Sugarbush setting for colorful tale
ELLSWORTH – Claire Ackroyd works as an independent organic farm inspector. For decades, the Orono horticulturalist has traveled this state seeing firsthand and verifying that Maine organic farmers meet national certification standards. Her work has taken her to northwestern Somerset County, where Franco-American culture runs deep. Where French is heard in some of the region’s maple syrup camps and logging operations along the Maine-Quebec border.
Somerset County’s historic maple syrup industry is the setting for prominent Maine horticulturalist Claire Ackroyd’s debut mystery ““Murder in the Maple Woods.” Ackroyd (right) drew inspiration from the remote region, having made many trips there as an independent organic farm inspector for decades. GETTY IMAGES PHOTO