to New York are uncovered and the FBI becomes involved. There really isn't much interaction between Ella and Liam this time nor did Ella's showy neighbour Tony have a big role in this book but it was still a quick and entertaining read. I understand the author is currently writing book 4 so I'll be keeping an eye out for it. 3.5 stars rounded down.

Thanks to Ivy Bay Press via Netgalley for an opportunity to read an advance copy of this novel. All opinions expressed are my own.
Publication: April 15, 2024

This book is a must read. There is a double murder in a small town and a boy goes missing. The race is on to solve the murders and locate the boy. Each chapter brought a new twist on who could possibly have committed such a crime. The characters are easy to like and develop as the book goes on. Just when you think you have everything figured out, there is a huge twist that just leaves your mind blown. I will definitely be reading more books by Brenda Chapman. Many thanks to Brenda Chapman and NetGalley for the advanced read.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Ivy Bay Press for an advance copy of Fatal Harvest, the third novel to feature Detective Liam Hunter of Ottawa’s Major Crimes Unit and podcaster/freelance journalist Ella Tate.

Eleven year old Matt Clark is staying with Stu and Devina Petrie over the summer in the rural town of Ashton while his parents work out some troubles. He comes home to find the Petries murdered and realises it isn’t safe for him. Hunter heads the investigation into the double murder and Matt’s disappearance while Ella takes her own approach to the case.

I thoroughly enjoyed Fatal Harvest, which is an interesting police procedural with a twist in the tail. It is, however, a novel of two halves. The first half is slow as it sets the scene and the investigation, which is necessarily slow with apparently harmless victims and no clues, while the second half pulls all the scene setting together and ramps up the action/tension culminating in a big twist.

The novel is in some senses character driven. Liam and Ella don’t give much away emotionally and are more drivers than participants in the plot. The emotion lies in Matt, his friend Jimmy and Liam’s investigative partner Rosie Thorburn, who goes through a different wringer in this novel. There is one unusual theme in the novel, that of acceptance and unwillingness to fight, especially when the examples of trying to change things always end badly. I think that what I’m trying to say is that passivity seems to be the way forward otherwise bad things happen. It may be realistic but it’s a bit depressing in fiction.

The plot follows the typical procedural trope by starting with a wide open field of suspects and narrowing it down with sold investigating. The reason for Matt’s stay in Ashton gets a lot of attention and might well have a bearing on the murders, but it might not. The author isn’t saying before the denouement and creates such a mystery that the solution comes as a big surprise.

Fatal Harvest is a good read that I have no hesitation in recommending.

Eleven-year-old Matt has been spending the summer in a small town outside of Ottawa with Devina and Stu, friends of his mother's. He comes home after fishing with his buddy, Jimmy, to find them murdered and there's a man still lurking about. He panics and takes off into hiding. When Devina and Stu's bodies are found, the police wonder about Matt. Did he kill them? Was he kidnapped or also murdered?

Police officers Liam Hunter and Rosie Thornburn investigate. In the meantime, there are internal changes and tension happening within their department which could be distracting. Liam usually works on the sly with Ella Tate, a true crime podcaster, exchanging information on cases, though they didn't spend a lot of time together in this story.

I have read quite a few of this author's books and enjoy them. This one is written in third person perspective depending on where the action was. Though it is the third in the Hunter and Tate series (and I've read the first two), you can read it as a stand alone but I'd recommend you read the first two first so you'll have the background of the characters. The whodunnit was an interesting twist. I like that it is set in Ottawa, ON, and the author doesn't try to hide it.

Ottawa homicide detective Liam Hunter's newest case is a gruesome double murder in the small village of Ashton. Eleven-year old Matt Clark had been staying with the deceased couple during the summer & is now missing. Is Matt a kidnap victim, a fleeing witness or the killer? And where are Matt's parents?

True-crime podcaster Ella Tate is hovering around the scenes looking for information but I miss the frequent interactions between Ella & Liam that were present in previous books. Meanwhile, Hunter's new partner Rosie is dealing with both personal and professional challenges & this storyline adds another layer to the book.

I received a digital ARC from Netgalley and Ivy Bay Press. All opinions are my own.

This book is a well-written whodunit that kept my interest til the end. It was suspenseful, mysterious and, let's talk about the setting. In Fall, my favorite season, even though this is the third instalment in a series, it is perfect as a standalone. I will certainly check out other books by this author.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me this arc in exchange for an honest review.

I received an egalley of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

Chapman's characters are so realistic that you feel like you know them. I always enjoy getting the opportunity to read stories set where I live.

