I really don't like the main character, Meg Corey, but am determined to plow through the series as I'd never return to it if I quit ( )

I have to say that though I loved the first three novels in this series, this one and the one preceding it, "Bitter Harvest" have not been my favorite of orchard owner Meg Corey.

In "Sour Apples" we have Meg back again starting to plan out her orchard for harvest time again. Meg's fiend from Boston, Lauren Converse, is back in Granford working on a congressional campaign for a former hometown son, Rick Sainsbury. While Meg tries to find out why her boyfriend Seth is so reluctant to speak up for Rick and why Lauren is acting so secretive, a local dairy farmer, Joyce Truesdell is found dead. Meg investigates what had Joyce so upset with the town of Granford and what ties Rick may have to Joyce's death.

Well after the lack of a present day murder for Meg to solve in "Bitter Harvest" it seems as if Sheila Connolly brought her character Meg Corey back to the basics. However, I have to say that unless Ms. Connolly starts to write Meg a bit happier and sharper about her personal live I think I will give up on reading further novels in this series.

It has become tiresome to have Meg do her "I don't know what my relationship with Seth is really about" in every novel now. Between that and her still trying to make repairs on her house and honestly having no forward momentum on that side of things is getting to be a bit much.

When we get to the ending it honestly makes no sense since once you found out the why of the murder you have to believe that a key person would have no knowledge of things that were going on which I for one did not believe. Also Lauren acted very odd throughout the novel and was another character that quickly became hard to take. I really hope she is not back in any subsequent novels.

We still have Meg acting put upon by the whole world along with her orchard manager Bree. We still have Meg dilly dallying about making any type of decisions for far too long and also past the reader's interest. I honestly cannot recommend this novel except for those readers who want to catch up with Meg and Seth. ( )

Sour Apples is the sixth book in the An Orchard Mystery series. It keeps blooming.

Spring is coming soon to the small town of Granford. Time for Meg Cory and her orchard manager, Bree, to access any damage that might have happened during the winter.

Seth is visited by neighbor, Joyce Tuesdell a dairy farmer, about soil contamination she has found on the land she she is leasing from the town of Granford. She has had a cow die from lead poisoning and would like Seth, as a Selectman for town, to learn the history of the property and what can be done to clean it up. Before Seth has a chance to look into the matter, Joyce is found dead, apparently from a kick the cow she was milking. But, the results of the autopsy show that she dies from two hard blows to the head. Right about this time Meg's friend and former co-worker, Lauren sails into town and announces that she is now th campaign manager for Rick Sainsbury. Sainsbury is considering running for Congress from the district that Granford is located. At Grandord's annual Spring Fling, Rick is busy shaking hands and renewing old friendships. But Seth refuses to explain why he's not happy to see his high school acquaintance.

Before Meg and Seth can really get started researching the history of the land, Joyce's husband dies from an apparent suicide. As they uncover information of the land, Meg becomes concerned about Lauren and her current job. Meg knows that if she shares too much information their friendship may be lost. But still they have a murderer to find and with Seth's and his mother's homes being broken into, they need to keep digging before there are any more deaths.

I love this series as it always is a well written story and a cast of interesting characters. And a wonderful addition is the information about caring for an orchard and about apples with taking away from the mystery. There are also recipes included.

Looking forward to the next book. ( )

It is great fun to get back to reading about Meg and Seth, Lydia and Bree and all the other occupants of Granford, Massachusetts. Meg and Gree are looking to expand the orchard, Seth is involved in his restoration business and as a city selectman. When Meg's friend from her banking days in Boston comes to town with a former local Rick Sainsbury, a former football player who is running for Congress, life gets interesting. There are mysterious break-ins and they death of a milk cow, along with the deaths of couple of people. Somehow this all ties together.

As usual there is a lot of orchard lore about apples, heritage as well as modern and new and old trees.

I do really like this series and will keep reading it. ( )

This book was really just all right. It's hard for me to really like the characters or care about them and the mystery itself was sort of flat, although it had an interesting premise. The murderer isn't obvious, buy why the murders were committed is, so the 'reveal' just wasn't all the surprising.

I like reading about the orchard and her struggles as she becomes a 'farmer', but I think the author struggles with the dialogue - characters come across as surly and unpleasant, when it's obvious we're supposed to like them (I am thinking of Bree most of all). The dialogue between Meg and her romantic interest, Seth, has zero spark - so it's a bit hard to care about that relationship either. The book picks up at the end, and there's enough to like about it that I'll probably go on to the next book in the series - but these will never sit near the top of the TBR pile. ( )