It’s a marriage made in murder in the new Cranberry Cove Mystery from USA Today bestselling author Peg Cochran!The long-awaited wedding of Monica and Greg is the highlight of the harvest season in Cranberry Cove, drawing friends from far and wide to help them celebrate. Among the guests are an old college friend of Monica’s and the woman’s boisterous new husband, a man with many enemies and more … with many enemies and more than a few bitter women in his past. When he turns up dead on a boat, the victim of a fatal stabbing, Monica steps in once again to unravel the mystery.
As she dredges up clues and wades through a long list of suspects, Monica’s sleuthing becomes all the more pressing when the local police are convinced that her friend did the deed. Monica will have to clear her name fast and track down the real culprit as the killer threatens to bring her sweet wedded bliss to a bitter end.
Includes tasty recipes!
Praise for Berried Secrets:
“Cozy fans and foodies rejoice—there’s a place just for you and it’s called Cranberry Cove.” —New York Times bestselling author Ellery Adams
“A fun whodunnit with quirky characters and a satisfying mystery. This new series is as sweet and sharp as the heroine’s cranberry salsa.” —New York Times bestselling author Sofie Kelly
About the Author:
Peg Cochran is the USA Today bestselling author of the Lucille Mysteries, the Gourmet De-Lite Mysteries, the Cranberry Cove Mysteries, and also, writing as Meg London, the Sweet Nothings Vintage Lingerie series. She has two daughters, a stepdaughter and stepson, a beautiful granddaughter, and a Westhighland white terrier named Reggie. You can read more at www.pegcochran.com and www.meglondon.com.
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Dollycas’s Thoughts
I am so happy to return to Cranberry Cove and just in time to celebrate Monica and Greg’s wedding. It was quite a gathering. Unfortunately, the honeymoon gets off to a rocky start when they discover a dead body. When the man is flipped over they see it was one of the guests from the wedding, the husband of Monica’s friend from college. Bruce seemed to have more than a few enemies including some ticked off women he has left in his wake. But the police seem to be concentrating on his wife, Andrea. Monica has a hard time believing her friend is a killer and Monica has begged for her help. She has promised Greg her sleuthing days are over, so she makes her reasons clear to him. promises to be careful, and sets her sights on catching the killer or at least point the police in another direction.
I have really enjoyed this series and am so glad it lives on with a new publisher.
Typically cozy mysteries are 280 – 300 pages. This one rings in with just 184 pages but this author packed them full. All the characters I had grown to love are back and Monica has hired a new assistant to work with her in the farm kitchen. Kit works well on his own, he has even created a new recipe. This gives Monica more time to chase down clues, while still having enough tasty treats baked up to sell in the farm store. I wish the book included free samples, but we have the next best thing, recipes at the end of the book.
The pace was quick and the story is very well-written. There are plenty of suspects but I was tracking the culprit much sooner than Monica. The subplots of Gina and her man troubles, Jeff and Lauren’s wedding plans, and the cranberry harvest twist into the main plot nicely.
I love this author’s very descriptive writing style. She doesn’t just tell us a story, she takes you there. It is so easy to escape to Cranberry Cove and catch up with all the town happenings.
Fun characters, a well-plotted mystery, romance, and cranberries. You just can’t go wrong with a book by this author. I have been delighted with everything I have read by her.
I was thrilled to see that the Cranberry Cove Mystery series was given new life by Beyond the Page Publishing. This is one of my favorite series, by one of my must read authors, Peg Cochran
One of the best installments yet, BERRIED AT SEA had me rooted to my chair. I read this book in one setting, drawn into the joy of Monica and Greg being married, the excitement of the murder and whodunit, and finally the surprising reveal.
Great writing, love, mystery, and recipes. I couldn’t ask for more from a cozy mystery than what Ms. Cochran delivered in, BERRIED AT SEA.
Berried at Sea, the latest (4th) installment in Peg Cochran’s Cranberry Cove Mystery Series, had me guessing the identity of the murderer right up until the denouement – which is quite rare for me! Monica and Greg are finally married and enjoying their honeymoon when they stumble across a murdered man during a walk on the beach – a man who just happens to be the husband of Monica’s old friend, Andrea. Monica is quickly enlisted by Andrea to find the murderer and clear her name, which she must do without rocking the boat of her new marriage. Nicely written, and yummy recipes included. A+
Berried At Sea is the fourth book in the A Cranberry Cove Mystery series.
I was very excited when I heard that the series was able to find a new publisher to bring us more interesting stories in this wonderful series.
Monica and Greg have just been married and are on their way to the Cranberry Cove Yacht Club for their reception. A good time is being had by everyone and the newlyweds are enjoying greeting and talking with their friends and neighbor. The joyous times are interrupted by the yelling of a man. Monica notices that it is Bruce Laszlo, a “summer resident” and husband of Andrea a college friend of Monica. Monica excuses herself to go freshen up and runs into Andrea in the ladies room, where Andrea apologizes for Bruce’s behavior. As Monica is returning to the reception she overhears an argument between Andrea and Bruce.
