Friday, June 13, 2008

One Bad Apple-Sheila Connolly

One Bad Apple
Sheila Connolly
Berkley, Aug 2008, $6.99
ISBN: 9780425223048

Months after her boyfriend dumped her, Meg Corey’s job is made redundant when her bank merges with a larger one. Her mother comes up with a solution that will occupy Meg for the next few months. They own property in Grandford, New England that includes a house and an apple orchard. If Meg fixes up the house, she will earn half the profits from the sale.

Neither Meg nor her mom is aware that the house needs enormous structural and cosmetic repair. The plumping needs immediate attention so she calls Seth Chapin who informs Meg the septic tank needs replacing. The day after it is fixed, her sink is stuffed, Seth inspects what is clogging the system only to find the corpse of Meg’s ex boyfriend inside. He was in town to sell the concept of a strip mall and had many enemies with a motive to kill him.

There is a delightful charm to this small town regional cozy. The protagonist works the homicide because the police officer leading the investigation considers her the prime person of interest. Sheila Connolly provides a fascinating whodunit filled with surprises especially red herrings as the amateur competes with the cop to prove she is innocent by uncovering the identity of the guilty person.

Harriet Klausner

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