The Berry Farm
by
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The house was no more than a couple hundred yards down a gravel road from the store. Once on the small side porch leading to the kitchen door Florence saw that the inside door was also ajar. She was sure she had pulled it shut and turned the lock yesterday afternoon when she left, but as she had told Agnes, she might have broken the mechanism. She stood and listened for a moment but heard nothing out of the ordinary. There was a sidelight with a lace curtain to the right and she peered through. The old-fashioned kitchen seemed in order, the room clear and clean as far as she could see. As she considered whether to open the door, she heard steps on the gravel behind her and turned to see Vic coming up the road. She felt a surge of ownership over this small territory and pushed the door open before he could join her on the porch, and for a moment everything was fine.
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About the Book
Florence Campbell and Agnes Van Eck are nineteen-year-old college students and long-time best friends who are working a summer job together at a small local state park. When they arrive at the park one morning, both are looking forward to helping with a holiday weekend reptile and amphibians exhibit at the park’s museum. But they are about to discover that sometimes life is unpredictable—and not in a good way. While checking on an ill-fitting door in a park building, Florence discovers the corpse of water technician, Seth Gilman, and immediately calls the police. While Florence and Agnes navigate the anxiety of their families and the gossip of neighbors, Township detective Pat McClellan and his county partner, Nicole Sansone, weed through observations and memories, some of them decades old, to understand what led to the death. As their investigation leads back into the history of the family who originally carved out this small sanctuary from city life, now only time will tell if they can solve the mystery. The Berry Farm is the story of a tragic discovery at a state park at the beginning of a long holiday weekend that leads to the revelation that the past sometimes does not stay in the past.
About the Author
Joanne Walsh is a lifelong New Jersey resident with a love of the Pine Barrens and its unique ecosystem as well as an appreciation of the area and its history. While hiking the trails, kayaking the pristine forest rivers, and exploring historic villages and homesteads, she enjoys imagining the lives of the people who founded the small communities. The Berry Farm is her first book.