A Murder of Aspic Proportions

May 15, 2023
The murder of a Tomato King in his greenhouse entices an amateur sleuth to snoop once more around the quiet town of Yoder, Kansas. Sissy Yoder, whose parents left the Amish community before she was born, moves back to Kansas to help her Amish aunt Bethel Yoder, who has a broken leg, run her cafe. On the way back from taking Bethel to have her cast removed, the two women head over to Walt Summers' farm stand to check out the tomatoes for some recipes they're planning to add to the menu. A roadside sign says Walt's tomatoes are "to die for," and it's not kidding, since the women find Walt clobbered with a shovel, his tomato plants ripped out and missing, and very little of his special fertilizer left. As Bethel's nephew Weaver Justice, who lives next door, is telling them that Walt's wife is away, Earl Berry, the police chief Sissy has tangled with before, shows up, since the women dialed 911. He'll have his hands full, for Summers has been the most hated man in Yoder ever since his magic crop-growing fertilizer quit working. Sissy, who used to be a reporter before a bad breakup left her with the need to get away, has been busy writing an advice column as "Aunt Bess," a secret she keeps from everyone including her friend Gavin Wainwright, a reporter for the local paper who has no car and bikes everywhere. But when quiet Emma Yoder, who lives next door to the tomato farm on the other side from Weaver, surprisingly confesses to the crime and Chief Berry is happy to lock her up, Sissy knows she must go all out to find the real killer no matter the dangers. Suspects abound, but the true motive is hard to find in this charming combination of murder and romance.

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