Scene of the Brine
Pickled and Preserved, Book #3
By Mary Ellen Hughes
ISBN: 9780425262474
Author website: http://www.maryellenhughes.com/
Brought to you by OBS reviewer Kayt
Synopsis:
The national bestselling author of License to Dill returns with a dilly of a pickle.
Piper Lamb has to take a break from jarring her delicious pickles and preserves to blow the lid off a poisoner….
Business is booming at Piper’s Picklings in Cloverdale, New York. But not all is sweet in the life of Piper’s number one customer and friend, local caterer Sugar Heywood. Sugar is dating wealthy realtor Jeremy Porter, but his family doesn’t approve. After their unscrupulous accountant finds some dirt on Sugar, the family quickly urges Jeremy to throw her out like rotten fruit.
Things are further spoiled after the accountant is found poisoned, and all evidence points to Sugar’s son, Zach. With the Porter family determined to avoid scandal, it won’t be easy for Piper to preserve Zach’s innocence. And after someone falls victim to a poisoned jar of some of her brandied cherries, Piper’s got a peck of trouble to deal with herself…
Review:
Scene of the Brine is the 3rd installment in author Mary Ellen Hughes’ “Pickled and Preserved Mystery” series. And each one has been better than the last. I would not have thought a cozy about a shop specializing in pickling would be so interesting and fun to read. Somehow the author makes it work. Piper Lamb is a wonderful lead in a great ensemble. I have to say her romantic indecision was not a bright spot for me though. This is however a seriously great cozy read. I was sure I knew who the killer was about halfway thru, but was completely wrong. Even after I thought I had it figured out, I was still captivated thoroughly and enjoyed reading it. Then to see the turn of events point to someone else, well I loved it.
In this installment a horrible worm of a man ends up dead and he has ties to one of Piper’s friends. Her friend Sugar Heywood has been dating popular and wealthy realtor Jeremy Porter. Sugar has never seemed so happy. Not only is her love life good, but her catering business is looking up too. That is until Jeremy’s mother (snob Lydia Porter) and timid sister Mallory move in with him. As Sugar caters an event for her sweetie, things get heated and not in a good way. His mother does not approve of Sugar and his seedy accountant Dirk Unger is fueling the fire with dirt he has dug up on her. No one is really sad when he ends up dead.
Dirk dies after being poisoned and Sugar’s son Zach becomes the main suspect. Not only did he argue with the dead man, but he also had a knowledge of plants as a botany major. Things do not look good for him as other things come to light to cast him in a bad way. Piper’s ex Scott takes him on as a client and that brings the two in closer contact, more than Piper or her boyfriend Will would really like. Piper and her friends, including Ralph (who just installed a handcrafted wood carved front door at Piper’s Pickling shop), decide to do some searching for the real killer. And as another person falls ill to poisoning, things get a bit too personal for Piper. Luckily this one lives, but they were poisoned with the same plant found in Piper’s own brandied cherries.
Even though Scene of the Brine is the 3rd in this series, readers will be able to easily follow if this is the first they read. The characters are fun and well developed. The storyline is fraught with mystery. The writing is entertaining and intelligent. I enjoyed that even though Piper and her friends suspect the wrong person at times, they did not outright accuse them. They did not anger them. I also enjoyed how even when Piper had figured out who the real killer was, the reader was kept in the dark. The scene played out at a heart racing pace, culminating in a spectacular reveal. All cozy readers will enjoy this great read.
