The past few months have been pretty distracting. Between six (!) visits to the dentist in the fall, a family member’s wedding, the holidays, and national events a few things fell by the wayside. So, I have not yet posted this review of my most recent mystery novel, Fatal Farming, which was published in October. If you have not yet gotten a copy, it is available wherever books are sold. For more information, go to my website: https://bonnieoldre.com/. If you have already read it, please consider posting a review.
Fatal Farming
Bonnie Oldre
Gatekeeper Press
9781662951404 Paperback/$16.99; eBook/$4.99
www.bonnieoldre.com
Fatal Farming is the third book in the Beth Williams and Evie Hanson cozy mystery series. It is set in the 1960s, where they are working to help reopen a theater into which Logan Rusk has poured his heart, soul, and money when Vern Cedar steps into the scene and gets into a heated argument with Logan.
Cedar is a farmer who also hosts a little radio show that excels in belittling people who call in, at his encouragement. That makes him obnoxious, in Evie’s book:
“Farmer and insult disc jockey. That’s quite the combo. I wonder if he insults his livestock.”
But, does his attitude also translate to a killer’s personality?
A perhaps predictable tragedy sends Beth and Evie into another investigative mode. This involves them in former classmate Vernon Cedar’s life and relationships, where they uncover more small-town secrets and connections.
As in her previous books, Bonnie Oldre builds a story of this librarian and her friend and fellow investigator with a solid foundation of local color, relationships, and probes of motivations and hidden secrets. Her ability to juxtapose Beth and Evie’s lives with bigger picture thinking about the world around them translates to not just intriguing revelations and unexpected twists, but a sense of community. This approach embraces connections tested by loss and love alike.
Add the colorful conundrums posed by a hippie commune, new possibilities derived from lifestyle differences and challenges, and a sense of discovery that places The Library Lady in dangerous situations for a sense of how attractive and unexpected many of the events prove to be.
Libraries looking for cozy stand-alone mysteries that also operate well as a series will relish the tone and attraction of Fatal Farming, which draws together disparate special interests in ways mystery genre enthusiasts won’t see coming.
This review appears in two places:
Diane Donovan, Editor, Donovan’s Literary Services, November 2024 Issue – Donovan’s Bookshelf
D. Donovan, Sr. Reviewer, Midwest Book Review, MBR: California Bookwatch, December 2024
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