Good book. A cozy mystery with believable and good old down home characters. It is a fun read but a little predictable. I enjoyed it and look forward to reading the next one in the series. ( )

Lucy Resnick is an ex-investigative reporter who moved to her late grandmother's farm in Buttercup, Texas. She's struggling to make ends meet, and doesn't know if her truck will make it through the winter. But she's doing her best, and determined to make something of her farm. While in bed one night, her poodle Chuck starts barking and won't stop. Lucy hears noises outside, and goes to investigate, armed only with a hoe. But she trips and is hit over the head, awaking two hours later.

The next morning, she goes to pick up two goats from her friend Peter, and while there, they see smoke in the distance. When they go to see what's happening, a home is on fire. Peter, a volunteer fireman, tells Lucy to call 911 -- and runs inside to see if anyone is home. He comes out with a young woman, and then once again with a black puppy. The woman is Krystal, a waitress for her friend Quinn, and it appears she was dead when the fire started.

When people are questioned about who wanted Krystal dead, the first person thought of is Lucy's friend Molly, who had an argument with her about Molly's daughter Brittney. Now Molly is in jail for murder, Lucy's trying to keep her goats penned, her parents have come for Christmas, and she finds out her boyfriend, local veterinarian Tobias's ex-wife Mindy is in town. Not an auspicious start for a memorable Christmas, but if she doesn't find the real killer, Molly isn't going to be celebrating it at all...

I read the first in this series and really enjoyed it. But with the beginning of this book, I wasn't sure how the rest of the book would go. It seems there are times when Lucy is Too Stupid to Live. She hears someone outside, doesn't own a gun (stupid of her living in Texas and in the country, to boot), and decides to investigate - in the dark - armed only with a hoe. Then she trips and gets hit over the head, knocking her out. Did I mention she was wearing only pajamas and a robe? In winter? And was out for two hours? When she wakes, she's not even cold. My family's from Texas, and it gets chilly in the middle of the night there, though not frigid. Then, she doesn't even call the sheriff because she 'knows he won't do anything.' Say what? I don't care if he hates her. She was knocked out on her own land. The sheriff needs to investigate.

Why is this man sheriff anyway? He doesn't know his job, and when he arrests someone, it's for his convenience, not because they're guilty. Why isn't anyone running against him? Why isn't he removed from his position? I rarely hate the 'evil nemesis' enough to want to see them done in, but I sure hope in the next book he's the victim; having someone this detestable and worthless in the book just nearly ruins it.

Now that I'm done with my rant - for the rest of the book, I thought the mystery was fine, and there were a few red herrings strewn about, which is always a nice thing. While it didn't seem that Krystal had done anything to get herself murdered, the fact is that she was, and Lucy is trying to figure out who not only killed her, but committed arson to hide the crime. Obviously, the horrible sheriff isn't going to do anything and would rather send an innocent woman to prison, but at least Lucy has help from her friend Quinn, who has a few ideas of her own.

I do like Lucy's parents, and would hope to see more of them in future books. Her dad indulges her, and her mom's a softy, although she doesn't want anyone to know that. Lucy's lucky to have them. While there aren't a lot of descriptions of the farm nor the surrounding countryside, we may forgive that because there was plenty of action in this story, with everything occurring at the same time.

When the ending comes and the murderer is revealed, it's a bit of a surprise, but there are clues leading up to it, though as I mentioned before, the red herrings move things in other directions. When everything is said and done, aside from Sheriff Do-Nothing, the book was very good and I will read the next in the series. Recommended.

This is the second book in the Dewberry Farm Mystery series and although not as good as the first one, was still an interesting and amusing read. This book had many subplots that did not necessarily have to do with the murder in the story, but did tie together at the end. A new-fangled church, someone digging on property by Dewberry Creek, a 17 year old that leaves home to elope, poison pen letters, the Christmas Market as well as two murders.

Once again we find Lucy struggling to make a go of Dewberry Farms. When she finds out that someone is digging up her land near the creek, she investigates and gets hit on the head with a shovel. Her Dewberry patch has been dug up and two of her peach trees upended as well as her truck is giving out. She is continuing her relationship with the local vet, but his ex-wife is in town. When the waitress, Krystal, from her best friend's cafe is found murdered, Rooster Kocurek, the incompetent sheriff arrests her friend Molly. Molly's daughter runs off with the son of the new pastor of the upstart church and she is frantic. Wanda and Ethel, two crusty women that belong to the new church seem to have it out for Molly and Lucy. When Lucy receives a poison pen letter about her relationship, she finds out that a lot of others have as well. Of course Lucy can't let Molly remain in jail so she sets off to investigate.

