Welcome to Cozy Wednesday!
I am so happy to welcome Peg Cochran back to Escape With Dollycas!
The Origins of Cranberry Cove
(Post provided by publicist)
Cranberry Cove is a small fictional town in western Michigan located right on the shores of Lake Michigan where the influence of the Dutch settlers is still strong to this day. By 1900, one third of the Dutch in America had settled in West Michigan.
The Dutch were known for their frugality, industry and hospitality. Many were farmers and today many of the area’s family farms still bear Dutch surnames. Others were skilled craftsman , carvers and furniture designers who came to work in the furniture industry that at the time was booming in West Michigan.
Many of the characters I’ve created for Cranberry Cove are of Dutch origin—the VanVelsen sisters who own Gumdrops, the candy store; Bart Dykema the butcher and Phyllis Bouma, the local librarian.
Gumdrops carries many Dutch treats including Droste pastilles, Van Melle fruit toffees and Katjes winegums and the Van Velsen sisters always have a pot of erwtensoep—Dutch pea soup—on the stove. Ollie bollen—fried doughnuts—are a huge treat and are the precursor of the doughnuts we eat today.
There are a small handful of cranberry farms in Michigan. Most of the nation’s cranberries come from Wisconsin with Massachusetts and New Jersey not far behind, while the rest come from Oregon and Washington.
Cranberry harvesting is a fascinating process. I hope you will come visit Cranberry Cove and find out all about it!
~Peg
Thank you Peg for visiting today!
Dead and Berried (A Cranberry Cove Mystery)
Cozy Mystery
3rd in Series
Setting – Michigan
A Berkley Prime Crime Mystery (May 2, 2017)
An Imprint of Penguin Random House LLC
Mass Market Paperback: 304 pages
Kindle ASIN: B01KUDKNBM
It’s June in Cranberry Cove and Monica Albertson’s plan to sell cranberry relish to chain stores is taking off. The cranberry bogs are in bloom, and local beekeeper Rick Taylor and his assistant Lori Wenk are bringing in bees to pollinate the blossoms. When a fatal prick fells Lori, the buzz is that Rick is to blame.
In trying to clear her friend’s name, Monica discovers that more than a few people in Cranberry Cove have felt the power of Lori’s venom, and it looks as if this time she may have agitated the hive a bit too much. With the fate of the farm on the line, Monica must get to the bottom of the crime before another victim gets stung.
INCLUDES CRANBERRY RECIPES
Dollycas’s Thoughts
It’s all about the bees in this berry of a mystery.
Time to pollinate the blossoms at the Sassamanash Farm so Jeff calls in Rick Taylor, his assistant Lori Wenk and their bees to do the job. Unfortunately Lori gets stung and has a deadly reaction, or did she? She is dead but it looks more like murder than a bee swarm. All eyes turn to their owner Rick, but why would he want his assistant dead? Monica quickly finds the woman had her share of enemies and she knows she needs to clear Rick and the farm’s reputation. But is she going to end up getting stung?
I was excited to see a character named Lori, but that is where our similarities end 🙂 She didn’t deserve to be killed but she sure wasn’t the nicest person.
Monica Albertson is a unique amateur sleuth. She doesn’t work behind Detective Stevens’ back, she assists and turns over any evidence she finds quickly. The work the case together as much as they can.
All the characters in this series are engaging. I still identify strongly with Monica’s brother Jeff. We share a disability of having one arm that is basically useless. When I see his independence and how hard he works it really gives me hope. While my right leg is also useless I still want to try harder to do more things. Jeff is quite an inspiration. They are surrounded by a wonderful cast. This time we get to know Nora, the beekeeper’s wife and the main clerk at the the farm’s store better. The Albertson’s also have a new neighbor and the women in town, including Jeff’s mom are all vying for his attention.
The mystery weaves its way through Monica’s life as she strives to keep up with her baking and relish making all while trying to find out who could have killed Lori. We also learn more about cranberries, bees, and ships buried in Lake Michigan. As a resident of neighboring Wisconsin I found the shipwrecks very interesting.
I was amazed that when Monica eliminated almost all the suspects and the one I was leaning toward was actually the killer. That rarely happens.
Peg Cochran’s descriptive voice draws me right in to the happenings in and around Cranberry Cove. I really feel like I have traveled there instead of just read about this town. It’s like a mini Michigan vacation every time I read one of these books. I may have to make an actual trip to the state and check things out. Until then, I will anxiously await the book in this series!
About The Author
Mystery writing lets Peg indulge her curiosity under the guise of “work” (aka research). As a kid, she read the entire set of children’s encyclopedias her parents gave her and has been known to read the dictionary. She put pen to paper at age seven when she wrote plays and forced her cousins to perform them at Christmas dinner. She switched to mysteries when she discovered the perfect hiding place for a body down the street from her house.
When she’s not writing, she spends her time reading, cooking, spoiling her granddaughter and checking her book’s stats on Amazon.
A former Jersey girl, Peg now resides in Michigan with her husband and Westhighland white terrier, Reg. She is the author of the Sweet Nothings Lingerie series
Find all of Peg’s books on Amazon here.
Thanks to the publisher I have 2 copies to give away!
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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. Receiving a complimentary copy in no way reflected my review of this book. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
Your storty has an interesting setting.
Looks like a fun book! Thanks for the contest!
Berried Secrets was a really good book and I’m interested in reading this one too! Thanks for a chance to win!
Being from Michigan originally, I’m interested in your setting. However, since I know very little about growing cranberries, I’d love to enlarge my understanding. The plot sounds exciting!
This is now added to my to-read list!
I’d love to win a copy. The cat on your cover looks a lot like one of my cats.
Sounds like a great read.
a really fun author and i am looking forward to reading this title of hers as well
I really love Peg’s writing style & characters in all of her books. Thanks for some great adventures.
Love this, thanks for the great review
Penney
I have the first two books now I need some time to read them. So many books, too little time. I love the sound of this series. Thanks for the chance.
This is a new series to me. Book sounds like a great read. Looking forward to reading.
Looking forward to this installment. Thanks for the article. Thank-you for the opportunity.
We had a wild cranberry bog on the farm where I grew up—those were some mighty tasty little berries. I’d love to see a commercial cranberry operation.
This is a great series! Nice to see that you’re incorporating bees since it’s such a hot/important issue now.
I’ve read the first and am looking forward to this one! Thank you Peg & Lori!
I have read the first 2 books in series and really enjoyed them. Glad there is a 3rd book and hope for more.
Ooh, can’t wait to read this & try out those cranberry recipes.