Brenda H. (booksinvt) -
One Foot in the Grove is the first in the An Olive Grove Mystery series. Eva Knox has left her fiancé at the altar (this has happened once before with a different man), packed up her life in Boston and returned to her family's plantation in Abundance, Georgia. Her father has started manufacturing olive oils and is making a name for himself, so Eva is determined to take over the PR for the business. Her divorced sister Daphne, mother of 5, is running the main house now turned into an Inn and her other sister Pep, works as a bartender at the local watering hole.
Eva is the talk of the town when she returns home because the first man she jilted at the altar was Buck Tanner, now Sheriff Tanner. Trying to avoid the local gossip, things go even further South for her when she stumbles upon a dead body in the olive grove. Turns out the man is someone she knew in Boston, so automatically she becomes the main suspect in his murder.
A great plot from start to finish. Two different mob families converge on the plantation each trying to take over the business, a secretive neighbor has purchased the neighboring estate yet seems to ride to Eva's rescue every time she finds herself in trouble, a loveable and quirky family, the hint of a rekindled romance and a great dog!
Warning: the author has put a very heavy emphasis on the Southern dialect written for Daphne - the use of y'all in each and every sentence is very off putting at first but I was able to finally ignore it. Also, there is very little information or tidbits about olives or how they grow so if you were hoping for a little insight into the manufacturing of olive oil or olive oil based products you will be disappointed. There doesn't seem to be anyone that actually works in the olive grove tending to the trees or harvesting.
However, the mystery and the fun cast of characters will definitely have me looking for the second in the series.
Eva is the talk of the town when she returns home because the first man she jilted at the altar was Buck Tanner, now Sheriff Tanner. Trying to avoid the local gossip, things go even further South for her when she stumbles upon a dead body in the olive grove. Turns out the man is someone she knew in Boston, so automatically she becomes the main suspect in his murder.
A great plot from start to finish. Two different mob families converge on the plantation each trying to take over the business, a secretive neighbor has purchased the neighboring estate yet seems to ride to Eva's rescue every time she finds herself in trouble, a loveable and quirky family, the hint of a rekindled romance and a great dog!
Warning: the author has put a very heavy emphasis on the Southern dialect written for Daphne - the use of y'all in each and every sentence is very off putting at first but I was able to finally ignore it. Also, there is very little information or tidbits about olives or how they grow so if you were hoping for a little insight into the manufacturing of olive oil or olive oil based products you will be disappointed. There doesn't seem to be anyone that actually works in the olive grove tending to the trees or harvesting.
However, the mystery and the fun cast of characters will definitely have me looking for the second in the series.
