Autumn has arrived on the shores of Lake Michigan, but Marlee Jacob, proprietor of The Berry Basket, is feeling a chill for other reasons … evil forces. True, it’s almost Halloween, but something else seems to be spooking Leticia the Lake Lady, Oriole Point’s oddest resident. She believes someone plans to kill her—and the ghost. Only mulberries can protect them. Marlee doesn’t take her fears seriously until a man named Felix Bonaventure arrives in the village, asking questions about a mysterious woman.
The next day, Marlee finds Bonaventure dead on Leticia’s property—shot through the heart with an arrow made of mulberry wood. And Leticia has disappeared. Marlee soon learns the Lake Lady has a deadly past that is connected to the famous Sable family who are in town for the health fair. A bunch of clues start to come together—and figuring out what’s going on puts Marlee in a real jam …
Includes Berry Recipes!
more
Berry Basket owner, Marlee Jacob is approached by an eccentric woman named Leticia for bags of mulberries. Leticia is convinced that someone is trying to kill her, and covering her entire house with the mulberries are her only hope for protection. Marlee doesn’t take her seriously until a stranger shows up looking for Leticia, only to be found dead on her property the next day. With Leticia missing, and shocking secrets being revealed about her past with a prominent family, Marlee decides to get to the bottom of things. This was a great addition to the series. The plot is well written and fast-paced, with a strong, relatable protagonist. The mystery was difficult to solve as there were so many suspects and red herrings. I was very satisfied with the ending and thought the author did a great job of connecting the current murders to a murder that happened two decades ago. This is my favorite book in the series so far, and I look forward to reading more by this author. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with this digital ARC. All opinions expressed are my own
Mulberry Mischief by Sharon Farrow is the fourth novel in A Berry Basket Mystery series. It can be read as a standalone since Marlee’s background is provided along with references to the last three cases. Marlee Jacob delivers mulberries to the home of Leticia the Lake Lady and finds a man dead with a mulberry arrow through the heart. Leticia has disappeared and becomes the police’s prime suspect. Marlee knows that Leticia thought someone was out to harm her. She wants to make sure Leticia is safe plus find the killer. Mulberry Mischief has a delightful cast of characters from kindhearted Marlee to fashionista Andrew to Old Man Bowman who is fascinated with Big Foot. Leticia is an off-beat character with her unusual ideas and flaming orange hair. Oriole Point is having a Haunted Halloween Harvest Health Fair (try saying that three times fast). Piper Lyall-Pierce, the coordinator, wants to convince people to eat less candy after her husband ate a whole bag of Twizzlers last Halloween (I find licorice is like potato chips, you cannot eat just one plus they are fat free). I did find Mulberry Mischief to be a slow starter, but the pace soon picks up. The mystery was interesting with misdirection, multiple suspects and clever clues. I like that we get a complete wrap up at the end. You have to love a criminal who spills his guts. I was tickled by the names of Aunt Vicki’s Doberman Pinschers. They are Buffy, Willow and Xander. I think it is wonderful that she manages an animal rescue that captures feral cats and spays them. I liked the inclusion of mulberry folklore and the health benefits of mulberries. The ending was humorous. Mulberry Mischief is an upbeat cozy mystery with Halloween hijinks, a frisky feline, mulberry mania, a costumed killer, and a booming bell.
It’s the week before Halloween in Oriole Point, Michigan, yet the town is focusing on health thanks to the Haunted Halloween Harvest Health Fair. The Saturday the festival opens, Marlee Jacob, owner of the Berry Basket, is cornered by Leticia the Lake Lady. Leticia is one of the odd characters who call the town home. She is ranting about the shadow people who have come to town and demanding that Marlee order mulberries so Leticia can use their protective properties to cover her cabin. Marlee thinks Leticia is harmless if a little off, but that’s before a dead body turns up. Will the latest happenings disrupt the health fair?