I like Karen MacInerney's writing style and read this book very quickly. She added some humour to the mystery along with a hint of a romance. The return to town of the ex-wife had Lucy on her heals, but it all turns out. Bringing in the delightful setting makes for a very well rounded story. It also has recipes at the end of the book that look yummy. I would definitely recommend this book to those who enjoy Cozy Mysteries, especially if you love the food and the chance to make it at home.
With many thanks to Thomas and Mercer and Net Galley for the opportunity to read this book. ( )

This was a fun listen. I listened to the first book in this series a little over a year ago and I have been wanting to get back to it ever since. Since I am currently in the middle of a three month Kindle Unlimited membership, I grabbed this just as soon as I saw that it was available in the program. This is the second book in the Dewberry Farm Mysteries series but I think that it would work perfectly fine. It was really nice to spend a bit of time with Lucy and the other characters from Buttercup.

I didn't even realize that this was a Christmas story until I got started listening. My eyes are not great anymore so I did not notice the Christmas lights on the cover and I rarely read blurbs very closely so I was pretty clueless. If you are not a fan of Christmas stories, this really only had a touch of the holiday worked into the story.

There were quite a few things going on in this book and it was great watching Lucy try to figure everything out. She happens to be around when a body is pulled from a fire and quickly notices that there might be something strange about the situation. Her best friend's teenage daughter has runaway to get married causing quite a bit of drama. Her best friend ends up in jail but Lucy knows she is innocent so she works to find the information that lead to the real criminal. To top everything off, someone is busy looking for treasure in town and is even digging around on Lucy's farm.

I liked the characters quite a bit. Lucy is great and has a lot of spunk. She really is happy in the little town of Buttercup and can handle difficult situations very well. Her boyfriend wasn't around a whole lot in this book and I did miss him a little but their relationship did have some progress which I was happy with. Lucy's friends played an important role and the goats she adopts at the beginning of the story added a few interesting moments.

I thought that the mystery was really well done. I liked how some things connected to other things going on in the book while others were really unrelated. I had a few suspicions but I couldn't get everything figured out until it was revealed in most cases which added to the fun. There were some pretty exciting moments where I wasn't really sure how things would work out. This was one of those books that I kept wanting to listen to just a bit more because I had to know what was going to happen next.

Teri Clark Linden does a great job with the narration. I really felt like I was right there with Lucy as she was making her way through the story. I think she handled all of the character voices very well and really brought the story to life. I wouldn't hesitate to listen to more of her work in the future.

I would recommend this book to others. I thought that this story had a great cast of characters and a compelling mystery. I really have enjoyed the audiobooks for the first two books and must admit that I was disappointed to find that no audiobook is currently available for the remainder of the series but I would still like to finish the series soon. ( )

Fatal Frost by Karen MacInerney is the second book in A Dewberry Farm Mystery series. It is mid-December in Buttercup, Texas. Lucy Resnick (who owns Dewberry Farm) is soundly asleep until her dog, Chuck (a cute little apricot poodle) starts barking. Lucy gets up to investigate and sees a shadowy figure outside near the river. Lucy leaves Chuck inside (not a good idea) and heads outside the investigate. Lucy notices holes in the ground before she is hit hard on the head and knocked unconscious. Lucy wakes up quite a while later with a big bump on her head. Someone is definitely digging on her property and they damaged her peach trees and the dewberry patch. Someone is looking for hidden Confederate treasure. Evidently the old treasure story has been resurrected. Lucy then receives a call from Quinn, friend and owner of the Blue Onion. Krystal Jenkins did not show up for work (she wants Lucy to come in and help). Unfortunately for Quinn, Lucy has other plans. Lucy is heading to Peter’s house to pick up her new goats, Hot Lips and Gidget (can you imagine calling a goat Hot Lips). While loading up the goats, they smell smoke. A small white house nearby is on fire. They hurry over to the house and Peter (a volunteer firefighter) rushes in. He brings out a woman and a small dog. The woman, unfortunately, is dead, but not from the fire (I bet you can guess the woman’s identity). The woman is Krystal Jenkins. Krystal recently had a very public fight with Lucy’s friend, Molly Kramer at the Blue Onion. Krystal recruited Molly’s daughter, Britt for this strange Church that started nearby called Word of the Lord. They are against the commercialization of Christmas and protested the Christmas Market. Sheriff Rooster Kocurek feels that makes Molly the number one suspect (he is not known for his work ethic). Lucy is not going to let her friend get railroaded. Lucy starts looking into Krystal’s life in Buttercup. But someone does not want Lucy discovering the truth. Will Lucy be able to find the real killer? Lucy’s plate is very full this December. She needs to find a killer, deal with her new goats who have a knack for escaping, her parents are visiting, her truck is acting up, and let’s not forget the rogue treasure hunter. Join Lucy and her friends in Fatal Frost.

Fatal Frost was an easy to read novel with interesting characters. I enjoyed following the clues to solve the mystery. The mystery can be solved before the killer is revealed if you pay close attention (you should be able to know who it is after the person is introduced). I did think that there was too much going on in the book. I did not mention everything in my synopsis (there is much more). There was just one thing after another including escaping goats and poison pen letters. Fatal Frost is the second book in the series, but you can easily read it as a stand-alone novel. I give Fatal Frost 4 out of 5 stars. I liked the paranormal element and wished there had been more of it in the book. While I did think there was too much going on, I am curious to see what happens next with Lucy. ( )