A fast cozy read that kept me turning the pages because I had to find out what happened. But it was also a cozy that left me Hungary.

Such a great book! I really love this series and this author. I really enjoyed the location and the characters. Both human and furry.

This was a great first book in a cozy mystery series, and I enjoyed the characters, the setting, and the mystery itself. Wonderful sense of place, and I'm looking forward to reading Karen MacInerney's other books.

I was given this book by Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Lucy gives up her job as a reporter in the city and buys her grandparents' farm, trying to make a living as a farmer, mostly selling jars of her Killer Dewberry Jam.

I liked this story and really enjoyed the characters. I enjoyed her friendship with Quinn and her burgeoning friendship with Tobias, the friendly neighborhood vet. Her past experience as a reporter made her investigating prowess seem plausible, which is nice.

I was kept guessing about who killed the unlikeable victim until the end.

I recommend this book and look forward to more in the series.

Imagine leaving the hustle and bustle of urban life and moving to the wide expanses of a Texas rural small town life. That is exactly what Lucy Resnick decided to do when she paid off the taxes and assumed control of her Grandmother's homestead. Content to be content that last thing Lucy expected was to have the owner of the mineral rights wanting to cash in on the oil beneath her home. To make matters worse Nettie Kocurek, said rights owner, who went back on her word about exercising her right to harvest the oil, winds up dead. That doesn't look to good for Lucy, it seems that the past is catching up with the present. Lucky for Lucy though, she was an investigative reporter from Houston and knows how to get to the bottom of any story. This is the first installment of what looks to be a great series with excellent character development and a hint of romance. Who can resist the local vet? This definitely lives up to the definition of a cozy.

Killer Jam (Dewberry Farm #1)
by Karen MacInerney (Goodreads Author)
Paperback, 272 pages
Published July 28th 2015 by Thomas & Mercer


Goodreads synopsis:
When Houston reporter Lucy Resnick cashes in her retirement to buy her grandmother’s farm in Buttercup, Texas, she’s looking forward to a simple life as a homesteader. But Lucy has barely finished putting up her first batch of Killer Dewberry Jam when an oil exploration truck rolls up to the farm and announces plans to replace her broccoli patch with an oil derrick. Two days later, Nettie Kocurek, the woman who ordered the drilling, turns up dead at the Founders’ Day Festival with a bratwurst skewer through her heart and one of Lucy’s jam jars beside her…and the sheriff fingers Lucy as the prime suspect.

Horrified, Lucy begins to talk to Nettie’s neighbors, but the more she gets to know the townspeople, the more she realizes she’s not the only one who had a beef with Nettie. Can she clear her name, or will her dream life turn into a nightmare?

***

4 stars

Lucy Resnick decides to give up her newspaper reporting job in order to live life on her grandmother’s farm. She makes her living from making candles, jams and other baked goodies. Due to a long rivalry between the last owner of the property (Nettie) and Lucy’s grandfather, Nettie has retained the mineral rights to her grandparent’s property and plans to dig for oil if it is found on her land. This upsets Lucy and then she soon discovers that Nettie has been doing similar things to many other residents in town. So, when Nettie ends up dead, it is a coin toss who could have done it. But Nettie’s son’s gaze is fixed straight on Lucy since it was her jam jar that had committed the murder. And the sherif (Nettie’s son) , plans on making Lucy pay for her so called crime.

This was a great story. The protagonist was particularly good. I loved to hate Nettie. I can’t recommend this more highly. If you love cozy mysteries, please read this. Definitely a series I plan to follow.

I received this as an ARC (Advanced Reader Copy) in return for an honest review. I thank NetGalley, the publisher and the author for allowing me to read this title.

