Elle Brooke White

Charlotte Finn inherited the Finn Family Farm from her late uncle. At first, she was going to sell it and go back to her job in Chicago, but after being there for a while decided she wanted to stay and make the farm profitable. She's repaired the pond she used to swim in, made additions, and now her best friend Diane Mason is getting ready to open a farm-to-table restaurant on the farm. Her crops are doing well, and she's pleased.

At least until she and Diane's brother Beau go into town and hear some of the other farm owners talking about the strawberry blight. While she doesn't have it herself, she wants to know what is going on. After Beau gets into an altercation with Linc Pierce, they leave. The next day Beau wants to make amends and he and Charlotte go to Linc's farm only to find him dead. While it looks like suicide at first, it's soon found to be a homicide. With Beau the main suspect, Charlotte is determined to prove his innocence. Especially when she finds something horrifying on her farm, and clues all around her. Now if she can just discover what they mean...

This is the second book in the series and I enjoyed it much more than the first (sorry). The characters are a little bit more fleshed out, and the story line is very good. We go with Charlotte and gather clues along the way, hoping to find the trail of a killer. We also find that Samuel, her farmer, is along and willing to help, if only to keep her out of trouble. She has her own ideas on how to figure out who is ruining everyone's strawberry plants, and she's going to do something about it, even if it does get her into trouble.

Sheriff Goodacre likes Charlotte, but refuses to share information -- unless Charlotte has something that's worth sharing with her. Their rapport is also excellent, and I like the fact that the sheriff doesn't dismiss Charlotte out of hand deciding that she's 'just rambling on.' She actually listens to her and follows leads when necessary.

When we come to the climax and the murderer is revealed, it's a rather interesting one. It occurs at the same time as another event, and mixing the two together seems to work somehow. While I don't see a third book in the planning, I do hope that the author follows through and writes one. Recommended.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher and NetGalley but this in no way influenced my review.… (altro)

Strawberries And Crime is the second book in the Finn Family Farm Mystery series by Elle Brooke White.

Charlotte Finn is settling in nicely at the farm she inherited from her uncle, Finn Family Farm, and helping Charlotte on the farm by Joe and Alice Wong, caretakers, and Sam Watson, farmer, who stayed on when Charlotte took over the farm. Also involved on the farm are Diane and Beau Mason, BFF, who were childhood friends of Charlotte.

Charlotte and Beau head into town to pick up some supplies and come across some farmers arguing outside the feed store. The argument is about the blight that some of the farmers are experiencing. Linc, the most vocal of the farmers, pushes Beau to the ground, calling him a pretty boy. The next day Charlotte and Beau head out to Linc’s farm to discuss the previous day’s altercation. When they enter his barn, they find him hanging from a rafter. At first, the police ruled it a suicide but later called it a homicide, with Beau becoming the prime suspect.

Charlotte will begin her investigation in hopes of clearing Beau from a possible murder charge. There seems to be no shortage of suspects. She suspects the contractor that is building Diane’s restaurant that is being constructed on the farm. She will also suspect some neighboring farmers who seem to be reluctant to share information about their farming methods. She will find a clue in Linc’s barn that will head her in the right direction.

This book is an excellent follow-up to the first book in this series. The book is well-written and had enough red herrings that I was kept guessing until the end of the book as to who the killer was. The characters are well-developed and believable. I particularly enjoy Horse, the little pig, and his friend Mrs. Robinson, the ladybug who helps Charlotte.

I will be watching for the next book in this exciting and interesting series.… (altro)

amateur-sleuth, family, family-dynamics, friendship, law-enforcement, pet, sabotage, murder, murder-investigation, rural, farming*****

I love the subtle humor of having a mini pig named Horse who understands and even sleeps with main character Charlotte Finn! I did read the first book, but I think that this one can stand alone. Charlotte left the ad world in Chicago when her relative left her a strawberry farm in northern California and two of her childhood friends came along to follow their own dreams. But there is crop sabotage, a murder, a sheriff who is wise to Charlotte's (and Horse's) sleuthing, and an assortment of suspects. The whodunit is a good one and the characters certainly are. No need for spoilers or plot summary, just enjoy some time away from reality with this one! Loved it!
I requested and received a free temporary ebook copy from Crooked Lane Books via NetGalley. Thank you!… (altro)

Dead On The Vine is the first book in the A Finn Family Farm Mystery series.

Charlotte had a successful advertising job until one bad ad, she finds herself jobless. Then she finds out that she has inherited her great-uncle Tobias produce farm in California. So she packs up her belongings and heads for the farm. Charlotte has no idea what it takes to run a farm and decides that she will sell the farm and settle down in California. Her childhood friends, Diane and Beau, meet her at the farm shortly after her arrival. They meet the farm’s caretaker, Joe Wong and his wife Alice and farmhand Sam Brown. When Charlotte is in town, she is approached by a real estate agent who wants to list her property schedules a meeting at the farm to appraise the farm. When the agent arrives at the farm they head out to the fields to survey the crops and the land he stumbles over the body of a young man with a pitchfork. Police Chief Goodacre arrives to investigate and it is soon learned that no one knows who the victim might be. It is also learned that someone has been trying to sabotage the farm by disabling the ingratiation system and infecting the tomato fields with aphids.

Charlotte, Diane, and Beau set out to find the killer and hopefully remove the stigma attached to the farm by the murder. Two bullying brothers who live on the next farm are high on her list, as is the agent who is selling their produce to the local market and others.

I enjoyed this new series a lot. It’s well-written plotted and moves at a nice pace. It has an interesting cast of well-developed and believable. The characters that I enjoyed the most, are Mrs. Robinson, a ladybug and Horse the pig. They both helped Charlotte sort out the clues to the killer, particularly Horse.

I will be watching for the next book in this very interesting series.… (altro)