App developer Mabel Skinner is about to discover something rotten on her late aunt’s garlic farm—and it’s not the compost heap . . . Mabel doesn’t know a stinkin’ thing about garlic farming. She knows how to develop an app and how to code. But when her aunt, Peggy Skinner, dies suddenly, Mabel inherits her Stinkin’ Stuff Farm in western Massachusetts. She arrives during peak harvest time—with … harvest time—with three days to bring in the entire crop before rain can destroy it.
But Mabel has an even bigger problem: she suspects her aunt’s “accidental death” was murder. As she digs for both garlic and clues, Mabel must contend with a mysterious crop thief, a rival garlic grower her aunt was suing, and a farmer who was after Aunt Peggy’s green-thumb secret. It’s up to Mabel to crack the code on a killer, before she joins the garlic bulbs six cloves under . . .
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Dollycas’s Thoughts
Mabel Skinner hasn’t visited her Aunt Peggy is years. Then her aunt suddenly dies and she has left her the Stinkin’ Stuff Garlic Farm. Mabel a successful App developer hopes she can tie up the loose ends with the final harvest and get back to her life.
But Mabel starts to believe her aunt’s death may not have been as accidental as everyone believes. When she starts to dig for clues she finds much more than she bargained for. She has put herself in the killer’s path. She may find herself buried six feet under, pushing up garlic, if she isn’t very careful.
Mabel Skinner is a tough nut to crack, determined and smart, but a little hard to warm up too. Her analytical skills are top-notch and do come in handy when tracking a killer and determining the in and outs of a garlic farm. I really wish her relationship with her aunt had been more current because I think that is going to bother her beyond the pages of this first story. Mabel did grow on me by the end of the story.
Ms. Jones does introduce us to a fine crew of supporting characters that come together to bring in the garlic crop. Many in the community are dedicated and loved Aunt Peggy. In fact, the entire town is counting on Mabel to finish the garlic harvest, which is touted as the Best Garlic on the East Coast. Restauranteurs, the local CSA, the farmer’s market, even the librarian is counting on that crop. All the residents we meet really grow over the pages of the first book. Rory is a true stand out. That woman has more energy in her little finger than I ever had in my entire body. The author has left plenty of room for growth for all the characters and I am excited about that.
The mystery was very well-plotted. There really aren’t any straight forward clues until later in the book. I actually suspected everyone. Things didn’t add up for me or Mabel, but accidental death surely wasn’t the cause. She needed proof and it was hard to come by. I enjoyed the chase, the questions, the quest for the truth. When I honed in on the real culprit it was just a feeling. When that feeling proved right I was actually pretty stunned.
I love garlic and the garlic farm theme is one I was am excited about. I learned a lot and that is always a bonus. I love that the farm is called the Stinkin’ Stuff Farm. The second crop of lavender also interests me.
Six Cloves Under is a nice start for this series. A variety of characters and a puzzling mystery was a very enjoyable read. I am looking forward to the next book in this series. Rhubarb Pie Before You Die will be released in December.
I had a hard time warming up to Mabel who inherited the garlic farm from her aunt Peggy. I also couldn’t quite comprehend how this garlic could be so incredible that it is incomparable to any other garlic in the area.
Neglecting this, the mystery was very good and I hope that Mabel will fit in a bit better in future installments. I had my eye on the right suspect relatively soon but I don’t think it was obvious.