Picking up this book, I knew I was in for another fantastic ride, and I wasn’t disappointed. While it takes a couple chapters for the body to drop, we are meeting characters who will become important to the story and trying to make sense of some puzzling things that start to happen. The pace doesn’t slow at all once the murder takes place, and the revelations are only beginning as Marlee pieces things together. The suspects are all strong, and I could have believed any of them were guilty until Marlee pieced together the final clues. Of course, the series regulars are as fun and charming as always – I love them! I’m not quite ready for fall, but this book still put me in the Halloween spirit. We get four berry inspired recipes – two featuring Mulberries and two berry inspired Halloween treats. I really can’t recommend this series highly enough. New fans will be hooked, and existing fans will love Marlee’s latest adventure.
This is the fourth book in the series but the first one I have read and I enjoyed it so much I am going to go back and read the other three. In this one Marlee and Oriole Point is getting ready for Halloween and the Health Fair. Local eccentric Leticia ask Marlee to order mulberries in order to protect her. When a dead body is found on her property Marlee tries to solve the crime. It turns out Leticia has some secrets of her own and they threaten a famous family. I really liked the small town setting and the characters. The author sprinkles the story with lots of berry information. The mystery was good although it was easy to solve. Enjoy this Halloween Cozy, a perfect read for fall.
*I received a free copy of this book which I voluntarily chose to write an honest review for.
What a fantastic cozy!! Marlee runs an adorable berry themed shop in a small town in Michigan. Halloween is coming with lots of festivities. While going about her business the town’s eccentric lady approaches her with a crazy story as well as a request to purchase lots of mulberries. Once they arrive the delivery goes array when she finds a dead body with a mystery all its own and the lady nowhere to be found. This leads to a berry themed investigations which I found to be a hoot. Totally enthralling with lots of surprises mixed with berry details making for a fantastic read. I totally loved it so I give it 5/5 stars.
This was about as exciting as a cozy mystery can be! With several story lines mixing and plenty of page turning action, a past murder, present danger, accused killers, famous people who use their wealth to protect family members from justice and more.
A small town trying to hold a Halloween festival for much needed income as well as building its own reputation, budding romance between good people who have been burned by love before, and a cast of quirky characters who really just want to live a quiet, peaceful life.
My favorite season for cozy mysteries and being a weathered Midwesterner myself, I love the location.
“Mulberry Mischief” is the 4th installment in the “A Berry Basket Mysteries” series, I own the previous 3 books but had not read them at the time of reading. I really enjoyed this book and it can be read as a stand-alone but like always I recommend you read them in order.
Autumn has arrived on the shores of Lake Michigan, but Marlee Jacob, proprietor of The Berry Basket, is feeling a chill for other reasons …
With the Harvest Health Fair in full swing, Marlee makes sure to stock up on elderberry products for cold and flu season. But this year there’s also a run on mulberry when an eccentric customer wants to use the dried berries to ward off evil forces. True, it’s almost Halloween, but something else seems to be spooking Leticia the Lake Lady, Oriole Point’s oddest resident. She believes someone plans to kill her—and the ghost. Only mulberries can protect them. Marlee doesn’t take her fears seriously until a man named Felix Bonaventure arrives in the village, asking questions about a mysterious woman.
The next day, Marlee finds Bonaventure dead on Leticia’s property—shot through the heart with an arrow made of mulberry wood. And Leticia has disappeared. Marlee soon learns the Lake Lady has a deadly past that is connected to the famous Sable family who are in town for the health fair. A bunch of clues start to come together—and figuring out what’s going on puts Marlee in a real jam …
Protagonist Marlee is a strong, educated woman, and the side characters are realistic, slightly quirky too like Atticus “Kit” Holt, Andrew and Old Man Bowman who hunts for Sasquatch.
I found myself engrossed in the story and reading it in one sitting. It was entertaining, full of twists and turns as well as a few surprises. I even learnt something about Mulberries and even better it includes Berry Recipes!
Highly recommended. A fabulous book for an author I will definitely follow in the future.
