Crime and Cherry Pits

By Amanda Flower

I needed a break from the more “serious” read that my book club had been working on for 6 weeks. It was a worthy read, with depth, but what I needed was the diversion of a cozy mystery, but not just any cozy mystery. I needed a novel with a strong, intelligent protagonist with an interesting background. I wanted a mystery that would keep me guessing with a little romance thrown in. If there could be a kid and animals, so much the better.  I was delighted to see that a cozy mystery from Amanda Flower’s Farm to Table Mysteries was next in my queue.

In Crime and Cherry Pits, Shiloh Bellamy is the owner of the organic Bellamy Farm in Cherry Glen, a little western Michigan town. She has had to work hard to get it out of debt and running again, but she has done so well that she has been honored by an invitation to participate in the annual Cherry Festival in nearby Traverse City. While all seems to be going well, there are so many ways for things to go wrong. She has problems with a new organic farm neighbor who doesn’t really know what he has gotten into. Another neighbor has a darling, precocious daughter Hazel who adores Shiloh. Hazel’s father has known Shiloh since childhood and there is an attraction, but their past always looms between them. Hazel’s parents absolutely do not like Shiloh. Shiloh recently found some stocks left to her by her grandmother who died years ago. She wants to do what is right, not just what is legal, which causes problems with her father and her cousin. 

Shiloh has a way of getting dangerously mixed up in murder cases partly because of circumstances and partly because she is nosy. Surely that could not be an issue in this story, because how could someone die at a Cherry Festival? Cue the cherry pit spitting competition! A production of Shakespeare’s The Tempest is produced by Shiloh’s cousin and Shiloh’s father accepts a leading role. There are affairs and lying, three police agencies get involved, and there are death threats. On the positive side, the reader gets to enjoy Shiloh’s cat Esmeralda and her pug Huckleberry who accompanies her almost everywhere. Add to that the farms animals: Diva the chicken and all the other chickens she controls and the flock of five Olde English Babydoll Southdown yearlings, less than twenty inches tall. Is someone out to hurt them? As Shiloh rises to the occasion, the reader can be sure that it won’t happen on Shiloh’s watch.

Crime and Cherry Pits is a cozy mystery that will keep you turning pages to see whodunit. You’ll need to read to the finish for a surprise ending.

I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Rating: 5/5

Category: Mystery

Notes: 1. #4 in the Farm to Table Mysteries, but could be read as a standalone because Flower includes background (without being boring).

  2. Includes a basic recipe for homemade soap that sounds doable. Hers, of course, includes cherry essential oil.

Publication:  February 27, 2024—Poisoned Pen Press

Memorable Lines:

She looked down at Huckleberry. “Is that a police dog?”   “In training,” Milan said. “We aren’t sure he has what it takes.”   “He’s a pug,” Susan said.   “We thought we’d go for unassuming with this one,” Milan said with a straight face.   “No kidding,” Susan replied.

My little pug was in tune with my emotions, and he felt my nervousness. I was grateful for his warm presence.

Inside the general store, Huckleberry was living his best life, lying on a plush dog bed and gnawing on a piece of beef jerky. He didn’t even look up when I entered the store. I didn’t blame him. Snacks in bed were my favorite too.