Six Cloves Under by Gin Jones has Mabel Skinner inheriting her aunt’s garlic farm, Stinkin’ Stuff Farm in West Slocum, Massachusetts. Being an app developer, Mabel does not know a thing about farming. She is dumped in the deep end because the garlic must be harvested within the next three days. The more Mabel learns about her aunt’s death and the farm, the more she suspects that her Aunt Peggy’s death was not accidental. Mabel will have to proceed with caution if she does not want to tip off the killer and end up as fertilizer food. Six Cloves Under is the amusing debut of A Garlic Farm Mystery series. Mabel Skinner is an interesting character. She is an app developer who prefers to work at night (I can relate). She goes to bed around 3 a.m. and considers noon to be morning. I did not appreciate Mabel’s abruptness and rudeness with people. I can understand being cranky when being awoken at the crack of dawn (7 a.m.), but you can still be polite. Mabel is also an introvert and an analytical thinker. I did think that Mabel being a night owl was overmentioned (I got it after the first five times). There is a nice cast of secondary characters that round out the story especially the friendly next-door neighbor, Emily Cotter. I liked that the author chose a garlic farm for the setting. It is unique for a cozy mystery. There is also a lavender field which sounded like it is lovely when in full bloom. I enjoyed learning more about the CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) program that the area farms are involved in. The mystery was different for a cozy. Peggy’s death had not been ruled murder, but I had to agree with Mabel that things did not add up. While I identified the guilty party early on, I enjoyed following Mabel as she put together the clues. Six Cloves Under is a fun tale with glorious garlic, a crop conundrum, a shortage of sleep, developing deadlines, friendly farmers, and a confounding crime.
From Kensington Books comes a new series, “A Garlic Farm Mystery” by author Gin Jones. The first book, Six Cloves Under, will have readers learning a great deal about garlic and how difficult it can be for someone to step into a situation they have no clue how to handle.
Mabel doesn’t know anything about growing, harvesting, or selling garlic. She doesn’t want to know either. But guilt-ridden she has no choice but to learn quickly. This character isn’t at first very likable; she isn’t just an introvert; she is the ultimate loner. She doesn’t like people and isn’t comfortable dealing with strangers. She’s not the touchy-feely kind, and it appears that everyone she comes in contact with is just the opposite.
Throughout the book, Mabel begins to grow; she starts to understand that maybe her issues with people are just that, her issues. Not everyone is out to hurt her or take advantage of her. This doesn’t necessarily make the everyday contact easier for her but helps explain who she is or will become. Other characters in this story are garlic lovers and know far more about the process of farming than Mabel will ever know. Emily, Dawn, Charlie, and Rory are great characters that readers will want to know more about.
The setting is not as well defined other than the farm, but there is plenty of room for growth, and not just for the characters. I would like to know more about the layout of the town and the personalities that clearly are obsessed with garlic, and with Mabel’s aunt’s garlic in particular. Aunt Peggy’s death, thought to be an accident by everyone, doesn’t take Mabel long to figure out it was anything but an accident. The killer is not necessarily unexpected, but the reveal is action-packed and exciting.
This series is destined to become a favorite with cozy book readers. Garlic will become a must-have spice (or an herb, or a vegetable, depending on who you are) for everyone’s pantry. The garlic aspect puts an unusual twist on this cozy. Mabel will continue to grow and evolve, maybe even get a love interest. I am happy to recommend Six Cloves Under and look forward to reading the next one in the series.
App developer Mabel knows nothing about garlic farming, yet when her aunt, Peggy, dies unexpectedly Mabel inherits her Stinkin’ Stuff Farm in western Massachusetts. Mabel learns when she arrives at Peggy’s that it’s peak harvest time and she has to bring in the entire crop in the next three days or the forecast rain will destroy it all. Peggy has no employees but a few of Peggy’s neighbors and friends are ready to pitch in and help, though it’s going to take more people to get it done. Mabel needs to find additional people to hire fast, harvest the crop, stop the thief who keeps stealing the garlic, and do her regular job (…she has to create and email her boss a finished app by the end of the week). On top of working two full jobs, Mabel begins investigating Peggy’s death because things just don’t feel right. She quickly becomes convinced Peggy’s supposedly accidental death was murder.
Learning about running a garlic farm was really interesting. Mabel describes herself as “a heartless misanthropist,” which is basically the opposite of what a typical cozy mystery protagonist is, and makes her a fascinating and refreshingly different character. Mabel’s an introvert who prefers to spend as much time alone as possible, and communicate via e-mail. Aunt Peggy’s friends are determined to become her friends and help her, whether she wants that or not. Mabel knows who she is and is comfortable with herself which is great; she’s not good at reading social situations but it’s not depicted as something about her that needs to be “fixed”. She enjoys statistics and computers. She also occasionally demonstrates some dry humor. When considering the possibility that a man she’d described as gorgeous might hug her Mabel stays in character, planning to knee him in the groin if he invaded her personal space bubble. Often books have the main woman character falling apart/all over a man, even when not rational, so it was nice Mabel didn’t suddenly fling herself at him.
