Description (from cover):
‘Nature’s Way Market and Cafe sells healthy foods and natural cures for what ails you, but there is no cure for murder…
Even naturopathic doctors need a little stress relief–that’s why Willow McQuade, ND, takes a break to visit her Aunt Claire, owner of Nature’s Way Market and Cafe, on Long Island’s North Fork. But Willow’s serenity is shattered when she finds her aunt’s lifeless body on the market floor, a bottle of Mimulus lying nearby. Taken to calm one’s fear of misfortune, the flower essence clearly failed Aunt Claire…for her death was no accident.
But who would want to kill her? The police soon zero in on Willow herself, who stands to inherit Claire’s business and the rights to a breakthrough anti-aging cream. Desperate to prove her innocence, Willow turns to former police officer Jackson Spade for help. Together they unearth a slew of suspects, each with something to gain by Claire’s unnatural demise. But as Willow gets closer to the truth, a killer waits to administer one final dose of death.’
My thoughts:
This one got scathing reviews, so I was a little skeptical about whether I would enjoy it or not. The reviews did have some good points, but overall, I really liked this one. There are some issues that I had, but I don’t think that they outweigh the good and make this a bad read. I felt like the other reviews were a little harsh and didn’t really focus on the content of the story or the development of the characters, but everyone reads a book differently and while this one appealed to me personally, it might not for others. That is true with every book you read and that is why I love reading, because it is so versatile.
Anyways, back to my review. I had some issues with the fact that the natural remedies suggested throughout this book seemed a little excessive at times. At the beginning of every chapter there is a question and answer portion where the main character, Willow McQuade, provides natural remedies to common medical problems. That was fine, I can deal with that. However what bothered me a little, was that Willow would be out in public or something and offering her advice in situations that wouldn’t necessarily happened in everyday life. It was almost as if the author wanted to show off her natural remedy skills and while it’s great that she knows all this information, it comes across as excessive at times. Other than this, I felt the story was a good one. I really liked reading about something new and different and natural remedies is not something that I know anything about. I learned a lot while reading this book and have to say that I was amused because it was knowledgeable and fun all at the same time.
The characters are good and strong ones and the storyline is engaging. The mystery wasn’t one that I figured out right away and I was surprised a little at the end to find out that the murderer was someone that I hadn’t expected. I LOVE mysteries like that and this one definitely did not disappoint in that area. If the author can tone it down on the natural remedy advice, I think that this series could really go somewhere. A lot of the reviews I read prior to reading this one didn’t like that part and I can relate, but honestly the storyline does much to forgive a little bit of excessive knowledge. I think that this is a good read for cozy mystery lovers who enjoy something of a new type of mystery, with great characters, and the chance to learn a little bit of something new at the same time.
Overall Rating: 3.5
Title: Death Drops
Author: Chrystle Fiedler
Series: Natural Remedies Mystery #1
Publisher: Gallery Books
Publication Date: February 21, 2012
Pages: 288
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Get It: Amazon; Barnes & Noble
Disclaimer: This book was purchased by myself and I reviewed this book without compensation of any kind. All thoughts and opinions are solely mine.
Girl Lost In a Book 
I'm glad that you liked this book-I didn't. I wanted to like it, but it had too many problems for me. While I appreciated the herbal remedy tips at the start of the chapters, in response to letters, I didn't like the fact that she kept diagnosing strangers throughout the story. I could deal with that, though. To me was the major negativity. So many people were so horrible, it was like she had to make people rotten so that readers would suspect them of the crime. I know the second book in the series will be released soon, and the story sounds like it has great elements-but I'm not sure if I even want to give it a try.
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I will be reviewing the second in this series on March 2, 2013 here on this blog. Make sure you stop by. I am not sure what made me like this one more than you did, but I am generally an easy to please reader. As long as I am entertained and nothing really irritates the crap out of me to where I can't read a book, I usually enjoy mostly everything I pick up. But then again, I usually only tend to read books that fit into the genres I like the best. Kimberlee
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It's odd as I enjoy almost everything I read as well. In fact, in years there have only been 3 mysteries that I didn't like. I REALLY wanted to like this one, but couldn't. What's interesting is that one of the others I didn't like, my mom couldn't even finish. This one she thought was OK, as was the other that disappointed me. I'll be sure to check out your review of the second one in this series.
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I can understand where you're coming from. The book series does need some work, but I enjoyed the second one better than the first, but nothing really changed all that much, so you might not like that one either.Kimberlee
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