Book 101, 2020

Peaches and Scream by Susan Furlong

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



Last night, I finished reading Peaches and Scream, which is the first part of author Susan Furlong's "Georgia Peach" mystery series. The main character is Nola Mae Harper, who has returned home to help run her parents' peach orchard while they're on a holiday.

Nola left home years ago, after a youthful indiscretion nearly shamed the family. She's been all over the world since then, working as a humanitarian. Nola didn't realize how much she missed her hometown of Cays Mill, GA, until she's back among family and friends. She's even more glad to be home when her brother and sister let on that the orchard isn't doing well financially. Nola's job is to fix things, and she's ready to tackle this new problem. What she hadn't counted on was finding a body in the orchard, nor that her pregnant sister's husband would be accused of the crime. Nola has no love for Hollis, but for her sister's sake, she hopes to find out who really may have done the deed, especially since Sheriff Maudeen Payne isn't looking any further than Hollis. Nola is aided in her endeavors by her childhood friends, brother and sister Cade and Hattie. Only, the way Cade is looking at her now isn't the kind of looks a guy gives a friend. To compound problems, the private investigator that Nola's brother, Ray, hires turns out to be that same guy she had an ill-advised fling with in her youth.

Now all Nola has to do is quell the local gossip mill, figure out what Cade means to her, avoid Dane Hawkins, and try to solve a murder. Easy peachy.

:D

Nola was a likable character. I didn't much care for the gossiping cats all over town. Didn't care for Dane (or "Hawk" as he likes to be called--cue massive eye roll), and I can only hope that Nola's affections lead her to Cade. The plot built nicely, and it had some interesting twists and turns.

Favorite line: People I knew in my youthful prime aged, while I, at least in my own mind, stayed the same.

Quite enjoyable, four stars.