I requested and received an Advanced Readers Copy from Kensington Books and NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
I am now caught up with the series after reading #5-Hollyberry Homicide and circling back. I liked this entry, but the mystery was pretty predictable given the small range of suspects. The supporting characters played less of a role this time, but they all showed up. If you liked the other books in the series, you’ll like this one.
Great book! Local eccentric, Leticia the Lake Lady, goes to Marlee looking for mulberries to protect her. Shortly thereafter, a man is found murdered at the woman’s house and the woman has gone missing. Lots of famous people are in town for the Halloween Harvest Health Fair. The Sable family is among them and it turns out that the lake lady had supposedly killed the family’s nanny many years ago. Marlee thinks there is more to the story and sets out to investigate. This was a very intriguing story and a little sad. I look forward to seeing what is next for Marlee and her relationship with Kit.
Autumn as arrived in Lake Michigan but Marlee Jacob is feeling chilled for reasons other than the cooler temperatures. The town’s Harvest Health Fair is in full swing and Marlee wants to make sure she has stocked up on berry products that help with the cold and flu season. To Marlee’s surprise Leticia the Lake Lady, who never comes into town, approaches her with an unusual request. She wants to purchase enough mulberries to cover her entire house. Leticia believes mulberries have magical properties that will help protect her from the shadow people. When Marlee goes to deliver the mulberries something feels off about Leticia not being there to accept the order. What could be going on that Leticia feels the need for protection? Can Marlee help?
This is book number 4 in the series but only my first one. You can enjoy the book as a stand-alone mystery but I could see the benefit of understanding the characters’ backstories by reading previous books. This is a great fall/Halloween read with a fun interesting story. The characters are entertaining and quirky. There are plenty of suspects and twists and turns in the mystery to keep the reader guessing. The setting of a havest health fair is unique and added to the story giving the readers a little insight into a healthy alternative for colds and flu. At the end of the book, there is a bonus section with berry recipes.
I voluntarily agreed to read a copy of this book supplied by Netgalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own and in no way have been influenced.
I am so happy! I read a cozy where I didn’t know the killer until the end. It doesn’t happen too often any more, so thank you Sharon Farrow, for writing a cozy that kept me guessing.
The way Farrow accomplished this was by having so many horrible people that it could have been any number of them. But she wrote those horrible people so well I kept getting wowed by how diabolical she could make her characters. Besides writing evil characters, Farrow does a wonderful job developing characters that I could be friends with and want to know more about. If I lived in this charming Michigan town, I would be constantly visiting Marlee’s shop and bouncing ideas off of her in ways to incorporate herbs with her berries.
And since Michigan is right next to Wisconsin, so many descriptions of not only the townspeople, but the town itself, reminded me of places I’ve lived and visited and people I know and have known. It was as if Farrow was writing about parts of my life… without the murder, of course.
I also enjoyed all of Farrow’s literary references when it came to people’s names, and her pop culture nods when it came to things like the dogs being named Willow, Buffy, and Xander. It just added another layer to Mulberry Mischief that I found fun, and endeared me even more to the book.
Although this is the first book I’ve read in the Berry Basket Mystery series, I can see myself reading future books, and maybe even starting the series from the beginning, which I don’t often do. If you haven’t read any of this series yet, you may want to start with the first book, Dying for Strawberries.
I really enjoyed this lively fourth in series and learned a bit about mulberries. This Halloween-themed story can be appreciated at any time of year. The tragic heroines we meet and the stunning conclusion are more haunting than the ghosts and goblins preparing for the parades. Characters are well-defined, the mystery is challenging, and the setting on beautiful Lake Michigan in Oriole Point is gorgeous.
Marlee is owner of The Berry Basket, selling berries and berry-based products. The town is gearing up for the Haunted Halloween Harvest Health Fair. Before it begins, she is given a most unusual order. Leticia the Lake Lady and local eccentric wants Marlee to get her enough mulberries to cover her home to protect her from someone coming to kill her.
