This is the second book featuring Glenna McClain, owner of the Whistling River Lodge and Golf Resort.
I found it a generally enjoyable read with believable characters and a sound plot - very much a cozy murder mystery. I had not read the first book in the series, and due to some short synopses of previous events do not believe that this was necessary pre-reading. The synopses were also short enough to not be too cumbersome for someone who has read the first book.
The author tackles the challenge of exploring events that happened about forty years ago quite well although the timing of the return of a potentially key character to my mind is almost too coincidental.
There is one small element of the book that I found most disconcerting - when the chef says “I brought tiramisu, fresh from the oven”. Tiramisu is a cold dessert and is not baked - it comprises cold sponge fingers soaked in coffee or liqueur and then layered with mascarpone cheese mixed with whipped cream or egg yolks and sugar dusted with cocoa, which is then refrigerated for a number of hours or overnight. Whilst this is not relevant to the plot, the issue with this is that, for me, good detective fiction or murder mysteries rely on small clues and information scattered through the book. The really good books do this so skilfully that you do not register that you have been given a clue to the murder. When information is incorrect it means that I suspend belief in all the other premises/information supplied by the author which does not really work for the muder mystery genre.

Whistle While You Plow is the second book in the cozy mystery Whistling River Lodge series by well-known fantasy author Irene Radford. I had previously read some of the author’s fantasy works and so I decided to try her new mystery series. I enjoyed the first book in the series very much, and I enjoyed the second even more. The setting of the small town Golf Resort in Oregon and all the characters who populate it are the real stars of these books. The mysteries are secondary to the lives of the people of Whistling River, Oregon.

Glenna McClain, part owner and manager of the Whistling River Resort is hosting an antique steam tractor pull as a unique (and money saving) way of clearing land for a planned expansion of the golf course. When a large tree is pulled up human remains are found. This brings the police, and an attractive ATF agent, to her resort. While investigating the murder with her security chief, and distraction, Craig Knudsen, Glenna uncovers secrets from Whistling River’s past including gun runners, IRA terrorists and Vietnam War protestors. With help from her friends and her dogs, Glenna needs to solve the mystery and deal with her attraction to two men while keeping the resort running.

I think the mystery in this book works even better than in the first book in the series. I particularly enjoyed how the author incorporated the past into this story. We also learn more about the characters and the town. I look forward to the next installment of this series. ( )

Great 2nd book in this cozy mystery series. Explained enough so that if you didn't read the 1st one, you still knew what was going on. Loved that it brought in some U.S. history in the story. Same great characters. ( )