A Berry Suspicious Death
By: Peg Cochran

Book 9 of A Cranberry Cove Mystery

Publish Date: August 20, 2024

Publisher: Beyond the Page

Cooking, Food and Wine/Mystery and Thriller/Parenting and Families

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I would like to thank both NetGalley and Beyond the Page Publishing for allowing me to read and review this book.

Book Review:

I gave this cozy mystery 4 stars. I read and reviewed book 8 in this series a while ago. I enjoy me a quick and fun mystery.

In this book Monica has had her baby and is on maternity leave. Her half-brother is getting married, and everything is going great until the guy comes to pick up the port-a-potty. As he is lifting the potty a body falls out of it. The person is the new wife to the cook she hired before she went on leave. Who killed her and why?

Come to find out she wasn't well liked and had a not so perfect pass. Monica is on the case because she wants to help her cook and somethings just don't add up.

"A Berry Suspicious Death" is a cozy mystery. It's the 9th book in the series. You can understand this book without reading the previous ones, and this novel didn't spoil previous mysteries.

Monica just happened to repeatedly be right where she needed to be to see or overhear some clue to the mystery. She also stumbled upon a side mystery, which was actually the easier one to guess as she gathered more clues about it. However, Monica didn't seem very clever as she had troubles putting the clues together. I was a little confused by the ending--not whodunit, but why Monica didn't just tell the cop when she had the chance rather than hope he understood an little-known signal. Anyway. The writing also didn't read smoothly, but this is an Advanced Reader Copy, so the writing might be more polished in the final copy. There was no sex. There was no bad language.

"A Berry Suspicious Death (A Cranberry Cove Mystery #9)" by Peg Cochran falls a few months after Monica gives birth to her son, Theodore (Teddy). It starts off at the wedding of Monica's half brother. At the end of the reception the vendors are picking up their items and the port-o-potty guy comes for his rentals. Well, one wasn't as unoccupied as it should be. I have to say that has got to be a gross place to be left. Luckily that's all that the port-o-potty was used for, a hiding place.

Monica seems to mostly just collect the gossip. Everyone seems happy to spill the tea to her wherever she goes. I was totally ready to pin everything on one particular person. They did do some illegal things but not what the primary crime of the story was. Thankfully the dire situation that was part of the reveal happened when the baby was home with Monica's husband/the dad. Yay, Cozy Mysteries! Keeping babies and animals safe.

When I think about weddings, I am always thinking about the perfect gift or what shoes to wear. Murder and porta potties never cross my mind but I sure as glad they crossed the author mind because they make up the central plot of this story. Once again, this story takes us back to Cranberry Cove which immediately made me think fall. The town sounds picturesque, and I admit to a mild curiosity to see a cranberry farm at harvest time. I bet it makes a thoroughly unique wedding venue.
While weddings are beautiful, this star of this wedding was a drama and tension which skyrocketed with guests and staff when Jolie made her appearance. Monica, our somewhat reluctant investigator and new mom on leave, finds herself with a plethora of motives and suspects to chase sometimes with a baby in tow. As I mentioned, Monica is somewhat reluctant and at one point pushes her laptop aside to let the professional do the job, but curiosity wins out and she is back chasing leads. On one hand we have money and, on the other, had we have more money leading to two suspect pools. The author did an amazing job of laying out cases against the heirs, the possible heirs, the greed card chasing hubby and her former employer. All had motive – money and a lot had opportunity – the wedding.
You simply had to keep turning the pages are new information was uncovered, new scenarios bloomed as to the identity of the murderer. As a new fan of cozies, I am finding more reasons to enjoy these stories. One the surface, our FMC are normal women with normal jobs and no special powers but below the surface they are more. They are diligent and loyal friends who hate to see justice not served or the wrong person punished. The normalcy of the FMC's live made her relatable although I don't know if I am ready to jump in and play hero. LOL
I liked how her two stories Monica was investigating had ties that possibly bound them together into one mystery. The question is do coincidences exist? I mean do ghosts exist or will solving one case solve the ghost mystery too?
This is my first book in the series but by the time I reached the midway point I had added another book in the series to my kindle.
Thanks to NetGalley and Beyond the Page Publishing for the opportunity to read this ARC.

I received a free copy of, A Berry Suspicious Death, by Peg Cochran, from the publisher and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This is book nine in The Cranberry Cove Mystery series. Monica should be celebrating a joyous occasion, the wedding of her brother, but when someone is murdered, Monica has a killer to catch! This was a nice cozy mystery,

I don't know, maybe I am just on a bad run lately. I used to enjoy this series more. Monica is a good main character, even dragging a baby with her, but this particular mystery just seemed very formulaic. Monica is just given a reason to show up somewhere, a delivery for the shop, a dance class with her stepmother or dinner out with Greg and clues just appear for who did in her baker's new wife, at Jeff and Lauren's wedding and stuffed her in a port-o-potty. While the framework for a series I really did enjoy is still there, it definitely feels hollow and more just going thru the motions. Hopefully, the next mystery brings back a little more of the spark! Thank you to #Netgally, #BeyondthePagebooks, and the author for a chance to read. #ABerrySuspiciousDeath #PegCochran #bookreview #bookideas #retiredreader

#ABerrySuspiciousDeath #NetGalley is another delightful book in this series.
Monica's brother is getting married and she couldn't be more proud.
The day seems perfect, until the end, when a body tumbles out of a porta potty. That's not exactly wedding etiquette.
Monica soon finds herself wrapped up in the murder investigation, trying to balance motherhood and marriage while trying to catch a killer.
Thank you to NetGalley for selecting me to read an advanced copy of this book.

