Review: Berried Secrets by Peg Cochran

Berried Secrets (Cranberry Cove #1)
written by Peg Cochran
narrated by Romy Nordlinger

My Rating: 4 stars

Genre: Cozy Mystery
Age Category: Adult
Type of romance: m/f

Blurb:
When Monica Albertson comes to Cranberry Cove – a charming town on the eastern shore of Lake Michigan – to help her half brother, Jeff, on his cranberry farm, the last thing she expects to harvest is a dead body.

It seems that Sam Culbert, who ran the farm while Jeff was deployed overseas, had some juicy secrets that soon prove fatal, and Jeff is ripe for the picking as a prime suspect. Forming an uneasy alliance with her high-maintenance stepmother, Monica has her hands full trying to save the farm while searching for a killer. Culbert made plenty of enemies in the quaint small town, but which one was desperate enough to kill?

My Review

I received a free copy from Tantor Audio and voluntarily reviewed it.

Berried Secrets caught my eye when it first released, but I didn’t get around to buying it back then and forgot about it until I heard a cozy mystery Youtuber mention it recently. I am glad I gave this series a try as I had a great time listening to this first book in the series. The narrator was a new to me one, I enjoyed her style and the different voices she did.

Berried Secrets follows the point of view of Monica, she returned home to Cranberry Cove 5 weeks ago and is now settled in her cottage on the farm. She’s there to help her half-brother Jeff with the cranberry farm he owns. Sam Culbert ran the farm while Jeff was deployed overseas and the farm is not doing so well currently. Then Sam is found dead in the cranberry bog during the harvest and Jeff becomes a suspect.

I liked the mystery in this one. There were plenty of suspects who didn’t like Sam. And as the story progresses more and more come to light and various reasons who people might want him dead. It also made sense for Monica to get involved as her half-brother is a suspect. I liked seeing some new information come to light during the investigation and how Monica eventually figured it out. I did manage to figure out who was the killer a bit before Monica did.

I liked reading about Monica, she seems a likable enough main character although I wish she stood up for herself a bit more. Her relationship with her stepmother Gina also bothered me a bit as Gina kinda invites herself over and never asks if Monica is okay with it and when she does Monica never dares say no, but toward the end of the book their relationship did change a bit and I am hopeful it might be better in future books. I thought it was nice how Monica was already a bit settled as she arrived in Cranberry Cove 5 weeks before the start of the book, so that gave it a different vibe than most first books in cozy mystery series. There’s a hint of romance in this one with the guy who runs a bookstore, I thought was fun to have a bookstore owner as love interest in a cozy.

This one had some interesting side characters like her half-brother Jeff and Greg the bookstore owner and love interest for Monica. I also liked the Van Velsen sisters, who are twins whose ancestors came from the Netherlands. I was pleasantly surprised at the dutch treats and foods that got mentioned in this book as those were all things I recognized and I rarely read about those.

This one has a cranberry farm theme, which was so fun and unique. I didn’t really know anything about cranberries before I started this one. And it was so interesting to learn about cranberries and how they are harvested by filling the bogs with water and how the berries float to the top of the bog after separated from the vines. It was so interesting and I even looked up a Youtube video to see what the process looked like. The main character Monica does a lot of baking with cranberries and I also enjoyed reading about that as well as the cranberry themed items they sold in the shop.

To summarize: I had a great time listening to this one. I thought the cranberry farm theme was fun and interesting. It felt unique and I enjoyed learning about cranberries and how they get harvested. Reading about the farm store and Monica’s baking was also fun. I liked the set up with Monica being in Cranberry Cove to help her half-brother with his cranberry farm and how she arrived 5 weeks before the start of the book and is a bit settled already. I liked the mystery and it kept me guessing with plenty of suspects and various reasons who they didn’t like Sam Culbert. I figured it out a bit before Monica did. There are some interesting side characters, Monica is likable enough as a main character and there’s a hint of romance with a bookstore owner. All in all a solid start to this new series and I look forward to continuing.

Links:
– Goodreads
– Bookbub
– Amazon
– B&N
– Kobo

You can also read my review on Goodreads and Bookbub.