Peaches and Scream
Georgia Peach Mystery, Book #1
By Susan Furlong
ISBN13: 9780425278383
Author’s website: http://www.susanfurlong.com/
Brought to you by OBS reviewer Kayt
Synopsis
In the first Georgia Peach Mystery, when murder threatens her family’s orchard, Nola Harper is ready to pick out the killer and preserve the farm’s reputation…
To help run the family peach farm during her parents’ absence, Nola Harper returns to her childhood home of Cays Mill, Georgia, and soon discovers that things back at the farm aren’t exactly peachy. A poor harvest and rising costs are threatening to ruin the Harpers’ livelihood, and small-town gossip is spreading like blight thanks to Nola’s juicy reputation as a wild teenager way back when. But Nola really finds herself in the pits when she stumbles upon a local businessman murdered among the peach trees.
With suspicions and family tensions heating up faster than a cobbler in the oven, this sweet Georgia peach will have to prune through a list of murder suspects—before she too becomes ripe for the killer’s picking…
INCLUDES RECIPES
Review
I have to say if I could, I would have given this book 10, 20 or more stars. Peaches and Scream is a fabulous first installment in a new series, “Georgia Peach Mystery”, that promises to be a sweet treat in the cozy mystery genre. Full of southern charm, enjoyable characters, an enticing setting and more twists, turns and gossip than you can shake a stick at! Nola Mae Harper is called on to care for her parents peach farm so they can go on a long deserved vacation cruise. It comes at a perfect time for Nola Mae as she finds herself relegated to a desk job after traveling the world. A secret from her wilder teen years pushed Nola Mae to want to help others and that she did. Helping villages in remote parts of the world in times of crisis, need and disaster was her life. Her childhood prepared her for hard work and caring for those in need.
Nola Mae is shocked to learn that things are not all peaches and cream with the family farm. Not only is the Harper Peach farm hurting for money and in need of repairs, but her dad has also been having health problems. And to make matters worse, the morning after her parents leave, she finds a local business man dead in the peach grove. The man has been strangled with her sister Ida’s scarf, last seen in her husband’s hand. Hollis was found with incriminating evidence. All signs point to his guilt and the local sheriff, with an axe to grind with Ida, is all set to pin the murder on him. Nola Mae and her brother Ray cannot let their brother-in-law be railroaded, especially with Ida so close to the delivery of their baby.
The characters in Peaches and Scream are well-developed and entertaining. Of course there are a few I wanted to slap silly, but being a southern lady I never would. And as a southerner, I truly enjoyed the portrayal of the ways of the south. Some writers come off heavy handed when writing about the ways of things “down here”. Susan Furlong pulled it off and boy howdy did she do a bang up job. Writing filled with humor, family love, neighborly care, teased hair and good food. Throw in some infidelity, hard drinking, get together and fun times and you have got yourself a hit!
Peaches and Scream is an entertaining and well written cozy. Everything that makes a cozy great can be found in this super first in a series. I already feel like I know these characters and I want to spend more time with them. Nola Mae is an exceptional main character. Her beliefs, struggles and care for her family endure her with the reader, especially this one. The storyline is wonderful. This is a great mystery filled with the right amount of intrigue. I cannot wait for the next and the next and the next and so on, of this fun series. This is a truly tasty peach of a read. I recommend this to everyone, especially cozy mystery lovers.
*OBS would like to thank the publisher for supplying a free copy of this title in exchange for an honest review as part of their ongoing blog tour*
