Bitter Harvest
By Sheila Connolly
Paperback, 291 pages, $7.99

Fall in Michigan — in my book, anyway — means football and apple season.

And, “Bitter Harvest” by Sheila Connolly features apple farmer Meg Corey, who I wish lived next door. Perhaps she could give me some tips about the care and feeding of the old apple trees on my property.

But that’s not the only reason why I’m such a big fan of this series.

In this, the fifth installment of An Orchard Mystery, the apple harvest is complete, and Meg’s trying to determine whether her first harvest was a success. What I really like is that for Meg, it’s not all about the money. It’s about a small town, simple way of life.

She’s traded in life as a big city financial analyst to become a small town apple farmer in New England. And although Meg likes her modern appliances — like the microwave (and who doesn’t?) … “the process of maintaining the orchard couldn’t be much different than it was a hundred-plus years earlier — a lot of stuff still had to be done by hand, tree by tree.”

This title also includes some very neat history of needlepoint samplers after Meg finds one in a closet in her old home, which has an equally ancient heating system that decides to go on the fritz during a 100-year snow storm.

Having read this book in 95-degree heat and humidity, it was very cool to put myself in Connolly’s snowy setting — 36 inches with a lot of drifting. Oh, the power of great storytelling, where a reader can escape in the moment: “The orchard had disappeared behind a wall of white flakes, swirling erratically.”

“No sound of anything, actually, except the wind and the scratch of snow against the windowpanes.”

And then a series of odd mishaps begin ...

Readers will root for Meg's budding relationship with neighbor Seth Chapin, as the two are snowed in together. It’s a winter wonderland of budding love.

Plus, you’ll meet Dorcas and Isabel, Meg's two sweet goats that are also on the cover of the book. (I've read a lot about goats of late, they seem to be the cozy mystery farm animal of choice.) But I won’t bleat any juicy details of their importance in this story — it would ruin some of the fun.

Grab a glass of fresh apple cider — 'tis the season — and enjoy this sweet tale.

(Oh, and, here's a little Michigan apple trivia for you. Apples are Michigan's largest fruit crop and the state is one of the top three in the nation for apple productivity. Plus, there are more than 20 varieties grown throughout the state each year. )

For more information about the author, check out her website.

Lisa Allmendinger is a regional reporter for AnnArbor.com. She can be reached at lisaallmendinger@annarbor.com. In addition, each Wednesday she reviews a cozy mystery in her column called “Cozy Corner.”