“Everything had seemed so perfect just a few weeks ago. And now, I stood to lose everything.”
Lucy has moved to her grandmother’s farm to try and make a quiet life for herself homesteading after spending many years in Houston as a busy journalist. There’s the dewberries to make jam and pies with, the vegetable patch to sell items at the local market and the stubborn cow whose milk she can transform into cheese. Then, she finds out the mineral rights under her land still reside with the previous owner, Nettie, who is deciding now is a good time to drill. Lucy doesn’t know how to fight Nettie, but then doesn’t have to as she ends up dead with a broken jar of Lucy’s Killer Dewberry Jam right next to her. It’s not the quiet life Lucy expected.
I don’t often read mysteries now, but I’m glad I came across Killer Jam. I needed to read a mystery for my library’s adult summer reading program and I chose this one from the Overdrive app. I don’t like mysteries that are gruesome or highly realistic. Killer Jam was a murder mystery that had a small town feel to it and I enjoyed reading it. I was very close to figuring it all out, but wasn’t sure until the book ended as to who killed Nettie.
As Lucy digs deeper into the details of Nettie’s death to try and defend her own innocence, she realizes that the small, quiet town she settled down in is anything but small and quiet once you start learning people’s backgrounds. There’s a feud that goes back generations that Lucy didn’t realize she was a part of and the sheriff is on the other side. A friend who is dealing with a violent ex-husband and the local veterinarian who is cute, single and good at tracking down her cow when she wanders off helps her in her investigation. Secrets are uncovered as the real culprit is finally brought to justice.
The book is written in first person and every once in a while, following Lucy’s train of thought got repetitive. Killer Jam was a fun read and if I’m in the mood for a light mystery, I will probably look for book 2 in the Dewberry Farm Mystery series. I would recommend this book for anyone high school age or older who likes light mysteries.
What is your favorite mystery book? Have you read Killer Jam? Comment below with your answer!