It is well past mulberry season, and the best she can get would be dried mulberries. The quantity required to cover a home would be huge! Leticia will settle for enough to put around her doors and windows. Only Marlee can deliver them; nobody else can come. Leticia believes she and the “ghost” are in danger from the “shadow people” who want her to remain silent about dark deeds done in the past. So many people are in town for the health fair; are the shadow people among them?
Leticia came to Oriole Point about four years ago. Very little about her is known. She rides a purple scooter, spends much time looking out at the lake, and lives in a cottage in the woods. She knows about mulberries, both health benefits and the folklore from various countries.
One of Marlee’s employees discovers one of the Lake Lady’s secrets. Leticia, formerly known as Ellen Clark, had once been in prison for a murder occurring 28 years ago, and married her counselor from prison when she was released. When her husband passed, she moved to Oriole Point.
A middle-aged man came into The Berry Basket, wanting to find Ellen Mulberry. He would only say that he has urgent business with her and she isn’t answering her phone. Felix Bonaventure left his card with Marlee in case she finds out who Ms. Mulberry is. She and her employees wonder – is it the Lake Lady?
Marlee left the mulberries on Leticia’s covered porch when she didn’t answer her door. There are many, many cats and wild turkeys on the property. A couple cats come up to Marlee, acting as if they want to go inside. She opens the door, which isn’t locked, leaving Leticia’s overpayment inside. The cats knocked over a stack of papers with a cover sheet entitled “Mischief and Murder” by Ellen Mulberry. The next morning, she and boyfriend Kit, an investigator with the sheriff’s department, stop to make sure Leticia is okay. The door is locked, berries are still outside, and in the field, Felix Bonaventure lies dead with an arrow sticking out from his heart. And Leticia / Ellen has disappeared.
This complex mystery is riveting; it was hard to put down! The plot is finely twisted at times, and ultimately finely executed. This is one Halloween Marlee, her friends, and Oriole Point won’t forget! The resolution is stunning! While I had the suspects narrowed down as much as Marlee and Kit did, I couldn’t figure out whodunit. The ending is overall satisfying despite one sad event, and the comic relief was welcome. I highly recommend this to fans of well-written cozy mysteries, Halloween, berries, and western Michigan.
From a thankful heart: I won a copy of this novel; a review was not required.
Halloween, a health fair, berries, pranks, and murder keep us entertained in Mulberry Mischief.
Mulberry Mischief by Sharon Farrow is a perfect balance of small-town activity, people and mystery. I have fallen in love with Oriole Point and can’t wait for the next installment.
Marlee, the sleuth
Marlee Jacob is quite popular in the village of Oriole River. She is the owner-operator of the town’s Berry Patch and our sleuth. Marlee is the resident berry expert; she also has a big heart and wants to help people. So when Leticia the Lake Lady comes to her for help, Marlee feels the need to help her with more than getting mulberries for protection.
Marlee is also very interested injustice, and she sees things in ways that the local law enforcement doesn’t understand. She is even dating a deputy sheriff. But most importantly, people trust her, and she tries to be kind to everyone.
Things that I liked about the story
• Marlee has an African Gray named Minnie that she takes to work with her.
• The Halloween parade that everyone in town will be part of and dressed in costume.
• Piper and the way she bullies people into doing what she wants but then protects them when they are in trouble.
• Theo and his quirky personality are perfect as the phantom early morning baker at the Berry Patch.
• The Halloween Harvest Health Fair draws a massive amount of people in attendance.
• The wonderful recipes that Theo makes and that are at the end of the book.
• The entire cast of supporting characters, Tessa the beautiful Russian, Old Man Bowman, Leticia the Lake Lady, Piper, Aunt Vicki, Kit, Dean, Andrew, Theo and so many more are all well developed and helped Marlee in their ways.
• The Sable family and their secrets.
