War and Peach

A Georgia Peach Mystery, Book #3

By Susan Furlong

ISBN13: 9780425278963

Author website: http://www.susanfurlong.com/

Brought to you by OBS review Kayt

 

Synopsis:

The author of Rest in Peach serves up another bite of Southern charm in the latest Georgia Peach mystery.

Nola Mae Harper is too busy restocking the jars of preserves and chutney flying off the shelves of her shop, Peachy Keen, to keep up with all the gossip about the upcoming mayoral election, but she does know the debate is sure to be a real barn burner.

Local farmer Clem Rogers claims he has a bombshell that could take small business owner Margie Price out of the running. But before Clem can reveal his juicy secret at the debate, his actual barn goes up in flames–with him inside of it. The town casts its vote against Margie, but Nola isn’t convinced the hardworking woman is capable of murder. Now to clear Margie’s name Nola will have to work fast under pressure, before Margie gets taken in by the fuzz…

INCLUDES RECIPES!

Review:

I cannot begin to say how much I love visiting with Nola Mae and her family in Cays Mill, Georgia. The love of family, the fantastic storytelling, the witty and intelligent writing style of author Susan Furlong, all of that and more are a true delight to read. It makes waiting for the next installment in this fabulous cozy mystery series (A Georgia Peach Mystery) worth the wait, hard, but worth it for sure. Being a southerner, sometimes reading books set in the south is hard to enjoy. The over use of southern accents or southern slang and mannerisms can be a bit much. Author Susan Furlong has such a light touch with these things, but brings the southern charm and delights one would expect. Her writing is so enjoyable. Reading War and Peach is more delightful that a heaping serving of warm peach cobbler covered in vanilla ice cream.

There is a major mayoral race going on and the candidates are getting ready for what is touted as being a real barn-burner of a debate. Everyone is going to be there. Margie Price, who is not from town so suspect of course and farmer Clem Rogers are going to go head to head on the issues. Secrets are going to be revealed as well. Unfortunately Clem is unable to appear, he has been murdered and Nola Mae is worried as her father becomes the main suspect. What a horrible coincidence that he was at Clem’s farm right before hand and had been in a dispute with him as well. There is no way Nola Mae is not going to get involved if her family is in trouble. And when Sheriff Maudy is once again ready to hang the Harper family high, she knows she has to find out who really did this, who is the murderer.

The interaction of the fun and fabulous characters is stellar, charming and makes this book impossible to put down. At the beginning of each chapter, we get to see Nola Mae’s pure southern mother’s truisms in the form of Southern Girl Secrets.  #89 – The reason we Southern gals like diamonds is because they’re a lot like us, beautiful, shiny and unbreakable. #40 A Southern gal doesn’t wish for it to happen; she makes it happen. The mystery is suspenseful and fun. This book is full of character, wit and intelligent, enjoyable dialogue and writing. Author Susan Furlong writes such wonderful stories, her books speak to me in ways a lot of other books do not. And it truly does not have anything to do with this series being set in the south. It goes far beyond that.

There is just something so very special about the “Georgia Peach Mystery” series and this the third book War and Peach is even more magical and delightful for me. The love of family and friends is so strong in author Susan Furlong’s books and at the same time the protagonists are tough and intelligent. You do not want to mess with Nola Mae especially when it comes to her family. I just love visiting with the characters of Cays Mill. I was transformed to the small town and thought I had the mystery solved several times. Yet, I was wrong. This was so enjoyable to read. You do not have to read this series in order, but read them all when you can. They are more than worth it. There were so many things I absolutely loved about this book, but truly my favorite line in this book about the Harpers “Through the many happy times and the sometimes trying, desperate times, the one thing that always held true was our love and support of one another.” That is the magic of this book. And really that is what this book is, magic and totally entertaining.

*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*