Title: Farm to Trouble
Author: Amanda Flower
Series: Farm to Table Mysteries #1
Publisher: Poinsoned Pen Press
Release Date: February 23, 2021
Pages: 263
Book Source: Paperback
“Shiloh Bellamy cashed in her big city job and 401K to return home to Michigan to save the family farm, but turning Bellamy Farms into a sustainable, organic operation—complete with a farm-to-table café—is no small feat. Especially when her new investor is found dead among the flowers just hours after the contract is signed. Everyone knows her father had a grudge against the investor, and word travels fast in a small town…
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Now, Shiloh must clear her family’s name and track down the real killer before her organic farm dreams wilt before her very eyes. But with her father trying to stop any progress on his land, her cousin belittling her every effort, the farmhouse falling down around her, and the whole town believing her family at fault, Shiloh’s small town troubles are growing much faster than her crops. She’ll have to trust her own investigation or risk all her dreams drying up before they begin.” – Amazon
Kim’s Review
**
Farm to Trouble is the first in the new Farm to Table cozy mystery series by Amanda Flower, and I always enjoy finding the first in a new series! I hate to admit though, this one didn’t have me reading as fast as other cozies. I think the biggest thing that kept putting me off was so many grumpy or down right mean characters… and not just side characters, but Shiloh’s dad and cousin.
The flow of the book was a bit off for me too. Shiloh has so much to do around the farm that her father has neglected for years and she also has a murder to solve, but instead she’s taking forever to mow the lawn or do other chores, like clean out the barn.
And no one even gets arrested until maybe 50 pages left in the book. It just felt odd. Instead of wasting so much time writing these parts of the book, more tips woven into the story on organic food and farming would have made the story more interesting.
But even with these issues I am still looking forward to future books in the series. Huckleberry, the pug, is beyond adorable. Shiloh has so many cool ideas for the farm that I want to read more about them. The town is starting to flourish so it will be enjoyable to see how it becomes even better. And I really enjoyed how the romantic interest seems to be on a back burner with getting the farm going again more important. I also want to see if Shiloh’s dad continues on his path that he found towards the end, and to see what becomes of Shiloh’s cousin.
**
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