Between a booming art scene and elaborate Independence Day festivities, July in lakeshore Oriole Point, Michigan, is always a blast. Especially when an explosive murder case crashes the fun . . . As owner of The Berry Basket, Marlee Jacob has learned a thing or two about surviving the summer tourist season in Oriole Point. So she gladly agrees to help run the annual road rally in honor of the … in honor of the local Blackberry Art School’s centenary celebration. While alumni arrive from around the country, Marlee hopes the expansive Sanderling farm will make an appropriate starting point for the race—despite rumors that the land is cursed . . .
But when Marlee surveys the property, she stumbles upon a long-dead body hidden in the bramble. It’s a horrifying mystery to everyone except her baker, who’s convinced the skeletal remains belong to a former student who had gone missing twenty years earlier. As the Fourth of July activities heat up, Marlee must rush to catch an elusive murderer—before the next ‘blackberry victim’ is ripe for the picking!
Includes Berry Recipes!
more
Blackberry Burial is the latest installment of the Berry Basket Mystery Series by Sharon Farrow. This was a fun and entertaining read. It was the first book in the series I read and I easily jumped into Marlee’s world as owner of The Berry Basket in Oriole Point, Michigan.
Here are my top reasons why you should check out this book.
Fun Berry Knowledge and Recipes
I’ll admit I went into this book not knowing a lot about blackberries. They just aren’t a berry I eat very often. I enjoyed how the author wove berry facts and ways to use them into the story. It made me want to add blackberries to my next grocery list!
Great Friends
Marlee has a great group of girlfriends with very different personalities in the book. I enjoy the entertainment they brought. I found them to be great comic relief and made great supporting characters for our protagonist.
Twists and Turns
This story is full of entertaining twists and turns that kept me captivated until the very end. I didn’t figure the crime out ahead of time and I enjoyed going along for the ride as Marlee pulls out all the stops to solve the case.
If you are looking for an exciting mystery with a great setting and great characters, Blackberry Burial is for you.
https://cozyexperience.com/basket-full-fun-blackberry-burial/
I really enjoyed this book. The author packed a lot if information which seemed innocuous, but pertinent to the setting, but played an important role later in the story. She did a great job developing and fleshing out the Blackberry Art Studio which plays a big role in this story. I found it lightly amusing that the school had brambles as grouping units and that there were so many berries that the attendees all had berry based nicknames.
The Blackberry Road Rally was another fun element and I could relate to the excitement Marlee’s employees had (and the crazy preparation they did being a wee bit competitive myself). The ultimate ending of the book was very sweet and left me with a positive impression.
I received my copy from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.
The second in the series and just as good as the first book, Dying for Strawberries!
This book takes place on the heels of the first book and this time no one is murdered. Instead, Marlee finds the bones of someone that went missing 20 years ago. Of course it is tied to the town and the event that is getting ready to happen for the art camp that many attend growing up.
What I like about this series – there is food (and recipes!) and while I knew you could do a lot with all sorts of berries, I learned several new ways to enjoy them. The characters are engaging and add depth to the story. Yes there are some wacky characters and some that you love to hate, but they meld well together. The mystery portion – I didn’t guess who was responsible for what happened 20 years ago. You are able to narrow it down based on some clues that are revealed throughout the story, and you might be able to decipher who is responsible, but there isn’t anything that flat out points you to this person. i like this because I don’t want to guess too soon in the book.
There is some romance but I’m thinking Ryan (Marlee’s fiance) isn’t long for this relationship. I thought that in the first book too. There are too many red flags that hopefully Marlee sees them before they tie the knot. There is a potential new love interest and it seems like he might be a better match for Marlee.
Marlee Jacob has been roped into helping her friend Piper find a starting location for the upcoming Blackberry Car Rally, but while checking out the newest prospect, they uncover a skeleton. The remains belong to Sienna, a promising art student who vanished 20 years ago from the local art school. With the art school holding a reunion, everyone Sienna knew is back in town. At the time, everyone thought she’s drowned in Lake Michigan, but if that’s what happened, how did she get buried away from the lake?
This book starts out well, but it only gets better when the reunion starts and Sienna’s friends arrive. From that point on, I didn’t want to set the book down due to the twists and the strong suspects. When I hit the climax, I was racing to find out what would happen next. Marlee and her friends are a pleasure to be around, and the setting is a summer vacation paradise it is a pleasure to visit on the page.
Dished up like a delicious sweet and sour recipe this wonderful group of colorful townspeople sweetened with fellow art school students at a centenary celebration soured with human bones and mystery makes Blackberry Burial a wonder cozy mystery.
It’s a fun read that keeps you on your toes guessing whodunit with adventure, danger and friendship all along the way. Marlee seems to be the only one that will stick up for her chief baker, Theo, who proves to be the one that has the best clue to solve this years old mystery of who killed the girl buried in the woods. It’s a fast paces book that will keep you turning the pages especially during the road rally.
After reading this addition to the Berry Basket Mysteries, I can’t wait to get my hands on Dying for Strawberries the first book in this series!
What a fun book. The action was non-stop and I love Marlee and her friends. The story grabbed my attention right away. As always, there are some characters I didn’t like, and so they were suspects for me. The murder is 20 years old but all the main players are back. Marlee doesn’t mean to get in the middle of things, but she wants to protect her baker who was a at the BAS art school when the murder took place. It’s fun to see all the berry related things in the book as well. I want to read the next book in this series.
I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.
In this second book of the series Marlee is helping with the Blackberry Art Schools Centenary Celebration. While looking for a location to start the annual Blackberry Road Race Marlee comes across some bones her friends dog, Charlie, has dug up. When it comes to light it’s the body of a girl who went missing twenty years earlier she wonders if a killer can be found after all this time. Theo, the baker for The Berry Basket, new and cared for the girl and wants Marlee to help figure out just what happened all those years ago. With her business to run, the rally, and visiting friends will she be able to find a conclusion to this mystery? Follow along as she works her way through the suspects who have returned for the Art Schools Centenary Celebration. Could it have been a lover, a friend, or maybe a stranger passing through? I love how much the characters have developed and look forward to reading and seeing their ever growing personalities.