Bitter Harvest

Rose Pemberton thought sponsoring the annual harvest festival would be a perfect way to celebrate Bloomfield Springs' thriving organic farming community. With her nursery business flourishing and the Stanfeld Estate heritage project bringing new recognition to their small town, she was looking forward to a peaceful autumn showcasing their agricultural traditions.

But when a seed company representative offers suspiciously generous festival sponsorship while pressuring local farmers to switch suppliers, Rose's corporate instincts sense something far more dangerous than aggressive sales tactics. Someone has been running a systematic certification fraud scheme, charging farmers thousands for fake organic requirements while selling them contaminated agricultural supplies.

When the company representative is found dead from an apparent allergic reaction, Rose discovers the victim was actually an investigator who'd uncovered the fraud network. The police suspect an accident. Rose suspects murder—and realizes the contaminated supplies could poison hundreds of festival attendees.

With her Garden Club allies—meticulous researcher Violet, information network Betty, and steady partner Jim—Rose must expose the truth before the killers eliminate more threats to their operation. But this time, the corruption reaches into municipal government itself, and the stakes aren't just individual lives—they're fighting to protect their entire agricultural community from systematic exploitation disguised as official oversight.

In Bloomfield Springs, even organic certification can be a deadly deception.

Perfect for readers who love small-town mysteries with strong community bonds, Bitter Harvest is the fifth book in The Garden Club Mysteries series—where heritage runs deep, but fraud runs deeper.