Seeds of Revenge (Greenhouse Mysteries)

By Wendy Tyson

Rating: 5/5 Stairs

Recipe for a perfect December day: Take one comfy chair, add a cozy blanket, a liberal mug of hot cocoa, and top them off with a copy of Seeds of Revenge.

Seriously, this book is the perfect reading companion on a winter’s day.

The Christmas season has come to Winsome, Pennsylvania, and unfortunately so has another murder. In the third outing of the Greenhouse Mysteries series, we find Megan Sawyer successfully running her family’s organic farm and cafe. As Megan drives home through a snowstorm, she stops to help a stranded motorist, Becca Fox. At the urging of her aunt Merry, Becca has come to town to try and make a success of her love potion business. Soon after she arrives, her estranged father Paul is found dead.

Paul Fox and his family left Winsome years earlier under mysterious circumstances, and many in the town are not sorry that Paul is dead. When it turns out he was murdered, there are plenty of suspects including Megan’s own aunt.

Megan tries not to get involved, but of course ends up doing some investigating of her own. Her grandmother Bibi gets involved too, declaring her love and knowledge of Agatha Christie books and Murder She Wrote‘s “Angela Fletcher” (ha!) qualifies her to help with the case. (I couldn’t agree more, Bibi!)

The charm of these books comes not from the mystery, but the characters and the setting. I want to walk down Winsome’s Canal Street, sit and talk with Bibi in her kitchen while she bakes, visit the goats with Megan, gossip with the locals at the Washington Acres Café and Larder, have tea at one of Merry’s caroling evenings.

Ms. Tyson keeps the series moving forward and the feeling fresh with each book. The characters continue to grow and we learn more about different people from the town. You don’t have to start with book one; the people of Winsome welcome you with any story. (In other words, you won’t be lost starting with book three.)

Grab your hot cocoa (or coffee, or tea, whatever drink you prefer), snuggle up in that blanket, and enjoy your Christmas in Winsome. I’m looking forward to another visit next year.

Many thanks to NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.