Dead on the Vine

February 3, 2020
After Charlotte Finn, the heroine of the pseudonymous White’s lighthearted series launch, is fired from her high-powered job at a Chicago advertising firm, she heads for Little Acorn, Calif., with high hopes of managing the produce farm that she recently inherited from a great-uncle. “I’ve been to a farmers market, so how hard can this be?” she reasons. Her optimism flags when she learns that the farm is barely breaking even. While showing a real estate agent the property, she and the agent discover the body of a young man with a pitchfork driven through his neck. “I can’t sell the farm without taking a loss, and I can’t raise money from it while this murder is fresh in people’s minds,” concludes Charlotte, so she decides to investigate the murder herself. Though she’s surrounded by well-meaning friends, Charlotte’s real ally is a small, impossibly cute, and intelligent pig she names Horse (because he eats like one). Never mind that the culprit is pretty obvious. Animal lovers won’t want to miss this playful cozy. Agent: Sharon Belcastro, Belcastro Agency.

February 15, 2020
A displaced ad executive inherits a farm whose latest crop includes a corpse. Charlotte Finn's windfall couldn't have come at a better time, or a worse. The farm her Uncle Tobias left her in Little Acorn, California, gives her a place to retreat when her high-powered Chicago ad agency unexpectedly fires her. But her discovery of a dead body in a field of tomatoes prevents her from putting the failing enterprise up for a quick sale. No one wants a rocky business that's also a crime scene. So instead, she recruits her friends from Santa Monica, Diane and Beau Mason, to help generate some income from the fields of ripening strawberries. Together with caretakers Ben and Alice Wong and farm expert Samuel Brown, the brother-and-sister team help Charlotte launch a host of moneymaking schemes, including fixing up the old lake to host swimming parties and developing a "you-pick-'em" business to circumvent the high fees their distributor charges. When her human companions turn out to be of limited use in solving the murder, Charlotte finds two assistants whose agricultural experience makes them much more helpful: a teacup pig she names Horse because of his prodigious appetite and a ladybug she dubs Mrs. Robinson for no particular reason. The human-porcine-insect trio attacks the case with a gusto and expertise that would make mere cat sleuths blush with envy. Animal detection at its most frolicsome.

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March 15, 2020
Charlotte Finn leaves her Chicago advertising career behind to travel to Little Acorn, California, to run the family farm, left to her by her great-uncle. On arriving, Charlotte learns that the farm barely breaks even, so she decides she must sell it. Unfortunately, during the tour with the real-estate agent, she finds the body of a young man, skewered with a pitchfork. Fearing she is a suspect, Charlotte begins her own investigation into the murder, aided by a smart baby pig. The idyllic setting and fond childhood memories of visiting the farm cause Charlotte to change her mind about selling, as she, her friends Beau and Diane, and the farm's employees implement various ideas to make the operation more profitable. Complicating matters, others claim they have ownership rights, and someone is intent on sabotaging the farm. Working with the local police chief, Charlotte sets a trap for the killer and saves the farm. The beautifully described rural setting, the nicely fleshed-out characters, and a sense of whimsy distinguish this charming cozy debut, the first in a series.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2020, American Library Association.)