I just finished reading (and enjoying!) Dying for Strawberries, the first book in Sharon Farrow‘s Berry Basket Mystery book series. I am writing about this book as part of my series of posts highlighting some of the most popular and recommended Cozy Mystery series. Sharon Farrow is also one half of the D.E. Ireland writing duo (along with Meg Macy) 

The Berry Basket Mystery Series features a young (thirty-ish) sleuth named Marley Jacob. (Yes, her parents knew about the Dickens character — Jacob Marley — and named Marley after him for some crazy reason!)

Recently, Marley returned to her original hometown, Oriole Point, a small town bordering on Lake Michigan to open a berry theme-related shop — the Berry Basket. Oriole Point attracts a lot of tourists during the summer months and Marley’s shop does a booming business with them.

In a somewhat unusual and refreshing twist, when the story begins, Marley is already engaged. This is in contrast to most Cozies that I have read recently in which the sleuth has returned to her hometown after a failed engagement. So, at least at the beginning of this series, the sleuth is not (overtly at least) fought over by two or more suitors. This book had me hooked as soon as I read about her fiancé — I guess I am an easy mark!

As the story opens, the town is preparing for a new festival — the Strawberry Moon Bash – which is designed to promote local businesses by attracting even more visitors to Oriole Point. Marley’s friend Natasha, who is in an abusive marriage, goes missing and Marley begins her sleuthing even before there is a murder.

Of course, there is a murder (but not until quite some way into the book), and Marley — along with just about everybody who is anybody in town — is a prime suspect. Marley takes it upon herself (along with a friend or two who are roped into helping her) begins her sleuthing in earnest as soon as the murder is discovered.

Oriole Point is a charming small town — so much so that it is easy to suspend one’s disbelief about the viability of a shop that specializes in all things berry-related. The mystery is interesting with just enough clues spread around that the reader can figure out who the killer is just about a few pages before Marley does. And, in another refreshing moment, Marley figures it out just a moment before the killer confronts her (not the moment after that happens). 

I enjoyed Dying for Strawberries, and I intend to return to Oriole Point to follow Marley’s continuing adventures soon.

If you’re interested in reading more of these brief revisits of some of the more popular Cozy Mystery Series that I’ve written in the past, you can find them at the Most Recommended Cozy Mystery Series page on my site.

PS: This series does feature recipes – as you may guess, berry related ones!

Today, I’ll be discussing Meet Your Baker, the first book in the series Bakeshop Mystery Series by Ellie Alexander is the next book that I have read to continue my posts about the most popular and recommended mystery series.

Juliet Montague Capshaw (who goes by “Jules”) is returning to her hometown of Ashland, Oregon, a quaint town most known for the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, which brings in plenty of academics and acting professionals alike as well as a slew of tourists. Coming off of a rough breakup from her husband of ten years, Jules wants to spend a bit of time recovering and deciding on a new direction for her life, as continuing her profession as a dessert baker on cruise ships feels less attractive without her partner of ten years.

While a lot has stayed the same in the years Jules has been gone from Ashland, many things have also changed. Though there is still a place for her in her family’s bake shop, Torte, and she still knows a significant number of the locals who grew up in town, she is less familiar with many of the newer faces who have arrived in the last decade, including newcomer Nancy Hudson. Nancy is the newest board member of the festival, as well as a very significant financial backer, plus is dating a local who has been working for years to buy up as much of the local businesses as possible, including Torte.

No one much likes Nancy… which, needless to say, makes it much harder to pin down just one suspect when she turns up dead in Torte, having been bludgeoned, apparently by one of Jules own jam jars. Jules feels that it’s in both her own and her family’s best interest to solve the case as quickly as possible – though it’s a nice plus that this gives her time to spend with her former highschool boyfriend, now a deputy also investigating the crime.

Ashland is a relatively grounded setting, with relatively few over-the-top or “wacky residents. The characters are still interesting, but few are as exaggerated as the genre often uses for supporting cast.

Another aspect of the book that I really appreciated was that the murder was relatively “front-and-center”, occurring in the first few chapters of the novel. A lot of modern Cozies have a tendency to sort of slowly move toward the crime, sometimes taking up to half the novel on preliminaries.

All told, I can recommend Meet Your Baker to any Cozy fan who likes relatively grounded settings, those who are interested in a murder starting up relatively quickly in the book, or anyone who has a love of detailed descriptions of scrumptious-sounding baked goods.

As a side note, Ellie Alexander has also written under the name Kate Dyer-Seeley.

If you are interested in reading some of the other entries about highly recommended Cozy Mystery series, you can find them at the Most Recommended Cozy Mystery Series page on the site.

PS: For anyone who is a bit of a chef themselves, it’s worth noting that the book does include a number of delicious-sounding recipes at the end!