Rotten to the Core by Sheila Connolly

"...I have enjoyed the first 2 titles very much. The characters are well-developed, likable and believable. Young Meg Corey moves into her mother’s inherited 200 year old colonial house in Granford, Massachusetts. Meg has just left her Boston city life and banking job and ended a relationship. Her mother (who does not make an appearance in the first 2 titles except for very short phone calls) thinks Meg needs a ‘project’ to take her mind off her problems and asks Meg to ‘fix up the house’ and ready it for sale. (This scenario is a bit of a stretch for me.) Meg hasn’t visited the area since she was a young child and discovers that a 15 acre orchard is part of the property. Meg becomes very interested in the different apple varieties, orchard management techniques and local history - not only of the orchard, but of the house, her distant relatives and the area as well. Meg meets many of the small ..." "Another dead body shows up on Meg Corey's property. I felt horrible for her. She trudges through and wants answers! I admire her for her pluckiness, determination, and wanting to know the truth. Sheila Connolly builds on the last one and keeps the momentum going. I loved getting to know the other characters of Granford. Small town life makes me grin. I feel so invested in the story. I struggled to put it down. I had to know what Meg was going to do next. I loved how she was embracing the Warren house. I canot wait to see how her first season..." "If you love mystery books, but don't want something really heavy or grisly detailed..then this series is for you. Wonderful characters set in a New England Apple orchard, the New owner is learning all about Apple growing & dead bodies seem to be at every turn...nice little romance, thrown in...it's an easy read on a Sunday afternoon..great series, I'm 're-reading them..a must have.."

'Orchard Mystery' 시리즈의 두번째 작품이다. 책 표지에 나오는 'Springhouse(식품저장고)에서 사람이 죽는 것으로 이야기는 시작된다. 자살인지 .. 타살인지.. 전작에서처럼 보스턴 출신의 여주인공 Meg이 여러 사람들의 도움을 받아가면서 진실을 찾아간다는 이야기다.  이 책에는 액션이라고 할만한 것이 거의 없다. 사실 이 책의 중심 이야기는 주인공의 시골생활 적응에서 일어나는 이런저런 일들에 대한 묘사가 더 큰 비중을 차지하기에 좀 지루하다는 느낌을 받는 독자도 있을 것이다.  하지만 인물간의 재미난 대화나 사과재배에 대한 이야기 등은 좋았다. 특히 농약이나 무기농에 관한 이야기가 재미있었다. 개인적으로는 초반부분이 재밌었고 중반 이후로는 좀 지루한 점이 있었다. 마지막 2-3장 부분에서 긴장감이 좀 있었지만 놀라운 반전은 없었다. 그래도 코지 미스터리 장르답게 무난하면서 재미있게 마무리하는 거 같다. 글의 수준이나 편집은 이전 작품들과 비슷해서 읽기에 무난하다.