Killer Jam is the first installment in the Dewberry Farm Mystery series by Karen MacInerney. After spending her retirement money to purchase her Grandmother’s farm, Lucy Resnick learns that a neighbor, Nettie Kocurek, has ordered an oil exploration truck to drill up the farm; apparently it’s legal due to some verbiage in Lucy’s purchase contract. However, two days later at the Founder’s Day Celebration in their small town of Buttercup, Texas, Nettie is found murdered with a bratwurst skewer through her heart, and because a jar of Lucy’s Dewberry Jam is near the body, Lucy is a suspect. It just happens that Nettie was despised among the locals – she had been a trouble-maker for years - so there are dozens who could be considered viable suspects with motive, and Lucy must investigate to find the true murderer before she goes to jail. As she investigates, Lucy uncovers information on an old murder, and as she gets close to the truth on both murders, she is in grave danger.

While this is a typical cozy, and a culinary mystery, it is well-written. The characters are fun and likeable. There is no graphic violence, sex, or profanity. While this novel won’t keep you on the edge of your seat with mind numbing suspense, there is enough suspense to keep it interesting, and the book is definitely suitable for mystery lovers of all ages. During the course of the novel, Lucy is definitely aware of her late Grandmother’s aura, and feels like her Grandmother is leading her to the clues she needs in order to find the murderer before she becomes another murder victim.

The book is fast paced, and of course, has a surprise ending. The interactions of the characters will remind readers of typical small town life, and the big bonus is that there are several recipes, one, of course, for Killer Dewberry Jam.

Special thanks to NetGalley for supplying a review copy of this book.

I enjoy MacInernery's Gray Whale Inn series, and I expected to like this one too. I was not disappointed. The setting for this series is the world that Gray Whale Inn's Natalie left to move to Maine. This series is set in rural Texas. Lucy Resnick has acquired Dewberry Farm and is trying to make a go of the place. Somehow she has, in her purchase of the farm, not ever acquired, or even inquired, about drilling or mineral rights. The owner of said rights, a nasty piece of work, announces her intent to drill. A few days later she turns up dead. Lucy is the main suspect. so she starts investigating. Everyone in town hated the victim, but Lucy remains the focus of the police investigation. Along the way she finds some historical clues that suggest a secret in the town's past.

Like all of MacInerney's books this is well-written, and is a cut above many other cozy mysteries. I always expect a quality book from MacInerney, and I always get one. While I did enjoy this sotry, I had a really hard time digesting the idea that someone buying a farm would pay no attention to the resource rights. I mean, isn't that farmland 101? I know Lucy's supposed to be a city slicker, but somewhere along the way a lawyer would have maybe caught this? If Lucy had been researching starting a small farm surely she would have noticed this? This aside, I do plan to read the other books in the series.

(I received a free copy of this book from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.)

When Houston reporter Lucy Resnick cashes in her retirement to buy her grandmother’s farm in Buttercup, Texas, she’s looking forward to a simple life as a homesteader. But Lucy has barely finished putting up her first batch of Killer Dewberry Jam when an oil exploration truck rolls up to the farm and announces plans to replace her broccoli patch with an oil derrick. Two days later, Nettie Kocurek, the woman who ordered the drilling, turns up dead at the Founders’ Day Festival with a bratwurst skewer through her heart and one of Lucy’s jam jars beside her…and the sheriff fingers Lucy as the prime suspect.
Horrified, Lucy begins to talk to Nettie’s neighbors, but the more she gets to know the townspeople, the more she realizes she’s not the only one who had a beef with Nettie. Can she clear her name, or will her dream life turn into a nightmare?

Cozy mysteries can be a little hit-or-miss with me. The usual problem is that it leans more one way than the other - more "cozy" than mystery, or vice versa. Killer Jam doesn't fall into that trap.

A couple of things made this story really work for me. The setting: a small, quaint town rather than the hustle and bustle of a city, or even suburbia. The characters - both main and secondary - were warm and charming, people you would want to meet. The blend of mystery and romance was balanced really well - and the addition of a deeper, darker sub-plot added some real depth to the story-telling.

The only thing I really didn't like was, like a lot of cozies, the local law enforcement are portrayed as bumbling fools who can't solve a simple crime. I can suspend belief for pretty much anything, but I just don't like that.

Overall, a really well told mystery story with plenty more to keep you reading. Recommended for sure!


Paul
ARH