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Death and Daisies–magic and murder in Scotland
Death and Daisies
by Amanda Flower
Fiona, who has inherited a home in Scotland, a magic garden, and most importantly the position of Keeper of the Garden from her godfather, Ian, is joined in the book by her much younger, at-loose-ends sister Isla. Fiona is opening her flower shop named the Climbing Rose Flower Shop after the 300 year old rose growing in her magic garden in Duncreigan. Some townspeople are welcoming and friendly like Raj and Pasha, twins in their sixties with calming and wise ways. Others view the sisters with suspicion for their strange Tennessee accents and ways and their association with the magic garden. The local minister is so opposed to Fiona that he publicly bans her from the church.
Death and Daisies by Amanda Flower centers around a murder, threatening notes, an abusive spouse, and drugs. Fiona is compulsive about investigating despite a scary vision that might potentially foretell her death and the warnings of Chief Inspector Neil Craig who is afraid she will be hurt.
Death and Daisies is a fun and fascinating cozy mystery you will not want to put down. Filled with interesting characters and lots of twists and turns in the plot, this tale has room for character development and an interesting setting. The murderer and the reason for the murder surprised me. The author has another surprise for Fiona and the reader toward the end of the book on a very personal level. There is closure to this book, but also several issues that deserve further attention. I can’t wait for the next book in the series.
I would like to extend my thanks to netgalley.com and to Crooked Lane Books for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.
Rating: 5/5
Category: Mystery
Notes: #2 in the Magic Garden Mystery Series but works well as a standalone
Publication: November 23, 2018—Crooked Lane Books
Memorable Lines:
“St. Thomas Church, as it stands today, is much younger. It was built in the seventeenth century.” She said this like the seventeenth century was last week. If anything was over one hundred years old back in Nashville, they turned it into a museum and built a fence around it. In Scotland, “old” had quite a different definition than I was accustomed to.
I didn’t want to break it to her, but no one had their life figured out at twenty-two. I didn’t have it figured out at thirty, and I wasn’t expecting fifty to be much better.
“But no one should make an apology expecting one in return. That ruins it for both parties. It is better to say you are sorry and be at peace.”
Back to McGuffey’s–over the years
Back to McGuffey’s
by Liz Flaherty
From Harlequin’s Heartwarming books comes Back to McGuffey’s by Liz Flaherty. This was my first in this genre of books, and it lived up to expectations. If you are interested in a steamy romance where the characters jump from shaking hands to bouncing in the bed, you will be disappointed. If, however, you want to focus on relationships and emotional needs, then Back to McGuffey’s fits the bill.
Kate Rafael is in her late thirties and hears her biological clock ticking. Ben McGuffey, having broken up with Kate, his longtime sweetheart, thirteen years earlier, still has feelings for her. Kate has lost both her house (to a fire) and her job. She is caught at a crossroads as she want to find a direction she can be passionate about. By the end of the book you will feel like you know the McGuffey family intimately, maybe wishing you could be a part of the Irish-rooted clan and their pub.
The characters are well-developed and interesting. I especially enjoyed the side story of Jayson, a young man with Down syndrome being cared for by his sister and the impact he has on others in the book. Another character whose story is gradually revealed is Mrs. Hylton-Wise, a harsh woman, secretive about her past.
I liked the book and was prepared to rate it as a four star book. I was so impressed, however, with the surprise ending that my rating jumped to five stars. After providing an adrenaline rush, the author wraps things up nicely for the McGuffeys and for the reader.
I would like to extend my thanks to blogger Laurie at cozynookbks.wordpress.com, author Liz Flaherty, and Harlequin for providing this book to me in a giveaway with no expectations at all.
Rating: 5/5
Category: Romance
Publication: 2014—Harlequin
Memorable Lines:
Kate joined her, feeling useless—this woman was crying and there was nothing she could do but listen to the splintery sound of heartbreak.
He was hard on one’s patience. But he was loving and kind and he felt things with every bit as much intensity as someone who didn’t have Down syndrome.
The question caught him unaware, a condition he thought he might as well get used to because it was happening all the time.
Flowers and Foul Play–a magical read!
Flowers and Foul Play
by Amanda Flower
Flowers and Foul Play is an appropriately magical read. Fiona Knox receives a surprise inheritance when her Scottish godfather dies in the war in Afghanistan and wills everything to her including his land, cottage, and a walled garden with a reputation for being magical. It seems Fiona, a florist by trade, is somehow connected to the garden. Unfortunately, after her long flight from Tennessee to Scotland, she tours her garden and discovers a dead body.
