Rooted in Deceit

Washington Acres Farm has a new addition - a wood-fired oven set in a renovated barn. All ingredients for the pizza are from locally-sourced farms including her own, and Megan is excited about the opening. In Rooted in Deceit by Wendy Tyson, Megan's excitement is dimmed by the arrival of her estranged father and Sylvia, his Italian, high-maintenance wife. (Rooted in Deceit will be released on September 4. It is published by Henery Press.)

Megan's grandmother Bibi is saddened to learn her only son Eddie and his wife are not staying on the farm, but in the new high-end yoga retreat center in the next town. Part owners of the center are  former friends of Megan's, now an up-and-coming artist Thana Moore and Ray Cruise, the boyfriend Thana stole from Megan in high school.

When Thana winds up dead on the grounds surrounding the retreat, police want to question  Eddie's wife Sylvia. She had been heard arguing with Thana earlier in the day and cannot account for her whereabouts the afternoon of the crime.

The yoga retreat is a gorgeous place and expensively decorated leading Megan to wonder who

financed the place. It appears Thana's artwork, though not critically acclaimed, was extremely popular in Europe and gaining in popularity n the U.S.

When Eddie asks her to try and clear Sylvia, Megan decides to investigate. She learns that Sylvia was trying to purchase some of Thana's work to take back to her boutique in Milan, but Thana was resisting.

Before long the police discover the long-ago estrangement of Megan, Thana and Ray and suddenly Megan is in the spotlight. Feeling vulnerable because her beau Denver has flown off to Scotland to care for an elderly aunt for several weeks, struggles to clear her name.

This series is farm fresh and I wish there was a farm like this near where I live.

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