Crisp autumn breezes, sizzling bratwurst, warm gingerbread cookies… and just a dash of murder.It’s Oktoberfest in Buttercup, Texas, and homesteader Lucy Resnick is taking a break from her chores to enjoy a day of bratwurst, craft beer, and German gingerbread at Sweetwater Brewery. But the day takes a bitter turn when one of the brewery owners turns up dead, crushed by a giant sack of barley.It … sack of barley.
It doesn’t take long for Sheriff Rooster (not the sharpest tool in the garden shed) to finger the victim’s brother and co-owner, Simon Gustafson. But former investigative reporter Lucy senses that the blighted plants in her pumpkin patch aren’t the only things rotten in Buttercup. Will she find the killer in time?
Or will she be next in line for canning?
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The author had me stumped until the ending as she cleverly shuffled clues and prime suspects to keep me from guessing the perpetrator. If you’re familiar with this cozy series, you know Lucy Resnick is a protagonist to remember. I always love re-visiting her farm turf where she resides with pets, Blossom—the cow; Chuck—the poodle; and mischievous goats—Hot Lips and Gidget!
In book six, it’s Oktoberfest, and the highlight of the annual festival is Sweetwater Brewery’s unveiling of a new special recipe brew—Dubbel Trouble. Owners, Felix and Simon Gustafson (brothers), need sales to stay afloat. Resident psychic teen, Teena Marburger, has a premonition just before Felix is found lifeless inside the brewing plant. The big-bellied sheriff, Rooster Kocurek, declares brother Simon did it, and shows little interest in any further investigation. Lucy dons her (imaginary) sleuthing beret and magnifying glass, and along with her handsome boyfriend—local veterinarian Tobias Brandt—begins to review all leads with a fine tooth comb. When a second gory murder occurs, Lucy is hot on the trail of the killer. There is a secondary mystery thread throughout the story which is fairly easy to identify the culprit. The story moves swiftly, and I really enjoyed unraveling all the plot twists.
I reviewed a digital arc provided by the Author. This review is my honest, unbiased opinion. Thank you
The town of Buttercup, Texas, has decided to host an Oktoberfest event this year. Naturally, farmer Lucy Resnick will have a booth selling wares from her farm, but the kickoff event is at the Sweetwater Brewery, and Lucy is going to be there as just a guest. The brewery is planning to reveal a new recipe at the event, but that reveal doesn’t quite go as planned. However, things take an even worse turn a little while later when Lucy and her boyfriend, Tobias, start to take a brewery tour and instead find a dead body. It is pretty obvious that it was murder, but who did it?
Not only do we have the murder, but we have several sub-plots, so this book is constantly moving and kept my attention the entire time. Things come together for a logical and satisfying conclusion. This series has always had a bit of a paranormal element to it, but it is much stronger here, and I felt the book was a bit weaker since it relied on that more to drive the plot. There’s also a major editing issue, with a scene with Lucy going over clues with a friend before she’s received them. The characters are wonderful as always. Since this is a quick read, we didn’t get a lot of new character development, but I still enjoyed the time with them I had, and the suspects are strong enough to keep us guessing. There are six recipes at the end that sound delicious, too. Fans of the series will enjoy this latest outing.
In the sixth installment of her Dewberry Farms cozy mystery series, the author has enhanced the personalities of her characters. The friends of Lucy just keep getting more likeable, her relationship with town vet, Tobias, deepens, and her farm family is growing cuter.
During Oktoberfest a person is found murdered and just about everyone outside Lucy’s inner circle (for once) is a suspect. The reluctant sheriff is still inept (I’m hoping for early retirement), so Lucy starts looking into the background of the corpse.
A completely enjoyable standalone book, but the whole series is available on Kindle Unlimited, so I suggest you read them all.
“Was it the weather, do you think?” Ed grimaced. “No weather I’ve ever seen can snap cables this cleanly.” “You think someone cut them on purpose, then?” I asked. “I don’t like that explanation one bit,” Ed said, his voice steely, “but that’s what it looks like to me. We’re damned lucky Nick here didn’t get killed.”
The day isn’t off to a good start when it looks as if someone has sabotaged the renovations on the Ulrich house. Later, the Oktoberfest inaugural of the local brewery’s latest brews culminates in the dead body of one of the two owner-brothers. Odd mishaps are cropping up all over town too, and Lucy is convinced that they aren’t just coincidences. Lucy knows that the dullard Sheriff isn’t going to do anything like work a real investigation. It’s up to her to find out what’s going on!
I’ve loved the Dewberry Farms mysteries – I may have to back track and review the ones before this one! MacInerney has a genius for creating a vibrant community and endearing characters. This series is a truly enjoyable read, hustling quickly to the resolution while tossing false trails at you. Another great tale!
These are well written books. The realistic writing brings me back to the small town farm where I grew up. If you like cozy mysteries, these books are a joy to read!! If you’ve never read one, this is a great series to start with. As a bonus, there are great recipes included at the end of the book!!
This fun, exciting cozy mystery is a fast-paced, compelling read! I enjoyed seeing a woman as a farmer in Buttercup, Texas, and her creativity in diversifying crops, livestock, and products. The characters are well defined and mostly likable, and elements of the mysteries are interwoven with the farmers of this little community.
Lucy has her hands full with her farm, getting products ready to sell at the Oktoberfest festival in this little town of German heritage, and getting a historic wooden house restored that was moved to her property. Today was a rough one. The carpenter’s helper, while replacing a rotted stud, barely made it out of the structure before it started leaning over. Someone had cut two of the support cables, nearly leveling the house – and Nick.
This festival opening night is at Sweetwater Brewery, where the owners and brothers, Felix and Simon, will introduce their new seasonal beer, Dubbel Trouble. The two men have only been open a few months and are building a good following. Someone has it in for the brewers, it seems. When they taste from the first barrel of beer before sharing with the crowd, both brothers made faces and spit it out. The next keg was fine, just as they wanted it, and many are excited about this new beer that Felix, master brewer, concocted.
Shortly after, Teena, one of the young staff members of the brewery and a friend of Lucy’s, was looking for Felix to give the opening speech. Teena has “feelings” about things that are going to happen that are usually correct. This time, she doesn’t want to go into the brewery building. They open the doors to see Felix is lying dead on the floor with a huge bag of what looks like barley crushing him and a can of beer from a neighboring brewery next to him.
Teena is heartbroken, especially since she and Felix were secretly seeing each other for a couple months. Simon is arrested, the only suspect the loudmouth sheriff, Rooster, will consider. As Lucy asks questions and keeps her eyes open, there are several viable suspects. Felix has a few skeletons in his past and present n the area.
There are so many things going on; are any of them related? The sabotaged barrel of beer, the wooden house nearly falling over and another home the contractor is working on is vandalized, many cattle in the area are going lame, with Felix’s murder is front and center.
This is quite a page-turner! While favorite parts of mine include trying rescue kittens, I appreciate the camaraderie of the people in Buttercup. There are so many things going on that it is impossible to focus on just one, just like real life can be. Twists and turns kept me on my toes! While I figured out some of what was going on and by who, there were still surprises! All of the loose ends are tied up well, and the ending is satisfying. I highly recommend it to those who enjoy well-written cozy mysteries set in Texas farm country, animals, and slight paranormal twists. It is a delight to read at any time of year, not just in October!
From a thankful heart: I received a complimentary copy of this ebook. A review was not required.