Put Out to Pasture (Farm to Table Mysteries)

by Amanda Flower

A delightful new cozy mystery from USA Today bestselling author Amanda Flower!
There's fowl play afoot on the farm
Shiloh Bellamy has saved her family's farm from financial ruin—but now what? She's barely scraping by on the farm's new organic business model and the fall festival she organized to drum up business comes to a screeching halt when the body of a prominent townswoman is discovered underneath a scarecrow in a nearby field. Worst of all, the evidence points to Shiloh's childhood best friend, Kristy, as the prime suspect.
Between cooking up delicious treats made with her farm's produce, convincing her cantankerous father to let her do things her own way, and dealing with a newcomer in town who could be serious competition for her customers, Shiloh doesn't have time to wade into a murder investigation. But with a killer on the loose and suspicious activity circling closer and closer to Shiloh and the people she loves, she realizes there's nothing to do but roll up her sleeves and get down to the dirty work of finding the killer and clearing Kristy's name once and for all.
This book is perfect for cozy mystery readers and fans of Kate Carlisle, Denise Swanson, and Bree Baker!

• ISBN10: 1492699942
• ISBN13: 9781492699941
• Publish Date: 22 March 2022 (first published 22 February 2022)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Poisoned Pen Press
• Format: Paperback (US Mass Market)
• Pages: 312
• Language: English

Reviews

[annieb123]

Originally posted on my blog Nonstop Reader.

Put Out to Pasture is the second book in the Farm to Table mysteries by Amanda Flower. Released 22nd Feb 2022 by Poisoned Pen Press, it's 288 pages and available in paperback, audio, and ebook formats. Library binding available in Dec 2022. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately.

I'm a huge sucker for cozies. Bonus points for pets (cats or dogs, I'm not picky), baked goods, knitting, book clubs, and I don't mind the occasional obligatory hunky sheriff/detective love interest. This book ticked a lot of boxes for me. Underdog heroine/amateur sleuth lead character moves back to her small-town home from "the big city", complicated history with the local hunky lawman, an adorable pug sidekick named Huckleberry (awww), and a few other appealing plot features which might be a little standard, but that's why we devour cozy mysteries.

This series is developing well, with good characterizations and pacing. The book's written in first person point of view which could have been a little distracting, but it didn't detract from my overall enjoyment - the author is quite adept at her craft.

The language is clean, the crimes are (mostly) bloodless, and there's a romance subplot but nothing sexually graphic. It's a safe and fun read.

Four stars. Recommended for cozy mystery lovers.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.