In Farm's Way: 06/07/24

In Farm's Way by Amanda Flower and Rachel Dulude (Narrator) (2023) is the third book in the Farm to Table mystery series. The annual ice fishing derby has rolled around again and Shiloh's father is competing. Wanting to support him, she goes to the event, only to find the body of a local brewer.

The immediate questions to the murder are: where did the man go into the ice? Who had the time and the strength to do it? What was the motive? And finally, how does the owl call figure into it?

This volume has a strong sense of place and time: icy winter. It also drops enough hints for you to know that things Shiloh mentions knowing will come into play. It also has a rather cinematic approach to its narrative with the opening scene paralleling the climax, an unusual approach for the typical modern cozy mystery.

Given how many places where typically thick winter ice places aren't seeing the freezes this year, I was a little surprised to see the frozen lake be such a major piece of this mystery. One of the side effects of Global Warming is the shifting of snow patterns. They are coming later and in some places, dumping more in those narrower windows (like California). But in more typically frozen places, the ice isn't forming (like Ottawa).

The fourth book in the series is Crime and Cherry Pits. It released on February 24, 2024.

Five stars

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