As much as I liked Mabel, I adored Pixie – her attitude and behavior were hilarious. I wish there had been more information about Scott; I’d have liked to have gotten to know him better, and I think that would have bolstered the story. We hear about him frequently from Bettina’s perspective, but not much from anyone else.
Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the ARC. The opinions in this review are honest and my own.
Six Cloves Under is the first book in A Garlic Farm Mystery.
Mabel is an App developer and likes her life of solitude in remote Maine. She is soon saddened to learn that her Aunt Peggy has died, she hasn’t seen her aunt in nearly 10 years but has kept in touch through Christmas and birthday cards and emails. Aunt Peggy’s lawyer informs her that she has inherited her garlic farm, Stinkin’ Stuff Farm. Mabel packs the car and heads to Western Massachusetts intending to put the farm up for sale since she has no idea of running a farm or real desire to do so. She might have to interact with people and that is not one of her strong points. She finds when she arrives she has no cell phone service or is there any internet.
The next morning Mabel finds the neighbor in the kitchen preparing breakfast and soon another friend of her aunts arrives. They soon tell her that the garlic has to be harvested within the next four days or the rains that are coming, will the rest to rot. While getting ready for the harvest, she starts asking questions about how her aunt died. The more she hears, the more she is convinced that her aunt didn’t die from natural causes
as was reported by the coroner. She needs to learn why her aunt was at the back end of the property late, late at night and who was stealing garlic from the fields and trying to sabotage her fields. Mabel soon learns that her aunt was well respected in the small community of West Slocum and many are hopeful that the farm will continue to harvest the best garlic on the East Coast.
I enjoyed this book. I’ve had gardens in the past, but never attempted to grow garlic and enjoyed learning about the growing process. The story is well-developed and written. The characters are well-developed, likable and interesting. Because of Mabel being an introvert, I had a hard time getting into her character at first. Most everyone was so willing to help her that she was able to come out of her “shell” before long. There were enough twists and turns to keep me guessing until the end as to the murderer.
There are also delicious sounding recipes in the book.
I will be sure to watch for the next book in this delightful new series.
Mabel has inherited her aunt’s garlic farm after her untimely death. As she is getting the farm’s most recent crop harvested before it is too late, she realizes that something is off about how her aunt died. While she is dealing with the crop, also making her deadline for the app she’s designing, she is also determined to figure out who murdered her aunt.
I love this new series! I loved that Mabel is an introvert. As an introvert with social anxiety, I totally related to her. It was sort of nice having a main character who is completely different from other main characters. I really liked seeing her journey learning the farm and so much about it. I liked that she was making friends and starting to be more comfortable interacting with people. I was taken completely by surprise by the ending. I had no idea that was coming! I can’t wait to pick up more from this series!
Six Cloves Under is the first book in Gin Jones’s Garlic Farm Mystery series. App developer Mabel Skinner doesn’t know a thing about garlic farming. But when her aunt dies unexpectedly, Mabel inherits her garlic farm in western Massachusetts. When she arrives at her aunt’s, she learns that the crops need to be harvested in three days – and the entire town is counting on her to do it. But Mabel has a bigger problem: she suspects that her aunt’s death may not have been accidental at all. She thinks that someone murdered her aunt and is determined to uncover the truth.
A fun mystery that kept me engaged until the last page. I enjoyed the setting and descriptions of garlic farming. Mabel is a memorable character. As an introvert myself, I immediately connected with her and found her reaction to certain situations to be very relatable. I’m going to enjoy seeing how she adjust to life on the farm – it’s certainly going to be interesting.
All in all, a great start to a new series.
Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington Books for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Six Cloves Under is my first Gin Jones book, and a first in series. I loved the characters, especially Mabel who has a much different personality than most cozy protagonists. A quick paced plot, small town feel, and characters that seem real are all great reasons to pick this up. The audio is great,too! I really enjoyed learning about garlic growing
Six Cloves Under earns 5+/5 Garlic Scapes…Deliciously Entertaining!
