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Farming Accident or Framed for a Felony?

Author: Connie Feddersen

Amanda Hazard, CPA and amateur sleuth, has made it to wedded bliss with Nick Thorn, the town’s sheriff and ardent local farmer. But wedded bliss goes on the backburner when one of Amanda’s most disliked clients, Harvey Renshaw, is found dead in the hay. Thorn rules it an accident (the price of farming alone), but Amanda suspects there is more to the story. Harvey has left behind a lot of would-be killers, from his four ex-wives to his business partners to the women with whom he had affairs. The local beauty shop is practically bubbling with juicy gossip.

As usual, Amanda is right about murder, and Thorn, who is more interested in his crops than in his policing job, still doubts his better half’s astute observation of what is clearly a murder scene. We’re pretty far into the series at this point (there’s only one book after this), so long-term readers aren’t surprised to see the same motif: Amanda sneaking around, investigating behind Thorn’s back. Thorn is mad at her for gumshoeing, but is clearly attracted to her sexiness, despite what Velma has done to her hair (yet again.) Place on repeat.

Amanda also follows her usual MO by accusing literally everyone, mostly while isolated and at their mercy, stirring up the little town of Vamoose and making enemies everywhere. It’s Amanda’s usual bull-in-a-china-shop method, and it’s just as ridiculous here as it was in book one. By now, however, we were really expecting some growth, both in the Thorn/Hazard relationship and in Amanda’s investigative techniques, which range from ill-informed to downright illegal (breaking and entering anyone).

Dead in the Hay also makes a slave auction a main plot point. I’d never heard of this before, but apparently, it’s where women bid on men who get their “honey do” list for the day, becoming their slaves. Both racially insensitive and cringeworthy, this slave auction reminds readers just how old this book is. Thing is . . . it was still written in the 90s, so you’d think that the author would have known better.

This auction leads Thorn to be (of course) put in the way of temptation, and between Amanda’s dislike of Renshaw’s hot blonde exs and Thorn’s winning bidder, we get a lot of hate on women who wear makeup or dress sexy. It is so not a good look, and by the end of the book we’re ready to smack both Hazard and Thorn. Again, this element has been there from the beginning, with ardent feminist Hazard still managing to hate on every other attractive woman in town from day one.

But – the mystery. This is where it gets both good and bad. Renshaw has left a complicated cache of would-be murderers, all with motive, know-how, and opportunity. It’s one of the biggest and most confusing casts of potential killers, giving the mystery extra scope and making it difficult to guess the real baddie. This time, however, the real baddie is someone totally left field. It makes for an exciting conclusion, with a lot of near misses for Hazard, and some grand revelations . . . but it also made the “clues” all wrong and pointless.

Overall, Dead in the Hay is one of the weaker offerings in the series. By this point, we’ve become attached to the characters and town, and that helps, but this would be a difficult place for a new reader to join the series. There still is some cozy here though, and Harvey’s life’s story is plenty complicated. It’s the usual cozy mystery fair, and a little weaker than the rest of the series, but fans will still find something to enjoy even while ‘tsking repeatedly.

 

– Frances Carden

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