A DOOMFUL OF SUGAR

The owner of a Vermont maple farm seeks her father’s killer.

Leila Khoury’s life isn’t going exactly according to plan. Her arranged marriage to fellow Lebanese American Mark Salem was called off by the groom a month before the wedding. Her move to Florida, where she’d hoped to find comfort teaching a class full of bright, eager Orlando kindergarteners, was a bust: The job was filled before she arrived, leaving her only a position teaching mouthy, privileged ninth graders at a private school. A brief trip home following her father’s murder provides an unexpected twist. Instead of the anticipated 50-50 division of her father’s asserts between Leila and her younger brother, Simon is left only Victor Khoury’s personal property, while Leila, always her father’s favorite, is put in charge of Sappy Endings, the family farm. Jessica Fowler, who runs the farm’s cafe, seems helpful enough, but Noah Rivers is another story. Apart from Jessica, Noah is the farm’s sole employee, handling the tapping, sugaring, and sales. He’d hoped to buy the business, but Victor refused to sell. Now Noah’s set on showing Leila that he’s much better positioned than she is to run the business. To hell with the Sunshine State: Leila needs to stay on and prove to the handsome jack-of-all-trades that she knows as much about Sappy Endings as he does. She also needs to do a little sleuthing to find out who killed her much-loved and respected dad.

Follows the formula to a T. The farm’s name says it all.