Reader Friday ~ Flowers and Foul Play

Patricia Bradley Reader Friday 42 Comments

Today’s Reader Friday book is a cozy mystery by Amanda Flower. It’s my first Amanda Flower book but it won’t be my last! I loved this book. Amanda did a great job with the mystery and the character. Here’s the back cover copy.

Fiona Knox lost her fiancé and her flower shop—but when she flies to Scotland to inherit her godfather’s cottage and possibly magical walled garden, she may lose her life as well when she’s swept into a murder investigation.

Florist Fiona Knox’s life isn’t smelling so sweet these days. Her fiancé left her for their cake decorator. Then, her flower shop wilted after a chain florist opened next door. So when her godfather, Ian MacCallister, leaves her a cottage in Scotland, Fiona jumps on the next plane to Edinburgh. Ian, after all, is the one who taught her to love flowers. But when Ian’s elderly caretaker Hamish MacGregor shows her to the cottage upon her arrival, she finds the once resplendent grounds of Duncreigan in a dreadful shambles—with a dead body in the garden.

Minutes into her arrival, Fiona is already being questioned by the handsome Chief Inspector Neil Craig and getting her passport seized. But it’s Craig’s fixation on Uncle Ian’s loyal caretaker, Hamish, as a prime suspect, that really makes her worried. As Fiona strolls the town, she quickly realizes there are a whole bouquet of suspects much more likely to have killed Alastair Croft, the dead lawyer who seems to have had more enemies than friends.

Now it’s up to Fiona to clear Hamish’s name before it’s too late in Flowers and Foul PlayUSA Today bestselling author Amanda Flower’s spellbinding first Magic Garden mystery.

My take:

This was an intriguing story and the setting – Scotland was so well described. It has all the things that make a cozy a cozy–small town setting, quirky characters, and an inquisitive heroine. The day Fiona arrives at her godfather’s ancestral home, she finds the body of her godfather’s lawyer in the garden.

The interaction between Chief Inspector Neil Crag and Fiona makes me wonder if there will be a romance in the next book in the series. If not, Fiona needs her head examined, because Neil is totally swoon-worthy!

There are plenty of suspects from the gardener who has a pet squirrel to almost everyone in town who didn’t want the land deal the lawyer was brokering to go through. Flower had me guessing all the way. If you enjoy cozy mysteries, I think you’ll enjoy this one.

Flowers and Foul Play is on sale for $1.99 at Amazon.

Leave a comment about whether you like cozy mysteries and I’ll enter you in this month’s drawing for a book from my library…unless you’d like this one for your Kindle. (I may be a little late answering comments tomorrow as I’ll be at the MidSouth Christian Writers Conference!)

[tweet_box design=”default” float=”none” inject=”#giveaway”]Fiona Knox lost her fiancé and her flower shop. Will she lose her life when she flies to Scotland to claim her inheritance?[/tweet_box]

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Comments 42

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  1. Linda Horin

    I’m not sure if I’ve read any cozy mysteries. This may be a new genre for me, but it sounds intriguing!

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  2. Paula Shreckhise

    I won that book a little while ago. It really sounds cute. Looking forward to reading it. I love cozies. Try Ann Gabhart or E.E. Kennedy (EEK) or Julianna Deering( DeAnna Julie Dodson) . All Christian authors. Annie’s Attic Mysteries is a favorite with me, too!

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  3. Christine Battaglio

    I agree with Edward. I occasionally read them as long as the author doesn’t try too hard to be cute. I am concerned about the “magical” garden. Is there a lot of new age or paranormal stuff?

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  4. Faith Creech

    I love cozy mysteries. I have read several of Amanada’s Books and really enjoyed them, Thanks so much for the opportunity to win this book!

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  5. Gloria Anderson

    I read a lot of cozy mysteries and have, in fact, read this one. The Amish Candy Shop Mysteries is another one that she writes that is good. She also writes another Amish mystery series as Isabella Alan. I like most everything that she writes. I do enjoy other mysteries as well as other genres.

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  6. Dianne Casey

    I love reading cozy mysteries! I like that they have relatable characters and an interesting plot.

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  7. Colleen Hudson

    I don’t know that I have read anything that would be considered a ‘cozy mystery’, but I’m sure I would if the plot looked good enough!

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      Patricia Bradley

      Colleen, cozy mysteries are all about solving the crime and quirky characters and a small town environment–not necessarily an actual small town. 🙂 Thanks for stopping in.

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  8. Delores Topliff

    I haven’t read a lot of cozy mysteries but I want to read this one and the author has been highly recommended to me by her agent (and mine). Plus I love Scotland, have great friends there, and have visited four times–hoping to go again–BUT I DON’T want to find a body in their lovely garden.

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  9. Regina Merrick

    I’m late commenting because I was with YOU! 🙂 I like cozies – I read more suspense, but since I cut my reading teeth on Agatha Christie, I love the occasional cozy! Can’t wait to read yours!

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  10. Trixi

    I’ve not read a lot of cozy mysteries, but I do like them 🙂 The small town settings, quirky characters, precarious pets and the classic who-dun-it mystery! It all rolls into one great read.

    My good reader friend loves anything Amanda Flowers puts out and has highly recommended her. I may have to check out this writer sooner rather than later! Thanks for bringing this one to our attention Patricia.

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