Grounds for Murder by Betty Ternier Daniels

GROUNDS FOR MURDER by Betty Ternier Daniels is a debut mystery in the Jeannie Wolfert-Lang series. I am grateful for the free preview copy from ECW Press, a Canadian Indie book publisher, which I received after attending a recent Booklist webinar. The main character, Jeannie, is adjusting to life as a sixty-year-old widow on her farm. Although she enjoys the gardening and company of her cat, Diesel, she is being encouraged to sell the farm by her two adult children and a very aggressive real estate agent named Monica. An accident involving Jeannie’s car results in Monica’s death and Monica's ex-husband and cop-on-leave named Derek arrives to investigate. Feelings spark between him and Jeannie who also manages to ignite some resentful emotions in her young tenants on a neighboring farm. Overall, GROUNDS FOR MURDER is light and fun and I will look forward to seeing the characters develop in future series entries. Audiobook also available.

As an aside, I learned while reading another newly published book (Murder on the Page) that a cat named Diesel features in several mystery books by Miranda James – and don’t forget feline Sneaky Pie Brown who writes about two cats, Pewter and Mrs. Murphy, with longtime co-author, Rita Mae Brown.