No Farm, No Foul by Peg Cochran

No Farm, No Foul by Peg Cochran ISBN-13: 9780425282021 Mass Market Paperback: 304 pages Publisher: Berkley Prime Crime Released: Sept. 6, 2016

Source: Review copy from the publisher.

Book Description, Modified from Back Cover:
On her blog, The Farmer’s Daughter, Shelby McDonald is growing her audience as she posts recipes, gardening tips, and her experiences raising two kids and running Love Blossom Farm in the small western Michigan town of Lovett.

Working the farm is demanding but peaceful—until that peace is shattered when the minister’s wife is murdered on Shelby’s property during a fund-raiser for a local church. Out of curiosity and because the police seem to be making no headway, Shelby decides to figure out the murderer herself.


My Review:
No Farm, No Foul is a cozy mystery. Shelby is a widowed organic farmer with three love interests and two kids that tend to get into trouble (climbing trees for the boy, with boys for the girl). Shelby didn't need to interrogate people as people liked to gossip with or confide in her.

There were enough clues to guess whodunit. One "clue" was obviously meant as a clue yet made no sense considering how the murder was done. There were a few other "huh?" points, like why did a cop shove his gun into his waistband instead of his holster? Anyway, whodunit didn't come as a surprise, but we get a long suspense scene at the end. Finally, some useful dogs!

Despite skirting the edge of several of my pet peeves, I did enjoy the story. The author developed the characters and gave them more complexity than is usually found in a cozy. There was no sex or bad language. Overall, I'd recommend this interesting novel.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.