5 Stars for Mulberry Mischief by Sharon Farrow
I am so glad to be on this book tour. I loved the story and the characters, so much that I am giving them a rating of five stars. Marlee and Kit make a fantastic team. I look forward to reading the next book in the series and have added this series to my ever-growing list of favorites. If you love cozies as I do, then I highly recommend reading this one.
I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy from the author. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Thank you for dropping by! I hope you enjoyed this review of Mulberry Mischief by Sharon Farrow.
Anyways, until next time,
Karen the Baroness
If you would like to see other reviews like this one, check out BaronessBookTrove.com.
No one really knows much about Leticia the lake lady who lives her life as a recluse. Then one day Marlee, owner of The Berry Basket, finds herself face to face with the mysterious Leticia who wants to buy enough mulberries to cover her house for protection from the shadow people. Is Leticia as crazy as people think or is she actually in danger? Marlee becomes involved in helping Leticia but soon finds herself at odds with a rich and powerful family over a murder that occurred decades ago.
I have read and enjoyed all the books in this series but this one is my favorite. The characters are diverse and some are likable and some you like to hate. There is an extended family of suspects but each twist in the story points to a different person making it a challenge to decide what really happened. Thanks to Kensington Books and NetGalley for an ARC. The opinions expressed are my own.
MULBERRY MISCHIEF by Sharon Farrow
The Fourth Berry Basket Mystery
Oriole Point is gearing up for Halloween and not just the usual parades and trick or treating. Piper has created a Haunted Halloween Harvest Health Fair and invited big name celebrities to speak and give workshops. Even the multi-generational Sable clan, with dozens of books and products promoting their diet and skin care regimes, has come to the village. But one member of the community is more worried than excited about the upcoming events. Leticia the Lake Lady, an eccentric hermit, has ventured into town asking the Berry Basket’s Marlee Jacob for mulberries stating that she needs the berry for protection. When a stranger winds up dead on Leticia’s property and the Lake Lady goes missing Marlee feels the need to help. Is Leticia a murderer or a victim? As Marlee becomes a target she’ll rely on family and friends… and lots of mulberries. Will it be enough, or will this Halloween be her last?
The fourth Berry Basket Mystery tackles issues of mental health, corruption, and the belief that money and prestige give you the ability to do whatever you want. A family dynasty and a tragedy from the past continue to trouble the world decades later and it’s up to Marlee to finally find justice. I really like Leticia’s cunning clues and Marlee’s ability to understand her references, which to some may appear merely delusions. I despise the shadow people and all those like them. I also like that the people of Oriole Point, at least Marlee’s friends, rally around when they discover what’s going on.
What makes MULBERRY MISCHIEF particularly frightening is that families such as the Sables do exist. It’s almost as if they believe they have the divine right of kings! They take what they want and do what they will, with only the family name being important. My heart was rapidly beating when Marlee was confronted at Leticia’s forcing me to turn the pages ever quicker as I rushed to read what would happen.
MULBERRY MISCHIEF is a heart pounding adventure with plenty of tricks and the ultimate treat of watching the Oriole Point gang band together once more.
FTC Disclosure – The publisher sent me a digital ARC provided through NetGalley, in the hopes I would review it.
I started this book today and couldn’t put it down. It is October in Oriole Point, Michigan and the Harvest Health Fair is going on at the Lyall Convention Center, organized by Piper Lyall Pierce. She has managed to get some celebrities to present at the health fair including the Sable family, whose diet, health and beauty lines have many fans. Piper convinces Marlee to give a talk about the health benefits of berries because one of the other presenters is not able to attend and she needed to fill that time slot. Marlee is approached by Leticia the Lake Lady as she is leaving and is asked to provide Leticia enough mulberries to cover her house. She is afraid that someone wants to kill her and says that the mulberries will offer her some protection. Leticia is a recluse and has never spoken to Marlee before, but Marlee agrees to try to help her get dried mulberries since mulberries are not in season in October. This is just the start of an eventful week in Oriole Point. I love Marlee and her friends and enjoy this series so much. I can’t wait for the next book!
