Berried at Sea: A Cranberry Cove Mystery

Felicitations!  I hope everyone had a delightful weekend.  Bear Witness to Murder by Meg Macy comes out on May 29 along with The Diva Cooks Up a Storm by Krista Davis.  If you are looking for a mystery series for the middle schooler (chapter books) in your life, check out A Wells & Wong Mystery series.  The series consists of Murder is Bad Manners,  Poison is Not Polite, First Class Murder and Jolly Foul Play.  

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.  The other books in A Cranberry Cove Mystery series are   Berried Secrets, Berry the Hatchet, and Dead and Berried.

Thank you for visiting today.  I will be reviewing Dying Truth by Angela Marsons tomorrow.  May you have a glorious day.  Happy Reading!

Kris
The Avid Reader