Book Review: Fatal Frost by Karen MacInerney (Dewberry Farm #2)

Stars: 5 out of 5

Pros: Return visit with fun characters, great story

Cons: I’m not in the spirit to find cons

The Bottom Line:

Murder at Christmas

And Lucy must clear a friend

Fun second entry

Somebody is Going to Have a Frosty Christmas

It’s funny how trends come even in cozy mysteries.  After years of reading mysteries set in every dessert business you can think of, I’m now reading three series set on farms.  I guess I have to offset all that virtual junk food somehow, right?  Fatal Frost takes us to a small farm in a small town in Texas for the second Dewberry Farm Mystery, and it’s a winner.

Christmas is fast approaching in the small town of Buttercup, but things aren’t quite as smooth as Lucy Resnick is hoping for.  For starters, she awakes in the middle of the night to find someone digging up her dewberry bushes and peach trees.  The new mega church outside of town is boycotting the Christmas market as being too commercial even though the funds are going to help a local resident in need.  Even Lucy’s love life has hit a snag with her boyfriend’s ex-wife in town looking for property to buy.

Things take a deadly turn when Lucy spots a fire.  Inside the burning home is the body of Krystal.  It might look like an accident except for one thing – the body is cold.  Someone killed Krystal and then set the house on fire.  The local sheriff latches on to the first suspect, Lucy’s friend Molly.  While Molly was certainly angry with Krystal, she never would have killed her.  Can Lucy find the real killer and clear Molly before Christmas?

As I’m sure you can already tell, there are plenty of storylines to keep you invested in the book.  Something is always moving forward, which kept me wanting to turn the pages.  Author Karen MacInerny juggles the various plots and sub-plots perfectly and brings everything together for a logical and suspenseful climax.

And the characters are wonderful, too.  This is only the second book in the series, but there are several regulars we are definitely getting to know, and we get to know them even better here.  Lucy really grows with what she goes through here, and I appreciated that growth.  And I wouldn’t complain if some of the characters introduced here came back in future books.

Now, I talked about healthier food and being set on a farm.  But this is a Christmas set book, and you can’t have Christmas without goodies, can you?  In the back, you’ll find mouthwatering recipes for Brown Sugar Fudge Balls, Czech Christmas Bread, and Lebkuchen Bars.  These might not be traditional American Christmas treats, but they will make your mouth water.

Fatal Frost is a wonderful second novel.  It brings back characters we love and gives them a fun new puzzle to solve.  Sit back and let this book put you in the murderous Christmas spirit.

Enjoy more visits with the rest of the Dewberry Farm Mysteries in order.

NOTE: I received an ARC of this book.