Rotten to the Core
Series: An Orchard Mystery Book #2
Author: Sheila Connolly
Publisher: Berkley Prime Crime
Page Count: 304
My Rating:
Book Summary
Second in the series that readers can sink their teeth into.
Orchard owner Meg Corey must clear her name of murder after the discovery of a pesticide-poisoned body in her springhouse. Includes recipes.
More Facts for Readers about our Sleuth:
Main Sleuth: Meg Corey
Physical Description: White female, Brunette, Brown eyes, family from Massachusetts
Business: Re-starting up an apple orchard business (formerly in banking)
Country: Granford, Massachusetts (moved from Boston)
Pet: Lavinia “Lolly”, rescued cat, a tabby with white tummy and paws
Love Interest: Seth Chapin, a white male plumber, blond, hazel eyes
Family: A mother who we haven’t met yet because she lives further away
Diversity? Yes! The first book didn’t have much if any diversity, but in this second book, we meet Bree who is of Jamaican descent. Her family had come to the area a few generations ago as apple pickers, stayed, and now a few generations later she is an American of Jamaican ancestry. Bree is an almost graduate from the nearby university and has been hired on as the apple orchard manager, and she is moving in with our sleuth Meg Corey.
My Review
Just took a bite of “Rotten to the Core”, book 2, in the Orchard Mystery series by Sheila Connolly! Our poor main sleuth Meg Corey has bad luck again as a second body in just a few months has been found on her apple orchard property. Although they had never met, local graduate student Jason Miller, who has been making negative waves in the Granford community, is found face down and lifeless by Meg. She’s the prime suspect, again, and working to find out who would have motive to frame her for murder.
I feel like I learned a TON about what it would take to start up an apple orchard while sleuthing alongside Meg in this book! It’s clear that author Sheila Connolly knows what she’s talking about and you get the sense that she must have had hands on experience in this profession. Get ready to roll up your sleeves because we get hit with the murder in the first chapter and we are sleuthing our way right up until the end – but as we get closer to our answer, it’s more the why and less the who that keeps up captivated and reading in the last few chapters. You’ll find yourself asking “But whyyyyy?” (in a good way) as we get nearer and nearer to the truth.
Again, we have a detail rich addition to the series, but nothing feels like a waste of time. All of the details are building toward something, and in those details are clues and red herrings that make the mystery oh-so-fun. Enjoy the second book, and maybe eat an apple or two while you do it.