Gin Jones is a favorite author who has again made me a fan of her new Garlic Farm series starring Mabel Skinner, a character with whom I identify as we’re both “…Virgo. Detail oriented, and love to have facts at [our] fingertips…” Mabel inherited her Aunt Peggy’s garlic farm, and struggling to “fill her aunt’s boots,” she is trying to honor her aunt’s memory and preparing to harvest a crop about which she knows little. She’s also fallen into some contentious issues with other farmers wanting to swoop in on vacancies her aunt’s death has created and a lawsuit against a seed provider is still pending. Mabel is quite the novice in all things farming, but many are counting on this year’s premium garlic crop. No pressure…she needs to harvest in just a few days or lose the crop and her aunt’s spot at the Farmers’ Market. She’ll do her best to get this crop in and to market to uphold her aunt’s reputation, but Mabel has so many questions with no easy answers, and suspicions make her doubt the verdict her aunt’s death was accidental. Mabel is set to find the truth, but her safety may also be in jeopardy.
Aromatically Brilliant! Along with a third-person narrative, sensory-laden language, and clever banter, Gin Jones has penned a very compelling and complex mystery. Although it took time to unfold since it wasn’t obvious that anything was untoward, I was totally engaged with getting to know Mabel as well as issues with the farm and local residents. It was hard to put down, and the ending was one I didn’t see coming. I was greatly intrigued by all the fascinating information of the “stinking rose” woven into the drama…who knew one could eat the scapes or even what is is. Google was a friend showing me more about the loopy stalk can be eaten just like one eats asparagus, but with its own “light garlicky flavor.” What a cozy! Engaging. Informative. Entertaining. Bonus! What’s a cozy without recipes…I don’t know, it’s scary to think there’s such a thing. Gin provides three tasty easy to-follow recipes perfect for garlic lovers everywhere: Roasted Garlic Bread, Garlicky Chicken and Rice, and Pickled Garlic.
This storyline is hard to follow. There is ni buildup or background to the characters
it was goodddddddddddddddddddddddddd
This is the first book in the Garlic Farm Mystery series and the first book I’ve read by this author. I had a hard time getting into this book for a few reasons. First, and no fault of the author, the formatting on the ARC I received made everything run together. Second, is the protagonist. It was hard for me to warm up to her. Mabel is an app designer who is very analytical. She is also very self-contained and very introverted, making it difficult for me to really connect with her. There is a nice group of secondary characters that do round out the cast nicely. I like the community farm aspect of the story.
Mabel’s analytical side is a benefit when it comes to the death of her aunt. She finds it hard to believe her aunt’s death was accidental even though the rest of the community does. This leads Mabel to try and solve the mystery on her own. The killer’s identity was not a huge surprise for me but the story is wrapped up nicely.
I voluntarily read a digital advanced reader copy provided to me by the publisher through Netgalley.
I LOVED IT! Gin Jones always delivers something special and Six Cloves Under, the first book in her A Garlic Farm Mystery, fits the bill. I loved Mabel, an app designer and major introvert who still has adequate social skills to be able to be kind, the most important social skill of all. I feel in love with the bit of the community that I met, and I can’t wait to spend more time with Mabel and the crew of special people who worked to help her gather the garlic. That doesn’t sound like a big deal but for her, and to some of the people helping her, that final harvest was a tribute to her late aunt. There are some relationships that are already in flux, mostly in a good way, and I look forward to seeing how those work out.
Mabel’s analytical mind insists that her aunt almost had to be murdered even though no one else accepts that idea, but she can’t figure out who. Even the few people who didn’t seem to love her aunt Peggy, don’t seem like killers and most of them have alibis. With little to go on and too much work to do, Mabel is severally handicapped in her search for a killer.
It is such a small thing, but I appreciate that Gin Jones lets us see bits of daily life to keep the flow moving forward comfortable without cluttering up the story. It makes me feel part of the story and makes the characters feel more real.
I was excited to get an ARC from NetGalley, but you would have heard from me even if I hadn’t. I am a big Gin Jones fan!