Berried Secrets

Written by Peg Cochran

Narrated by Romy Nordlinger

When Monica Albertson comes to Cranberry Cove-a charming town on the eastern shore of Lake Michigan-to help her half-brother Jeff on his cranberry farm, the last thing she expects to harvest is a dead body.

It seems that Sam Culbert, who ran the farm while Jeff was deployed overseas, had some juicy secrets that soon prove fatal, and Jeff is ripe for the picking as a prime suspect. Forming an uneasy alliance with her high-maintenance stepmother, Monica has her hands full trying to save the farm while searching for a killer. Culbert made plenty of enemies in the quaint small town, but which one was desperate enough to kill?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tantor Media, Inc
• Release date: Jan 5, 2016
• ISBN: 9781515970941

Reviews for Berried Secrets

[joannefm2 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Monica Albertson left a failed restaurant in Chicago to help her brother on his cranberry farm in Michigan. He bought the farm hoping to make a go of it, but so far it's been tough. So now she's out in the bogs with the other workers trying to harvest cranberries, when her rake catches on something in the bottom -- and up comes a body. It turns out that it's Sam Culbert, the man she saw her brother Jeff arguing with a day ago, and now she fears that Jeff will be at the top of the police detective's list. So, along with her stepmother Gina -- who arrived unexpectedly -- she sets out to find a killer who seems to have been able to escape any notice so far...I really wanted to like this book, but unfortunately, it ran so slow. It was difficult to get into the beginning of it, and while cranberry farms might be interesting to some, they aren't to me. I'd go so far as to say if I were on vacation, unlike tourists in the area, I wouldn't even bother with a tour of one. (I do like cranberry juice, but that's as far as it goes for me).Anyway, Monica is not the kind of person I'd like to know. She's judgmental of others, even going so far as to make fun of her stepmother, who apparently is a decent person and treats her like a daughter. The only complaint I have with Gina is she calls Jeff "Jeffie," and what grown woman still calls her son something like that? That's my husband's name, and I'd cringe if my mother-in-law even used it once.Monica herself is a very bland personality, and I almost gave up on the book because of that, but I wanted to see it through anyway. I figured out the murderer the minute the person stepped onto the page, which isn't a good thing; also I felt there should have been some clue along the way, but there was nothing until the end. Monica also put herself into a stupid situation because, as I like to say, she couldn't think on her feet and didn't put it together until the last moment.There are some great-sounding recipes at the back, so at least that's a plus. However, I'm not sure if I'll read the next in the series or not.

[cln1812 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

After the failure of her small café and the death of her fiancé, Monica Albertson flees Chicago to come to Cranberry Cove, Michigan to help her half-brother, Jeff, run his struggling cranberry farm. Monica keeps the Sassamanash Farm store supplied with fresh-baked cranberry scones, muffins, coffee cake, and cranberry salsa. Jeff is newly home from a tour in Afghanistan. He bought the cranberry farm from Sam Culbert, also the mayor of Cranberry Cove. Sam Culbert ran the farm for Jeff while he was on duty, and when Monica goes over the books, she discovers that Sam was embezzling money from the cranberry farm while he was running it for Jeff. When Jeff learns of Sam's betrayal, he is angry.Cranberry harvest season is upon Sassamanash Farm. As the harvest begins, a body is found floating in one of the cranberry bogs. The body is that of Sam Culbert, and he didn't die naturally. The police and the entire town seem to suspect Jeff of the crime. Monica knows many soliders come back from Afghanistan with post-traumatic stress, and Jeff's paralyzed arm is the tip of the iceberg for him, but he wouldn't murder somebody, would he?As Monica works to clear her brother's name, she discovers many people had reasons to dislike Sam Culbert other than Jeff. He was abusive to his wife. He regularly raised the rent on the shops he owned in town, putting some of them out of business. There is talk that he bought votes in the last mayoral election and cheated his way to becoming mayor.I actually read the second book in this series before going back and reading this book. It was too bad because I guessed the murderer based on a character that appeared in the first book but was absent in the second book. My recommendation is to read this series in order! However, I did enjoy this book very much. I liked the small town feel, and I found learning about cranberry harvests interesting. Foodies will like the descriptions of the cranberry-based foods and recipes. All in all, it's a great start to a series.

[bgknighton · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Nice beginning, likable characters, not too eccentric, Monica doesn't try too hard at detecting (which is good)

[lisaksbookreviews · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Author Peg Cochran has a new series! YAY! Already being a fan of author Peg Cochran’s writing (I so miss her Vintage Lingerie series written as Meg London), I was beyond thrilled to hear about her new Cranberry Cove Mystery series. When I finally got a copy of BERRIED SECRETS in my hands, I was as excited as a child on Christmas Day! For sure worth the wait, BERRIED SECRETS was everything I had built it up in my mind to be….no, wait…it was more! I was hooked on the book from page one and the beautiful image of Cranberry Cover author Cochran painted of the quaint town. I wanted nothing more than to climb into the book and explore more of the town, meet the people. Monica Albertson is a fantastic new protagonist. She’s strong and spirited, but very real and relatable. I’m not sure who I’m going to fall in love with, but it’s a tossup between Monica’s brother Jeff and Greg Harper, the owner of the local bookstore. And the twins that own the candy shop, well, I’ll let you meet those ladies yourself. This was a wonderful story from the beginning until the last page, everything in this book flowed so well. It was a fast paced, intriguing mystery that urged me to keep reading, to turn another page, and I did. Before I knew it, and much too soon I was at the end. Oh, and major points to Peg Cochran for an amazingly original place to find a body! And don’t miss the delicious cranberry recipes you’ll find at the back of the book!If you are choosy about the new series you start, I would suggest adding this one to your list. I can’t say enough good things about it. Well, I can’t but this review would be as long as the book!