Emily James (1)

The fifth in the Maple Syrup Mysteries, this opens with Nicole, the lapsed lawyer and new owner of a Michigan sugarbush operation, being surprised by a visit from her mother. As her harshest critic, Nicole and her mom have never been close, but if there were plans to talk Nicole into coming back to DC they are derailed by a big pool of blood in the bathroom of the room next door to Nicole's mom. Because the majority of the police station is out sick, the investigation is headed by Officer Elise, who has never led a murder investigation, and Nicole and her mom, who have had some run-ins with murderers before.… (más)

This is the third in the Maple Syrup Mysteries series.
Nicole, a former defense lawyer at her parent's D.C. firm, is learning how to run the Michigan maple farm her uncle left to her. While checking the stables, she finds one of her employees, Noah, unconscious and bleeding. The question of whether Noah fell or was attacked is enough to make Nicole the prime suspect for Elise, the only female police officer in Fair Haven.
Realizing that she barely knows Noah, Nicole conducts her own investigation to find out if there would be anyone with a reason to put Noah in a coma.
And since deciding she was too attached to her friend Mark, the married coroner, Nicole is doing her best to live with the fact that everyone in the small town seems to hate her for breaking up with him.
A good mystery, not as cozy as you might expect. The author has the habit of using the word "anymore" to mean "now".… (más)

The second book in the Maple Syrup Mysteries. Nicole has just returned to Fair Haven, Michigan and her newly inherited sugarbush after quitting her parents law firm in D.C. Returning after a few months absence, Nicole gets herself into trouble right away by running over a man during a blizzard, but relief to find that she wasn't responsible for his death turns to concern when it's determined that he's the manager of the animal shelter and he was killed by a lethal injection. Now Nicole just has to get involved. And returning to town also puts her into immediate contact with the two men who seem to be vying for her affection, the new Police Chief Erik and the coroner, Mark.
I wish Nicole, a grown woman and lawyer, wasn't constantly tripping over her own feet or falling on her butt, but I do like the series otherwise. And there's a recipe for maple syrup cookies included.… (más)