After the reception ends, Monica and Greg begin what they expect to be a romantic walk along the lakeshore. Soon they notice a boat adrift near the shore and on there way back the boat is still adrift. Greg wades out to pull the boat to pull the boat up to the shoreline and secure it. When he looks into the boat he finds the body of Laszlo.
The next day Andrea goes to see Monica and asks her to help find out who killed her husband. Monica reluctantly agrees to help Andrea to find Bruce’s killer. Monica wants to believe that Andrea is not the killer, but still, she had heard them in a heated discussion the night before. Monica soon learns that Bruce had heated arguments with neighbors on either side of his home. In addition, the year before Bruce had won the Cranberry Cove to Chicago sailboat race. The winner of the previous 5 or 6 races, Alton Bates, had heated words with Bruce about cheating during the race. Monica is hoping that the police can quickly find the killer so she can go back to enjoying her newlywed.
Fortunately, Monica has Kit Tanner to ably handle the baking needs for the farm store and Nora to handle sales at the farm store while off doing her sleuthing.
This was another well-plotted and told story with believable characters that you would like to be friends with.
Delicious recipes are also included.
Anxiously awaiting more books in this delightful series.
Monica and Greg discover the dead body of one of their wedding guests, the husband of Monica’s college friend. When the friend becomes the prime suspect in the murder, Monica sleuths endlessly to clear her friend’s name and solve the murder, all the while pumping out delicious-sounding cranberry treats to help keep the cranberry farm profitable. The setting, the characters, the shops, the shopkeepers, and the cranberry theme balance well with the mystery.
BERRIED AT SEA finds Monica and Greg’s wedding upon us, and Monica embroiled in yet another murder investigation when her college friend Andrea’s disruptive husband Bruce is found dead by the newlyweds and Andrea is the prime suspect. Of course, there is no shortage of suspects, and Monica searches to clear her friend’s name.
Most of this installment covers the day to day dealings of the characters, and the murder mystery is almost an afterthought. Still interesting and enjoyable to read, especially if you like the characters from previous books, but I wish there had been more about the wedding itself and the investigation. Bruce’s killer was far too easy to identify. There is a new recurring character and all the cranberry farm details one has come to expect from the series.
After the recent culling of cozy mysteries by a popular publisher, I was excited to see the Cranberry Cove Mystery series picked up by Beyond the Page. BERRIED AT SEA is not my favorite of the series but still entertaining. It can be read as a standalone, but I would suggest reading the prior books. Recommended to fans of the series and cozy readers who don’t mind a less emphasized mystery.
I received and ARC of this title through Net Galley and voluntarily shared my thoughts here.
Berried at Sea by Peg Cochran is the fourth novel in A Cranberry Cove Mystery series. Monica Albertson is marrying Greg Harper in Cranberry Cove, Michigan. Monica recently ran into her old college friend, Andrea Bowman in town and invited her and her new husband, Bruce to the wedding. She soon regrets inviting Andrea and her boisterous, disagreeable husband. Bruce is later found dead in a boat washed up on the beach by the newlyweds. An upset Andrea stops by Sassamanash Farm to ask Monica to use her sleuthing skills to track down Bruce’s killer. It turns out that Bruce was not well-liked and there are a number of people who are not saddened by his death. Monica has barely begun her deep dive when Andrea is arrested. She knows Andrea is innocent and intends to prove it. Who disliked Bruce enough to kill him? Monica wades through the suspect list and the clues to reveal the killer.
Berried at Sea is nicely written, easy to read and has a good pace. It is much shorter than the previous books in this series. I like the characters in A Cranberry Cove Mystery series. They are well-developed and likeable. I like the addition of Kit Tanner, Monica’s new baking assistant. It is a good thing she hired him since she spent little time in the new kitchen. There are plenty of cozy moments (cooking, chatting, spending time with friends, and lovey dovey moments) as Monica gets married and settles into life with her new spouse. She is happy to spend time with her new hubby and is not particularly interested in sleuthing (that’s a change). Of course, Greg would prefer she not get involved. I do wish there had been more on the wedding (I felt shortchanged). It was interesting to find out about cranberry harvesting. The mystery was straightforward, and readers will have no problem identifying the culprit. You do not need many clues to figure it out (armchair sleuths will probably peg the killer without any assistance). Monica spends time questioning suspects, but there is little action until the end. The dominant feature of Berried at Sea is romance with the mystery far off in the horizon. Monica must also spend time consoling Gina. Jeff and Lauren are working on their wedding. Lauren keeps changing her mind about details. She was still dithering about her colors at the end (we will have to wait and see). Monica and Kit have noticed that groceries are missing. At the end, Monica believes she has stumbled upon the solution. I wish the author had fully resolved this storyline. I am giving Berried at Sea 3 out of 5 stars. I felt that it was not as good as the previous novels in this series.