Juli 1962 im US-Bundesstaat Maine: Eine Mi’kmaq-Familie aus Nova Scotia (Kanada) reist an, um bei der Blaubeerernte im Sommer zu helfen. Mehrere Wochen später ist die vierjährige Ruthie, das jüngste Kind der Familie, verschwunden. Ihren Bruder Joe (6), der sie als letzter gesehen hat, trifft dieser Verlust sehr. Ihn verfolgt das mysteriöse Verschwinden jahrelang. Während er um seine kleine Schwester trauert, wächst die junge Norma als Einzelkind bei einer wohlhabenden Familie in Maine auf.

„Beeren pflücken“ ist der Debütroman von Amanda Peters.

Der Roman ist sinnvoll und nachvollziehbar strukturiert: Auf einen Prolog folgen 17 Kapitel. Erzählt wird im Wechsel in der Ich-Perspektive aus der Sicht von Joe und der von Norma. Die Handlung umspannt mehrere Jahrzehnte.

Die Sprache des Romans ist unauffällig. Der Schreibstil ist geprägt von vielen Dialogen und anschaulichen Beschreibungen.

Im Vordergrund stehen Joe und Norma, zwei durchaus interessante Charaktere. Sie verfügen über ausreichend psychologische Tiefe.

Thematisch dreht sich die Geschichte überwiegend um Verlust und Trauer, Schuldgefühle, Abstammung und die Bedeutung von Familie. Eine Stärke des Romans liegt darin, dass die Autorin auch die Historie der Mi‘kmaq beleuchtet und damit ihren Vorfahren eine Stimme gibt. So erhalten wir Einblicke in das Leben indigener Wanderarbeiterfamilien.

Die rund 300 Seiten sind weniger spannend als erwartet, aber dennoch unterhaltsam und vor allem berührend.

Für mich erschließt sich nicht, warum der englischsprachige Originaltitel („The Berry Pickers“) in der deutschen Übersetzung verändert wurde. „Die Berrenpflücker“ wäre eine deutlich bessere Variante gewesen. Das deutsche Covermotiv passt meiner Ansicht nach jedoch gut.

Mein Fazit:

Mit „Beeren pflücken“ hat Amanda Peters einen bewegenden und interessanten Roman geschrieben. Ein lesenswertes Debüt!

Belinda finds her employer near death. He tells her to run. Someone has been sent to kidnap her but he does not know why. Belinda heeds his advice and runs before the murderer comes back into the room. She hides but is found by Joshua Gage, a former spy for the Crown. Now that he has found her he believes she is neither a murderer nor a blackmailer which is why he was sent to find her. She is a private detective and together they join forces to find who wants her and why. What they find is a madman.

I loved this book. I liked the historical element of Egyptology to tie the story together. I also liked Joshua and Belinda being on different sides of the debate of logic and reason vs. paranormal activity or intuition. Joshua and Belinda work well together. She has pulled him out of his year-long fog after an assignment gone wrong. The villains are hiss-worthy. I liked Joshua's nephew who is like him. The story was so interesting it was hard to put the book down.

I will be reading more of this series.

Anna finds her employer dead with a warning written on the wall. She runs and changes her name to Irene turning up in Burning Cove, California. Becoming a gossip reporter, she is called by a woman who has some information on up-and-coming star Nick Tremayne. When she turns up at the meeting place she finds the woman dead. Now she is starting to put clues together but will she be right?

I enjoyed this story. I could not put it down. I liked Irene and her get the story at any cost philosophy. Along the way she runs afoul of the owner of the Burning Cove Hotel, Oliver Ward, former magician. He has his secrets also. His attraction to Irene causes him to break a few of his rules. The secondary characters are good. Some are pure evil. Some got what they deserved. And I was wrong on the whodunit part. I was shocked when the explanation came out.

I loved Irene and Oliver. The world building is excellent and I look forward to more in this series.

A tour bus from Mississippi goes to the Troyer's farm so see how the Amish live. As Simon Troyer is showing how to milk a cow, two of the tourists drop dead. Now the police and the Ohio Department of Health are all over the Troyer farm. Chloe is called in by Chief Rose to take the place of the deceased tour guide so she can keep the tourists in Knox County to complete her investigation. With the chief's blessings, Chloe investigates and lets the chief know the results of her investigation.

I loved this book. I liked that the Chief could work with Chloe. I also liked how things are changing within the Troyer family. I love Grandfather Zook. He is not the staid buttoned-down Amish grandfather. He has a sense of humor that comes out and gets the family through some of the traumas that have befallen them and their community. He and Chloe are great together. I love Timothy and how he has to walk a fine line between his Amish upbringing and what Chloe wants, needs, and expects. He does not always succeed but he and she work it out. Some of the secondary tourists were a riot, especially Gertie and her fish jerky.

The story was good and I had a hard time putting it down. I did not figure out the murderer until the end. Sad!

I hope this is not the last book of the series. I love these characters.

Charming Books is handling a book signing at Morton Vineyards with a famous wine reviewer and author. A murder happens and Violet stumbles upon the body. Mrs. Morton, of course, blames Violet for the bad publicity at the winery. So Vi does as she always does. She investigates especially when one of the suspects is her best friend, Lacey.

This book was really good. The story was realistic. I had a hard time putting it down. Things happen in the bookstore when David is there and Violet needs to decide to trust him or not. She also learns much about Nathan that she can use to help her close her past. I did not figure out who the murderer was until the murderer comes out at the end of the book. This is the best book of the series so far. I cannot wait to read the next book and I hope more are coming.