Willow McQuade is a naturopathic doctor who decides to take a break from the hustle and bustle of city life. Her Aunt Claire lives on Long Island and owns a natural supplement store, so Willow decides to take her sabbatical there. Aunt Claire has owned Nature’s Way Market and Cafe for many years and has decided to branch out with a new facial cream that contains the secret of youth. She is in negotiations to have the secret formula patented and marketed, but is still perfecting the formula when her niece Willow arrives. When Willow takes a morning walk, she receives a strange and garbled phone call from her aunt, and then the line goes dead. Sensing that something is wrong, she returns to the house to find her Aunt Claire dead. There begins the mystery of what happened to Claire and who did it. Willow takes it upon herself to thoroughly investigate her aunt’s murder while at the same time still keep Nature’s Way up and running.

I appreciated the format of this book. Each chapter begins with a letter from a reader of Willow’s blog, which focuses on natural remedies and their benefits. I found myself Post-It flagging several of the tips and tricks mentioned, as I think products found in nature are extremely interesting and beneficial. Some of my favorite tips from Death Drops include: tea tree oil for acne as well as calendula from the petals of a marigold and lavender essential oil; for sleep, valerian, lemon balm, chamomile, and lady slipper. Also mentioned are tips and tricks for itchy skin and how to induce relaxation by following a practice called the Relaxation Response (http://www.relaxationresponse.org/).

I could also relate to the character of Willow McQuade on a personal level. She reminded me of myself in some ways. She’s a nature nut, likes to be in the forest, and uses natural remedies. She’s also very attune to the environment and energy contained within a space. In one scene, she even “smudges” the room, which involves burning dried sage and allowing the vapors to dissipate the bad energy from the space. Willow talks about the intuitive nudges she receives within herself and how they can tell her about people, situations, and places. She harnesses these nudges by practicing meditation on a daily basis and then uses them to whittle down the list of murder suspects in the quiet town where her aunt lived and worked.

Overall, this was an interesting book. I learned a lot about natural remedies, appreciated the small town feel Chrystle Fiedler created with her writing, and was left guessing who was responsible for the murder of Willow’s Aunt Claire. This was a fun book to read.