A couple of things about this book. A unique setting and a good story that kept me engaged. The author must love clothes as there are very specific descriptions of characters clothing which I found odd. Also the main characters baby must be the most precocious 2 month old ever as he unties things and is fully interactive with other characters and his mother, again not terrible, but odd. Otherwise it's a pleasant read.

This is a fun, entertaining read. I enjoyed the mystery and how it played out. The amateur sleuth is different than any of the previous books of read and that’s something that I really enjoyed. The mystery is captivating and I enjoyed the role that Monica played in solving the case. The secondary characters – including her infant son – added to the fabric of the story and my enjoyment. The book is easy to read and get into.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

In A BERRY SUSPICOUS DEATH Monica attends the wedding of Laura and Jeff, Monica's step-brother. Jodie Amantas, a wedding guest and wife of one of Monica's employees, is found dead after the wedding when Timmy Fisher, a Johnny-on-the-Spot worker, tips a porta potty for removal. How did Jodie Amantas wind up dead in a porta potty? I read on to find out.

It feels good to read another book in the Cranberry Cove Mystery series. Setting the wedding at Sassamanash Farms is perfect. Many mysteries I read take several chapters to establish the setting and characters but I am happy the author is able to do this in one swoop. In fact, the murder victim appears at the end of the first chapter. The mystery is well-constructed with a satisfying ending. I look forward to reading other books in the Mystery Cove series. Thank you, Beyond the Page Publishing and NetGalley, for the chance to read and review an advance reader copy of A BERRY SUSPICOUS DEATH.

This is one of the series I very much enjoy and look forward to with each new book. For me, part of the draw is that the series is set in my home state of Michigan. It's also a bit unique in that normally, in Michigan, books are centered around cities in the north with our apples, blueberry or other farm to table type ingredients. I love that the cranberry theme is unique and the books are set in the southern part of the state. These characters have grown over the course of the series and now they feel like catching up with old, familiar friends. Ms. Cochran, a transplant to Michigan, does a wonderful job of crafting a town that has the small town Michigan feel to it. The plot was a bit slow to start but overall it held my interest and I enjoyed catching up with these characters and solving another mystery with Monica.

Lots of excitement in the cranberry community in Michigan. Monica's half brother is getting married, her new baby is doing great, the new house is almost ready, and the store is doing ok. But then, a body falls out of the port-a-potty at the wedding. Who killed the new wife of one of Monica's employees? Lots of characters to track, and lots of clues to put together to find the guilty party in the land of cranberry scones. It was a good cozy--likeable heroine --.Am sure a sequel will be coming.
Thanks to Net Galley for the arc.

Monica’s half brother is having his wedding at their cranberry farm and everyone is having a wonderful time. That changes when the celebrations are winding down and the company comes to pick up the porta-potties and a body tumbles out of one!
Monica is busy with her new baby and keeping up with their cranberry store and moving to a new home, but she still manages to find clues to the murder. Everywhere she goes in the small town, she bumps into the main suspects and picks up hints as to what is really going on. There are red herrings and intertwined motives which makes this a fun cozy mystery.
Thanks to Beyond the Page Publishing and NetGalley for the ARC.

This one starts out with a wedding but ends in surprise. Full of action and a non stop read. Love this series.

I wasn't as taken with this one as I'd expected to be but it was still an enjoyable read. Monica's half-brother's wedding is going well until, well, the end. Having a dead body fall out of a porta-potty is enough to put a damper on about any occasion. That's when things get really complicated. Who is Jolie Clawson and why was she even there? Turns out, much to the surprise of almost everyone, she was married to Micky, Monica's newest baker. From there, the web of connections expands, pulling suspicion in many different directions. We're also introduced to a rather large cast of characters in the beginning, most of them guests or workers at the wedding, as well as Monica's barely two-month old son Teddy.

I won't detail the plot, that's what blurbs are for, but will say it involves family squabbles, worries that a house is haunted, packing and moving, a rather new age spa, a missing porta-potty, health aides, and more. For me, it was a slow build, with Monica more finding out more info/clues more by the luck of being in the right spot at the right time than any actual sleuthing. Given the presence of a baby in her life now, that's probably understandable, but there seemed to be lots of chit-chat and overhearing conversations but little actually happening much of the time. And, of course, she's selective in what info to share with police rather than all of it. Husband Greg seemed to be in and out of scenes but wasn't contributing much but a convenient body to care for little Teddy, as was one of his bookshop workers.

Bottom line, although I neither loved nor hated this book, it did hold my interest to keep reading to find out whodunit. While I was thinking maybe a 3 star rating for me, the ending was creative and timely, so it bumped it up to a 3.5 rounded to a 4 star for me. Others may find it more to their taste as it was, overall, an enjoyable read. Cranberry Cove sounds like a neat place to live, especially if you're into all things cranberry, and the characters, while sketchy in my mind, seemed overall to be likable. Thanks #NetGalley and #BeyondThePagePublishing for the early invite to drop into Jeff's wedding and check out what everyone was up to at Sassamanash Farms in Cranberry Cove.