Everything about the story is enjoyable. The plot has a lot of twists and turns. The characters are interesting, including the welcoming Lee who owns the Bellewick pub, Hamish, the elderly garden caretaker, and Chief Inspector Neil Craig who is not only very competent, but also very handsome. Of course, everything is very Scottish and the setting makes this cozy mystery even more interesting. Author Amanda Flower throws in a huge mehir in the garden, tales of an ancestor’s shipwreck, and a local controversy over a real estate deal with environmental implications. The result is a book I didn’t want to put down until the mystery was solved.
I would like to extend my thanks to netgalley.com and to Crooked Lane Books for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.
Rating: 5/5
Category: Mystery
Notes: #1 in the Magic Garden Mystery Series
Publication: May 8, 2018—Crooked Lane Books
Memorable Lines:
“If you think this is a rough night in Scotland, you are in for a rude awakening my lass, a very rude awakening indeed. We have storms that come off the sea that will curl your toes and make seasoned Highlanders hide under their beds.”
It reminded me again how old everything in Scotland was. In Nashville, the city practically builds a force field around a house that was built in the 1800s, to protect it from wear and tear. But the 1800s weren’t even a blip on the timeline in a place like Bellewick, where most of the buildings dated back to the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries.
“I think that is what his death has taught me the most: don’t count on someday because someday will never come. Too many people put off fighting for what they want until what they think will be a better time—after they’re married, after the kids are grown, after retirement—but the truth is, there is never a better time for anything.”
Whisper the Dead–complex mystery
Whisper the Dead
by Stella Cameron
Whisper the Dead starts off with anything but a whisper. The reader and Alex Duggins, owner of the pub The Black Dog in Folly-on-Weir, are thrown immediately into a violent scene which segues into fire and explosions. This cozy mystery focuses more on the mystery than the cozy as Alex finds herself caught up in a chain of events with threads that go off in multiple directions and soon become a tangle involving a real estate developer and his family, seemingly unrelated townspeople, and Alex’s own mother and her personal history. It’s hard to see initially how all of these can be related and understand how and why Alex can be at the center of it all.
Author Stella Cameron works magic with words, characters, and plot. If you have been following the series, you will be glad to reconnect with the locals of Folly-on-Weir. If not, you will find that you get to know them quickly, including the likable veterinarian Tony who is always Alex’s support and sounding board. Should you be searching for a complex mystery in the cozy mystery genre, look no further than Whisper the Dead.
I would like to extend my thanks to netgalley.com and to Severn House for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.
Rating: 5/5
Category: Mystery
Notes: #5 in the Alex Duggins Mystery Series, but good as a standalone
Publication: April 1, 2018—Severn House
Memorable Lines:
Too much emotion had rushed in since yesterday and it muddied her thoughts. This pile up of personality clashes made a hard time harder.
Smoke from cottage chimneys rose straight into the still, pink-tinged, early-morning sky. Snow sliding from the bare branches of an oak tree swished to softly pepper the drifts below.
The windows, cranked open a measly half-inch, had lost any battle with the coating of hot air and thick, grimy steam that painted the glass. More falling snow closed away the scene outside, but they all knew it was as cold as hell wasn’t, and sleet was starting to strafe the land.
Lies that Bind–a family’s survival depends on lies
Lies That Bind
by Stella Cameron
Lies That Bind is a complex mystery with strong threads. Throughout the book is the underlying story of Sid Gammage who struggles to support his two sons alone. Alex Duggins is the landlady of the pub The Black Dog, where all the locals gather to gossip in Folly-on-Weir, a village where little goes unnoticed.
Author Stella Cameron provides strong characters in Alex and her boyfriend Tony, the village vet, as well as Dan and Bill, tight lipped law enforcement agents who are sent to investigate a murder and end up with so much more. Cameron peoples her book with supporting figures who are interesting without being stereotypes. This is a good mystery that moves along quickly. Although there are some personal aspects to the story, the suspenseful plot takes the lead. There is a surprise ending as a minor thread emerges assuming major importance.
I would like to extend my thanks to netgalley.com and to Severn House for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.
Rating: 5/5
Category: General Fiction (Adult), Mystery
Notes: #4 in the Alex Duggins Mystery Series, but worked well for me as a standalone
Publication: June 1, 2017—Severn House
Memorable Lines:
The other man, going back and forth between Mr. Nice and something vaguely threatening, unnerved him.
Never mind the game of pass-the-parcel, this was the age-old copper pastime of pass-the-blame—to anyone farther down the food chain than you. Dan O’Reilly didn’t usually play that one but this time he had a list of inept culprits to skin.
A long arch of crooked branches, reaching for each other across the road, closed her in. The bicycle lamp bounced off one tree trunk after another in an eerie ballet that sucked her through a moving, low-light tube enclosed in darkness.
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