August 20th, 2026
Home | Log in!
Welcome to FreshFiction

Are you a reader
or an author?

Help us personalize your experience. Choose your role below.
You can always change this later using the switcher button.

or

You can switch anytime using the floating button.

Limited Time Fresh Fiction Access

Exclusive Marketing Opportunities for Authors

Curious about how Fresh Access helps authors gain more visibility and connect with active readers?

Discover premium promotional opportunities, enhanced exposure, and author-focused services designed to help your books stand out.

Read More →
On Top Shelf
Fresh Pick
SEA OF CHARMS
📚 New Books This Week 📰 Latest News πŸŒ… Summer Sunset Giveaways 🎪 Reader Games

Fresh Fiction for August Is Here

Cowboys, castles, and shiftersβ€”this month has it all.

Slideshow image


slideshow image
Hotter than a Tuscan summer.


slideshow image
Some promises cost you the one you love.


slideshow image
Only she can pull him back from the darkness.


slideshow image
One golden retriever knows this is love.


slideshow image
Trust is the fiercest transformation of all.


slideshow image
From Himalayan stargazing to the London Blitzβ€”one love endures.

A GALA EVENT

A Gala Event, October 2015
Orchard Mystery #9
by Sheila Connolly

Berkley Prime Crime
284 pages
ISBN: 0425275817
EAN: 9780425275818
Kindle: B00SI02DVI
Paperback / e-Book
Add to Wish List

Purchase

"Wedding bells and a cold case of murder."

Fresh Fiction Review

A GALA EVENT
Sheila Connolly

Reviewed by Patricia (Pat) Pascale
Posted November 24, 2015

Mystery Cozy

In Granford, Massachusetts, the wedding of Meg Corey and Seth Chapin promises to be A GALA EVENT. Hopefully coming soon, the event is in dire need of some firm decisions. Meg has been busy harvesting apples from her orchard. Seth is no help. He is more interested in installing the new bathroom that is to be his wedding gift to Meg. The whole town will be attending as the Chapins' founded the town centuries ago.

Meg decides to start with the venue. She loves Gran's, a lovely Victorian restaurant sitting atop a hill facing the green. The owners, Nicky and Brian, are good friends and eager to help. It did not take long for Nicky to create a menu, suggest drinks, and even plan the music. That was easy. Now to find Gail and ask her to be her attendant.

Meg goes to the renovated Historical Society building to look for Gail, who might be there setting up new exhibits and relocating files. When Meg steps into the building, she finds Gail leaning against a table, making strange noises and she is covered in blood. When the police arrive, Gail explains she was attacked by a man, but she defended herself by cutting him with an antique vegetable slicer. The blood is his. The search begins. The next morning Gail and Meg find him in the storage shed next to the Society. The police arrive and take the man, Aaron Eastman, to the hospital.

Later discharged from the hospital, Aaron Eastman rings the door bell at Meg's home. He has come to thank her for saving his life. Aaron was recently released from prison after serving a 25-year term for killing his father, mother and grandmother in a fire that destroyed his home. He has no recollection of the fire but was convicted when he was 17-years-old. The judge offered no sympathy for a teen on drugs who seemingly showed no remorse for the death of his family. Meg and Seth listen to his story. Not only do they believe him, they promise to investigate this cold case. Hopefully, they can find some answers to the questions he has had for a long time.

Sheila Connolly writes a warm, cozy mystery with a cast of characters that you would enjoy having for friends and neighbors. Nice read!

Learn more about A GALA EVENT

SUMMARY

Wedding bells are ringing for Meg and Seth in the latest Orchard Mystery from the New York Times bestselling author of Picked to Die…

The fall harvest may be just about over, but orchard owner Meg Corey is busier than ever planning her wedding to Seth Chapin. Who knew picking apples would be less work than picking out rings and a dress? And even though the happy couple has invited most of Granford, Massachusetts, to the ceremony, they might have to make room for one more guest…

Ex-con Aaron Eastman has unexpectedly reappeared in his hometown, searching for answers to the tragic fire in his family’s past that put him behind bars twenty-five years ago. Moved by his sincerity, Meg vows to do everything she can to help him solve the cold case. As she cobbles together the clues, it becomes increasingly clear that Aaron may have been considered the bad seed of the family, but someone else was one bad apple…

Includes Delicious Recipes!

EXCERPT

No excerpt available.

BOOK SERIES

Orchard Mystery

One Bad Apple
ONE BAD APPLE
#1.0 β€’ August 2008
Rotten To The Core
ROTTEN TO THE CORE
#2.0 β€’ July 2009
Bitter Harvest
BITTER HARVEST
#5.0 β€’ August 2011
Golden Malicious
GOLDEN MALICIOUS
#7.0 β€’ October 2013
A Gala Event
A GALA EVENT
#9.0 β€’ October 2015
Seeds of Deception
SEEDS OF DECEPTION
#10.0 β€’ October 2016
A Late Frost
A LATE FROST
#11.0 β€’ November 2017

 

 

 

© 2003-2026 off-the-edge.net  all rights reserved Privacy Policy