Overall, the writing was extremely approachable and made for an easy read! Having read the other two books in this series, I did feel like it was missing the core Hunter and Tate interactions, and spent a lot of the novel on the outside characters, which really led me to miss the dynamics between our two protagonists.

As usual, I can never really figure out where the twists are going and I am always surprised and impressed with how the mysteries resolve. Rounding up from a 3.5, because I really did miss those interactions between the titular Ella and Liam and wanted so badly to see some evolution in their relationship. I am very interested to see where things will go with Rosie, however!

So I didn't realize this was part of a series and while it was a decent standalone, I still felt a little lost with the main characters not having read the prior books. Overall it was a decent story and I enjoyed the twists.

Thank you Netgalley and Ivy Bay Press Publishing for an ARC ♥️
Wow, just wow! Brenda Chapman's "Fatal Harvest" is an absolute page-turner that will keep you on the edge of your seat from start to finish. The story masterfully unwinds like a dark, atmospheric thriller, with a double murder and a missing kid setting the stage for a heart-pounding investigation. I loved how Chapman expertly weaves together multiple storylines, from Detective Liam Hunter's dogged pursuit of the truth to true crime podcaster Ella Tate's parallel search for answers. The characters leap off the page, their complexities and vulnerabilities making them feel achingly real. And let's talk about the setting - the relentless rain of September creates a chilling backdrop that'll send shivers down your spine. Trust me, you'll devour this book in one sitting, and the cliffhangers will leave you begging for more ,but before reading make sure to clear your schedule, because you won't be able to put it down!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review "Fatal Harvest", the third book in the Hunter and Tate Mysteries series. I have to confess that, although I am a fan of Brenda Chapman, the author (having read one of her other series), I had not read any of the previous books - so I did just that.

Maybe it's because I had read and greatly enjoyed the first two books of the series one after the other, I found book three - while being well written and a good mystery - not quite up to the the standards of the first two. The mystery is a good one: a young boy goes missing after the couple he has been staying with in a small rural community is brutally murdered; Detectives Hunter and Thorburn (who we were introduced to in Book 2) don't know whether the adolescent Matt Clark is another victim, the perpetrator or just a terrified witness.

Ella Tate is dealing with things at home: a new, possible boyfriend, Tony her neighbour who delights in mothering her and her friend, Finn, who is now a single father; but she still manages to get involved in the case - first in the persona of her freelance reporter gig and then as part of her true crime podcast. But it seems that Ella and the detectives spend most of the story going over the same territory. A lot of time is spent interviewing and re-interviewing the neighbours and whittling out the backstories that may have led to the murders.

When hints of Matt's backstory begin to make it to the investigators, the possible reasons for the double homicide begin to become more complex - for a time. But the mystery is soon solved in a satisfying (but somewhat predictable) manner.

There is a lot going on in this one that I see as the setup for the promised fourth book in the series (and I hope that some of it is dealt with quickly). Recommended, but not really a standalone read.

Fatal Harvest by Brenda Chapman started out okay, but I felt there was too much extra information added to the story that I found myself skimming.

It was a good story, though, and I liked Matt and Jimmy. The story had some good twists and a good plot.

Overall, a good read. I will read more from this author.

#FatalHarvest #NetGalley @ibpa

Thank you NetGalley and Ivy Bay Press for the eARC.
Brenda Chapman is one of my favorite Canadian authors and I loved this, the 3rd book in the Hunter & Tate series and there's going to be no. 4!
A double murder and a missing young boy, just outside of Ottawa, keeps Hunter and Tate on their toes. Hunter is working with Rosie, who shows promise, except for the fact that Augur wants to destroy her and her career. I really hope Augur gets his comeuppance in book 4!
A great read, loved it, highly recommended!

This was my first book in the series and by the author. But it reads alright even as a standalone.
The storyline was good though the actions and motivations of the characters, were sometimes questionable, especially involving the whole Matt storyline.
I suppose the possible romantic interest between Liam and Ella will be drawn out over other installations of the novel, and they were fairly well fleshed out ad characters.
I grew to care for Rosie and would want to see justice delivered for here especially where Auger is concerned.
To sum up, a reasonable read
Thank you netgalley and publisher for the arc

Great book! I thoroughly enjoyed reading this one!! This book had a bit of everything! It had suspense, intrigue, action, murder, mystery, cheating, revenge, a great who done it, great police work, and some crazy twists and turns! The storyline was very interesting and kept me glued to my Kindle! I definitely recommend reading this book as it was well worth reading! Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for sharing this book with me!