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.

Purchase link

Seeds of Revenge

It's the dead of winter and the farm is quiet at this time of the year, but Megan Sawyer is drawn into another murder. In Seeds of Revenge by Wendy Tyson, Megan stumbles across a young woman stranded in the snow not far from town. She turns out to be Merry Chance's niece, Becca.

Becca Fox is in Winsome to stay with her aunt and develop her business The Love Chemist. Her product is a mix of pheromones and perfume to produce the love potions. Megan is not sure it's a viable business plan, but she listens attentively.

When she drops off Becca at Merry's place, a man steps out of the shadows and Becca begins shouting that she doesn't ever want to see him and her aunt should not have tried to bring them together. As Megan drives away she wonders what conversation is going on behind close doors.

Megan learns from her boyfriend Denver that Becca's family had lived in Winsome in the past. Paul

Fox was hired by Eloise to work with some of her patients suffering from trauma, but unexpectedly Eloise asked him to leave the practice and the family moved away.

When Paul is found dead under unusual circumstances, Megan arrives at the crime scene and all windows are wide open on the house. Worrying that this means there was a gas leak, she hurries to speak with police chief Bobby King. Megan notices a faint odor in the room, but it is not natural gas.

Days later it appears Paul died from phosgene poisoning, a plot stolen from one of Megan's aunt Sarah's mystery books.There are plenty of other suspects because Paul took sadistic pleasure in wounding others. especially his daughter Becca.

More incidents occur that seem to be from Sarah's books. What is the killer trying to say? Megan finds herself plunged into the middle of the mystery and a string of other crimes.

For a review of another Wendy Tyson book, click here. 

George Washington Slept Here

When Megan Sawyer moved back to Winsome, Pennsylvania, to run her grandmother's organic farm and cafe, she did not expect George Washington to be causing her trouble. In A Muddied Murder by Wendy Tyson, General Washington seems to be right in the thick of things.

The local beautification board has been refusing to give Megan permits for her cafe. Simon Duvall is the lead curmudgeon and week after week has continued to deny the permits needed to open the cafe. After another failed inspection, Megan is at her wits end, but when she finds Simon dead in her barn the next day, she fears she will be a suspect. She also discovers her Grandmother was considering a bid from Duvall and the Historical Society to purchase the Washington Acres farm because George Washington possibly slept there!

The plot thickens when Simon's mother Lenora, who is in charge

of the Historical Society, plans to make a big announcement about the farm and an historical preservation project. Historical preservation would put a huge dent in Megan's plans for the cafe and the adjacent building she hopes to purchase.

When another person connected to the Historical Society is seriously wounded in a stabbing attack, Megan continues her investigation in earnest while trying to protect her interests
.
I enjoyed this book and I have the next in the series, Bitter  Harvest, in my possession. If you want to see more books by Wendy Tyson, click here.