I received a complimentary copy of this ebook from Kensington Books through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
In this next book of the series we find Marlee entrenched in the Harvest Health Fair. She is happy sell all the berry products she can that will help her customers deal with the upcoming cold and nd flu season. When a customer asks for a large amount of dried mulberries Marlee is happy to help her out the best she can. She soon learns the eccentric woman wants to use the berries to ward off evil and thinks to each his own. When she tries to deliver the boxes of berries to the woman known as the Lady of the Lake she finds the body of a man close to her house. She soon learns that she met the dead man, Felix, the previous day and wonders what reason he would have had for coming to Leticia’s home. It looks like he was killed with a bow and arrow made of mulberry wood. Marlee becomes more engrossed with the murder when she starts to learn more about Leticia and her past. It doesn’t help when it looks like Leticia’s past has come back to once again take over her life. Can Marlee fit all the puzzle pieces together and figure out who the murderer is before so.some else dies. This was an intense cozy read that had me on the edge of my seat trying g to figure out who the killer was and why they murdered. It was a fantastic read that has me looking forward to the next book in the series!!!
I was introduced to this author last year (or the year before, time flies by too quickly) and ever since I read the first book, Dying for Strawberries, I have been a fan of this series. Living on a lake, running a store, and berries of all sorts everywhere. Sounds like a perfect combination to me!
Marlee and the gang are back to solve another murder. I don’t think Marlee likes stumbling across dead bodies, just seems to be the way her life goes (as it seems to be with any cozy protagonist!) but this time, the potentially accused murderer has a lot more to hide than just being eccentric in their small town. Leticia the Lake Lady is well known for her crazy antics and orange hair. Little does anyone know the truth about her past until strange things keep happening and someone ends up dead.
I really enjoy all that I learn about different berries in this series. This book focuses on the Mulberry and the information shared about this berry is fascinating and I never would have known any of these tidbits had I not read this book. When it comes to the killer, there are multiple possibilities as to who it might be and I didn’t figure it out until the killer was revealed. That is the sign of a good book to me when there are many clues and the obvious answer is not evident.
I loved how many of the residents of the town were volunteering at a health fair and were in costume since the event was close to Halloween. I cracked up at someone in a Chip costume (Chip ‘n Dale) and had the citizen in the It costume (Stephen King) tapped me on the shoulder I might have screamed a bit! I enjoyed the return of many of Marlee’s friends like Natasha and Theo.
There is the romance between Marlee and Kit that is still going strong and they play well off of each other despite the fact that she tends to put herself in some dangerous situations.
This series gets better with each book and we give this one 5 paws up.
The fourth cozy mystery in the, A Berry Basket Mystery series, this one is about all things mulberries.
The mystery was engaging and well plotted. It kept me guessing all the way to the end. Fast paced, I enjoyed it and the addition of Halloween and a small town setting in Michigan added to it’s appeal.
The character’s were easy to get to know and like or dislike if the story set them up this way!
I look forward to reading more in this series.
Expected publication: August 27th 2019 by Kensington Publishing Corporation.
I was given a complimentary copy. Thank you.
All opinions expressed are my own.
This is a very enjoyable Halloween themed cozy mystery. Poor Marley Jacobs just can’t catch a break and once again discovers another dead body. One of the things that draw me to this series is that it is set in my home state of Michigan. The author has such a wonderful writing style that I can picture the area of the state where the story is set. The characters are well developed and continue to grow. I approve of Marley’s new relationship and enjoying seeing the changes taking place with the residence of Oriel Pointe. The mystery was well done and had me guessing until the reveal. I wasn’t surprised at the identity of the killer, but the author did a nice job of laying down clues along with some good twists and turns that kept me doubting myself.
This is a terrific series and I look forward to reading more books by this author. I voluntarily read a digital ARC provided to me by Kensington through Netgalley.