Cape Willington is about to have its Strawberry Festival.
The Festival always draws a lot of tourist bringing some
much needed money to the town. When Doc goes out to check
with Miles to make sure everything is ready, he finds Miles
dead in one of the hoophouses. The murder weapon was a
shovel that came from Doc's farm, Blueberry Acres.
When Lydia goes out to the farm, she sees a BMW with a
custom license plates speeding away. It belongs to Lydia
St. Graves but what reason would Lydia have for being out at
Crawford Berry Farm? Lydia is a real estate agent who has
been trying to buy the property but it's not likely she
would kill to get it.
As Candy starts trying to find out how their shovel got to
the Berry Farm, the town will struggle to deal with the
death of one of its longstanding citizens and a way to keep
the Festival going. The shovel was loaned out several times
after Doc loaned it to a friend and the last person known to
have it was Lydia and she has disappeared.
When Lydia does reappear, she begs Candy for help finding
the real killer since she is afraid she will be the next
victim. Candy learns that Lydia was lured out there by a
supposed email from Miles. Except it came after his death.
The more they learn, the more confused they get since the
whole event seems to revolve around an old tale of a con man
and his buried treasure.
The Candy Holliday series is a favorite of mine. The
mysteries are well-constructed and always include a slight
twist which makes keeps one guessing until the final
revelation. The characters are well rounded and likable.
If Cape Willington were real, it's a town that I'd love to
visit.
In the quaint seaside village of Cape Willington, Maine,
Candy Holliday has a mostly idyllic life, tending to the
Blueberry Acres farm she runs with her father and
occasionally stepping in to solve a murder or two...
Summer has arrived! But as the community gears up for
another festive strawberry-picking season, the villagers are
shocked when local berry farmer Miles Crawford is found dead
in a hoophouse near his strawberry fields. Rumors have been
swirling around about a secret real estate deal between
Miles and Lydia St. Graves. And now Lydia is missing after
she was seen fleeing the scene of the crime...
When Henry
"Doc"Holliday becomes involved in the mystery, his daughter
Candy finds herself caught in the jam as well. But things
turn very sticky when Lydia suddenly reappears and asks for
Candy's help in finding the true murderer,,,