Well-Offed in Vermont

Available October 5, 2021

Amy Patricia Meade is the best cozy mystery writer you've never heard of. For some reason her books have not ever received (in my opinion) the attention they deserve. I absolutely loved the Marjorie McClelland series and the Rosie the Riveter debut was more deserving of a book 2 than possibly any other series I've ever read. Yet somehow Meade has not gained the fame she rightly deserves.

This book takes place in Vermont, a young couple leaves the city so the young man, Nick, can pursue his dreams of working in forestry. Unfortunately his lovely wife, Stella, has been turned down for the job of her dreams so she focuses her energy on hunting down the killer who struck in their own backyard, literally. When they discover the business man who was supposed to be repairing their well floating dead inside it, Nick and Stella are thrown out of their new home, which as now become a crime scene. Allen Weston was not exactly well-loved by the townspeople, who considered him a flatlander despite having lived in town for many years, so there were a plethora of suspects in his murder, including the Sheriff himself.

I loved the characters, a bantering couple who dig into each other from time to time but have a supportive relationship and a great love and appreciation for one another. The Sheriff is very charming and his affection for Alma is very sweet. Of course there are also a number of quite unsavory characters and characters I wasn't quite sure what to make of. The setting was also beautiful, bumping Vermont a few steps closer to the top of my vacation list.

This book actually came out about 10 years ago and was another that was a one-off that I never had a chance to read (though a second book was released independently a few years ago). I'm very glad that the series is being resurrected because it is well-deserving of a read, as is anything else this author puts out.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC.