Book Review: Grounds for Murder by Betty Ternier Daniels

Ah yes, another cozy mystery series for me to enjoy – and this time it features a feisty female farmer doing the sleuthing! Grounds for Murder by Betty Ternier Daniels is part of the “Jeannie Wolfert-Lang Mystery” series, and according to the author bio, Daniels is currently working on the second in the series, so hopefully that will come sooner rather than later. This is an obvious debut novel, with a few of the common pitfalls one falls into when it’s the first book, but I enjoyed getting to know Jeannie and the farm life she revels in. It’s definitely a unique setting for a mystery, and offered lots of drama outside of the typical whodunit.

Plot Summary

Jeannie is a widower, her husband having passed away in a car accident 6 months before. She remains on their farm, over a thousand acres in Northern Saskatchewan. At 60 years old she’s still in good shape and active, reveling in her gardens, painting, and baking, happy to keep busy with all the tasks required on their beautiful property. However, a pesky real estate agent, Monica continues to hound her into selling the property, refusing to name the eager buyer, even going so far as to suggest that Jeannie’s son is in desperate need of the money. When Jeannie lends Monica her car and it ends up smashed in a gully with its brake lines cut, Jeannie realizes she was the intended victim – but why would anyone want her property badly enough to kill her, especially considering there are so many other farms surrounding hers for sale? Enter an off-duty cop named Derek with some strange history, but an interest in Jeannie. Knowing her life is in danger, Derek offers to stick around the farm, help out where needed, and keep an eye out for suspicious characters, but considering he’s entered the story at such an odd time, it’s difficult to completely trust him. And then there’s the young, farming hopefuls who are leasing a chunk of Jeannie’s land but struggling with the realities of property maintenance, as those who never grew up on a farm themselves. There’s lots of people around to help and hinder, but possible suspects are few and far between.

My Thoughts

Monica’s murder is one typical in cozy mysteries – she wasn’t all that nice to begin with, and although the death of anyone is a tragedy, no one spends a significant time mourning her, as it’s later revealed she had no problem with lying and cheating others. And another hallmark of a cozy mystery is the person putting together the clues is a citizen-turned-detective, in this case, Jeannie is an (admittedly grumpy) older woman who resents a messy house, bad food, and general laziness of any kind. Her life is in danger, but she’s still going to break for tea and cook a hearty meal for guests, so her priorities aren’t really shifting despite the new threat. The author of this book sounds like she leads a very similar life to Jeannie, in fact, they both have an orange cat named Diesel, so it’s not surprising that the characterization itself, as well as the small rural community around her, seems exceptionally believable and well-drawn. This was my favourite part of the book; those around Jeannie, and how they interact with her occasional acidity; it felt very realistic.

What I did have trouble believing was some of Jeannie’s action and those around her, in relation to the murder directly. For example Derek’s entry into the story is very strange; he was previously married to Monica and checking up on her, but also a cop working on other cases who begins to fall in love with Jeannie. He seemingly puts his life on hold for two weeks to spend time with her, and protect her from this potential murderer. As the mystery deepens and we discover familial connections between others, the plot threatens to become completely unbelievable, but I read on, still eager to follow Jeannie around even as she complained about misbehaving children and burnt food. It became easier to ignore these stretches of the imagination when I became absorbed in Jeannie’s life, and reminding myself this was a first time author.

This seems like a strange thing to mention in a review, but something else I appreciated about this book was the nod to another small-press Canadian mystery writer. Jeannie at one point mentions she’s excited to rest and read for a bit, and join “Lacey McCrae in Jayne Barnard’s latest mystery novel”. A few years ago I read a Barnard novel and really enjoyed it, you can find my review here. Although someone caught in a real-life mystery is unlikely to want to dive into a fictional one, I still appreciated this shout-out, supporting other Canadian authors is so important in such a crowded genre as this.