In Farm's Way by Amanda Flower Review

 Happy Monday Friends :)

I pray today finds you all doing well, and I hope that your 2023 is off to a great start!

Unfortunately, mine started off with catching the not so fun respiratory flu that has been going around our city, and I ended up having to miss a couple of days of work. We've also been dealing with a bit of work stress and complications and the like, and I'm praying hard that this isn't an indication of how the rest of the year is going to end up going. 

However, I want to try and focus on the good, and today I'm excited to share with you all my review of an upcoming release in a new to me cozy mystery series.

If you didn't already know, I adore cozy mysteries, and they are one of the few secular genres I still pick up quite regularly.

This one definitely sounded intriguing, and I couldn't wait to give it a go.

Keep reading down below to find out what I ended up thinking about it.

In Farm's Way by Amanda Flower:

Source: Publisher via NetGalley

Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press

Publication Date: February 21st, 2023

Genre: Cozy Mystery

Series: Farm to Table Mystery

Synopsis:

Even the best-laid plants can go awry...

After solving a murder and getting her organic farm ready to overwinter, Shiloh Bellamy still expects the next few months to be busy with repairs, spring planning, and networking with local businesses. She might even be able to broker a new partnership with Fields Brewery and its organic brewer's association. Well, she could if the owner wasn't found murdered at the county Ice Fishing Derby.

Once again, Shiloh gets tangled up in the investigation when the police ignore an entire crop of suspects to blame one of her friends. She'll have to dig deep to find the truth, reel in a killer, and convince her city-slicker pug to wear his winter boots. But with Bellamy Farm still struggling, can Shiloh spare the time to look into the town's fishy characters? Or will her dream farm be the next thing floating belly up?

USA Today bestselling Amanda Flower returns to the Farm to Table cozy mystery series with another exciting sleuthing adventure!

(synopsis from goodreads)

My Review:

In Farm's Way is the third installment in Amanda Flower's Farm to Table Mysteries series, and I appreciated the fact that it could be read as a stand alone, since I hadn't read the first two titles before picking this one up. The reader follows Shiloh Bellamy, a former Los Angeles producer who has recently returned to her hometown to help run the ailing family farm. Of course, Shiloh manages to stumble upon a murder while helping her father get settled at the county's beloved ice fishing derby, and she's determined to see justice served. The only problems? Her best friend's husband is the prime suspect in the case, and the local law enforcement is determined to keep her nose out of the investigation.

I have to say that this was my first experience with an Amanda Flower cozy, and I wholeheartedly enjoyed her characterization, her atmospheric setting, and her writing style that had me engaged right from the opening pages. The protagonist being a former LA producer was an interesting and original plot point for a cozy mystery, and I hope the farm itself will play a bigger role in future stories to come. I love the notion of this potentially being about a farm being certified organic, and the endless possibilities that may follow. 

I also don't want to spoil anything, but the romance has my interest peaked, and I'm looking forward to seeing which direction the author is going to take this in the next installment.

Overall, I really enjoyed this one and thought it was a pretty good cozy mystery. However, I didn't end up rating it quite as high as I'd initially intended, because I thought the mystery part of the story, unfortunately, ended up being a tad lacking. There wasn't enough build up to determine who the culprit was beforehand, and the ending was way more rushed than it needed to be. The climax ended up disappointing me, and I wanted a bit more from the mystery resolution than I ended up getting.

I still have high hopes for next title however, as I truly did enjoy the rest of the story.

Final Rating: 3/5.

Thanks so much to Poisoned Pen Press for allowing me to advance read and review this one!

I voluntarily read and reviewed a complimentary advance reader copy of this novel from the publisher (Poisoned Pen Press) via NetGalley. I was not required to give a positive review. All thoughts and opinions are my own, and this is my honest review. 

Thanks so much for reading guys! I pray you all have a great rest of your day :)