Nipped in the Bud

Orchard Series, Book 12

De: Sheila Connolly

Narrado por: Marguerite Gavin

The New York Times best-selling author of A Late Frost returns with orchard owner Meg Chapin trying to stem the tide of crime....

Winter still has a firm stranglehold on the small town of Granford, and newly married orchard owner Meg Chapin is restless to begin her spring pruning and planting, while Seth busies himself with a new project of his own. But their relative peace is shattered when a gunshot breaks the winter silence, and they discover the body of a dead woman on their land. What's just as troubling is that the state police have hushed up the murder and are warning Meg not to investigate.

Never one to sit by idly with a killer on the loose, Meg starts digging for clues and probing for answers as discreetly as she can. When the victim turns out to have been an undercover reporter doing a story on the blossoming trade in illegal drugs in the area, Meg's stunned to learn that this very modern crime has come to sleepy Granford. Unwilling to accept that the nasty business has put down roots so close to home - and led to a murder that occurred literally in her own backyard - Meg is determined to nip it in the bud before the town she knows and loves turns rotten....

©2018 Sheila Connolly (P)2018 Tantor

Orchards, Murder and a Tiny House

I'm a big fan of this author, but this book in the Orchard Series is a little strange. I did not like how gun owners or hunters were portrayed. And the naiveté of Meg, the orchard owner was frustrating. I love the new orchard manager, though and his back story. And I'm interested in the tiny house that Seth is building for him. I will try another in the series, but I can already tell this one will not be a favorite.

A little banal

Didn’t connect with this one. Found the characters a little dull with no twists and turns: less detective, more noisy neighbour.

Ms Gavin simply is not doing well

Switching readers from Ms Miles to Ms Gavin was and is a huge Mistake! Gavin simply can not “do” male voices .... Seth’s voice needs someone better and hopefully with a tiny slight New England accent, like Ms Miles was able to produce. Not enjoying this audio anywhere near as much.
If Miles is unavailable Please get. Reader that does sound like a female voice going hoarse.
Sorry I bought “Nipped in the Bud”

not for serious readers

Does Sheila Connolly not remember that in the middle of this series that Lauren quit the bank in Boston and her and Meg left things on a sour note? Now Lauren is back as if the previous events were never even written? These books are full of repetition and mistakes in the details but, this is a pretty big and obvious anomaly.

Background

I enjoyed this series but it REALLY annoys me when an author does not keep the back stories of characters the same throughput. Ex. Meg’s friend in Boston

Not nippy enough for me

I previously listened to Rotten to the Core from this series. It was far better than this episode and the narrator was far better as well. This narrator’s voice was hard to hear. I kept trying to turn the volume up. Of course this might just as well be a production problem and not the reader‘a voice at all. But when she dropped her voice to a lower register to signify a male character speaking, I often had to strain to hear. Whatever the cause, the narration is weak and made the whole book a disappointment to me. I don’t think I’ll purchase other books in the series after this. Too bad.

Slow but easy listening

There was a lot of repetition. It seemed like the author was stretching out the story. Good for falling asleep?

There was no mystery

Narration was both annoying and boring. Main characters act like they are 80. No real mystery. No action…just boring, unrealistic dialogue.

I struggled to finish this one.

This is the first book I've listened to in this series. It was free through the Plus Catalog. I simply did not like Meg. She came across as arrogant & snooty to me. I liked the other characters just fine.

Don’t waste your time or money

I’ve been enjoying this series since the beginning, and have collected and enjoyed them all. But this is the was so out of whack that it feels that it was written by someone else, someone who hadn’t went back and acquainted themselves with the main characters and their storylines.

That Meg would call up her “friend” Lauren for lunch and advice made me sit straight up in bed. Their relationship started deteriorating when Meg moved to her apple orchard in the countryside and ended after a long-over due blowout. Their final meeting was at Meg’s wedding when Lauren came, accompanied by homocide detective Bill Marcus. Lauren was never again mentioned in any books... till now. Also, Meg mentions Detective Marcus to Lauren as if he’s someone she’s never met. Seriously.

Then there’s Meg’s annoyingly repetitive internal musings about making coffee four times a day; life as a farmer, a wife. She just drones on and on. Once the group decides to speak with Justin and see what he has to say for himself, they agree they’ll all be quiet and see what he knows... but then Meg just starts telling him everything they know about him and his lies. WTF? I was hoping Justin would pull out a gun right then Meg’s becoming a bored, bitter, know-it-alll.

I think I’ll read the reviews next time before purchasing. I didn’t see all the negatives until a week after I’d added the book to my library. So sad.