Going Organic Can Kill You

Book Description: Welcome to Blossom Valley, CA, home of the O’Connell Organic Farm and Spa, complete with its new marketing maven, Dana Lewis, former Blossom Valley resident and unapologetic junk food connoisseur—and soon to be sleuth.

As Dana readjusts to life back home with her recently widowed mother, her latest career move isn’t exactly a piece of cake. In fact, it’s all tofu fish sticks, stuffed squash blossoms, and enough wheat grass shots to scream bloody murder—especially when Dana discovers the body of Maxwell Mendelsohn, Hollywood producer and opening weekend guest, deader than a yoga corpse pose. While Dana pens the Spa’s blog and balances the attentions of the local police and reporter Jason Forrester, her escalating job duties now include finding clues, motives and suspects. One thing’s for certain, she better act fast before all this healthy living kills her.

My Review: From pig chasing to egg collecting to cricket chirping matches, this book had me spitting my mocha across the room a few times with laughter. Dana is such a fun character, so normal and likable, and has a great relationship with her mom and sister. She has agreed to come home to care for her recently widowed mother, in spite of a fantastic job offer, and ends up in the midst of a murder investigation at the bucolic organic farm and spa she is working at. I loved the farm setting, and the fact that Dana became involved in solving the case because she feared for her job as spa patrons started checking out (some more permanently than others). The murder had me guessing until the very end, with everyone looking guilty at some point, and the story took a terrifying turn at the end when the killer was revealed. (You just know something bad is going to happen when characters venture into the woods late at night.) This is a delightful first book in the series, and I look forward to spending more time in Blossom Valley with Dana, her family and co-workers. (And I just love sweet little Wilbur on the cover!!!)