Book review: A Muddied Murder - Wendy Tyson (A Greenhouse Mystery #1)

When Megan Sawyer gives up her big-city law career to care for her grandmother and run the family’s organic farm and café, she expects to find peace and tranquility in her scenic hometown of Winsome, Pennsylvania. Instead, her goat goes missing, rain muddies her fields, the town denies her business permits, and her family’s Colonial-era farm sucks up the remains of her savings.

Just when she thinks she’s reached the bottom of the rain barrel, Megan and the town’s hunky veterinarian discover the local zoning commissioner’s battered body in her barn. Now Megan is thrust into the middle of a murder investigation—and she’s the chief suspect. Can Megan dig through small-town secrets, local politics, and old grievances in time to find a killer before that killer strikes again? 

My opinion.

A Muddied Murder is as deliciously contradictory as it's cover. A wonderfully original mix between small-town farm life, family relationships and a murder investigation, Wendy Tyson keeps you hooked and entertained throughout. 

I really enjoyed Megan as a main character. She's determined to make her farm and café a success, both for herself and for the rest of the town. She's driven and intelligent, but also very caring and fair. 

Her relationships feel natural and uncomplicated - even when they're everything but. However colourful and diverse, Wendy Tyson found a way to make all the characters introduced in this book believable and real. 

The only side note I can make here, is that there was so much more about this town and the main character's lives and histories than was covered in this book. I would love to find out more about them. And frankly, I fell in love with this little town. [Was anyone else reminded of Gilmore Girls' Stars Hollow and Taylor Doose??]

The small-town politics, gossip and way of life stand in strong contrast with the scene of a murder, and make for a fun and exciting combo. Secrets of past generations, town politics and relationships: the mystery keeps getting more elaborate and complex.

I'm thrilled with this idea of "greenhouse mysteries" and I'm excited to see what Wendy Tyson has in store for us next.