A Gala Event
by Sheila Connolly
Series: Orchard Mystery #9
Series Rating:
Published by Berkley on October 6th 2015
Genres: Cozy Culinary Holiday Mystery
Pages: 304
Format: Kindle
Goodreads
Wedding bells are ringing for Meg and Seth in the latest Orchard Mystery from the New York Times bestselling author of Picked to Die…
The fall harvest may be just about over, but orchard owner Meg Corey is busier than ever planning her wedding to Seth Chapin. Who knew picking apples would be less work than picking out rings and a dress? And even though the happy couple has invited most of Granford, Massachusetts, to the ceremony, they might have to make room for one more guest…
Ex-con Aaron Eastman has unexpectedly reappeared in his hometown, searching for answers to the tragic fire in his family’s past that put him behind bars twenty-five years ago. Moved by his sincerity, Meg vows to do everything she can to help him solve the cold case. As she cobbles together the clues, it becomes increasingly clear that Aaron may have been considered the bad seed of the family, but someone else was one bad apple…
Includes Delicious Recipes!
My Thoughts: So happy for this couple! This one gets 5 stars.
I truly like Meg’s character. She stands up for what she believes even if that means she has to take the hard road. She is completely a down to earth woman. She reminds me of my old friend Nopal. Nopal would call herself an old farm woman. She didn’t put on airs and she preferred to keep her mind and body busy, much like Meg. Meg and Seth make a great pair, they are both hardworking, honest and don’t shy giving helping a hand.
In this episode Meg’s friend Gail uncharacteristically freaks out and hurts a stranger. In comes Meg to help figure out what happened recently and then she attempts to solve a very old cold case with hardly any evidence. Meg enlists the assistance of Seth’s sister, mother, Gail, Art and of course Seth. This task seems daunting until most of the paperwork is back and they have done some leg work. Each person had a different part of the puzzle which allowed Meg to come up with the best conclusion possible and present it to Aaron and his siblings.
I think what I like most in this story was the melting of the different personalities through the actual story. There are quite a few characters (and I do mean characters) in this series. They seemed to all come together for the wedding and do it in a way that was sincere. Although Meg and Seth get married in this book, there are so many other things going on, such as planning the nuptials, the ex-con showing up, his relationship with his siblings, remodeling, finishing the harvest, entertaining, Thanksgiving, the birth of a new character, and the solving of an old fire. Talk about multi-tasking.
This is an outstanding series, I would highly recommend it and do. You may want to start from the first book in the series (One Bad Apple) even though that isn’t necessary as each book stands alone also. There are some nice apple recipes included if you like to bake/cook. So check it out!
If you would like to see other reviews like this one, check out BaronessBookTrove.com.
**Where to find this book**
** Goodreads **
About Sheila Connolly
Connolly was born in Rochester, New York, and later lived in Delaware, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, California, and Massachusetts. In 1972, she graduated with honors from Wellesley College, then earned a Ph.D. in Fine Arts from Harvard University. When art history jobs proved elusive, she obtained an M.B.A. from the University of California, Berkeley. She worked as an art historian, a municipal financial advisor for U.S. cities and states, a non-profit fundraiser for institutions and two statewide political campaigns, and a professional genealogist. She included elements of all of these in her mysteries.
The Glassblowing Mystery series, written under the pen name Sarah Atwell, debuted in March 2008 with “Through a Glass, Deadly.” In the series, the protagonist, glassblower Em Dowell, manages her own glass shop and studio in Tucson, Arizona, and tries to find time to solve the occasional murder.
“Through a Glass, Deadly” was nominated for a national mystery award, the Agatha Award for Best First Book.
Connolly’s Orchard Mystery series opened with “One Bad Apple,” published in August 2008. Meg Corey inherits a drafty colonial house in western Massachusetts without even realizing it comes with an apple orchard. But since she’s been downsized out of her banking job in Boston, and the real estate market is so bad that she can’t sell the house, she decides to stay on in the small New England town and try to manage the orchard–if she can save it from developers. Her plan is nearly derailed when she finds the body of her ex-boyfriend stuffed in her septic tank.
Connolly’s Museum Mysteries began in October 2010 with “Fundraising the Dead”. Nell Pratt, development director for the prestigious Pennsylvania Antiquarian Society, is worried that the institution’s reputation will be threatened by the death of one of its key employees–whose body Nell found in the stacks. The police declare the death an accident, but Nell isn’t so sure, particularly when she finds information pointing in a different direction. Most recently, the author published Let’s Play Dead, set at a children’s museum based on the Please Touch Museum in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. A worker on an exhibit about a local children’s author is hurt by an electric shock, and then another worker is killed by a shock. Nell was present at the first incident, and she becomes involved in the inquiry into the second man’s death. the latest is Fire Engine Dead, about a fire at a warehouse housing the collections of a fire fighting museum.
Connolly was a member of Mystery Writers of America, Romance Writers of America, and Sisters in Crime.
She was living in southeastern Massachusetts shortly before her death. She died on April 20, 2020, in Ireland.
(Info above from Wikipedia)
