Genre: Mystery
Mass Market Paperback; Digital Book
ISBN #: 9781496705136
Kensington Publishing
320 Pages
$7.99; $6.89 Amazon
March 27, 2018
⭐
Britta Johnson might be a late bloomer, but after leaving her deadbeat husband and dead-end job, she's finally pursuing her artistic passion at her aunt Elin's floral boutique, Blooma, in Portland, Oregon. It's on the banks of the Willamette, in a quaint district of cobblestone paths and cherry trees. The wine bar featuring Pacific Northwest vintages is a tasty bonus, offering another kind of bouquet to enjoy. But things aren't as peaceful as they look.
For one thing, someone's been leaving dead roses around -- and a sleazy real estate developer who wants the waterfront property has put a big-money offer on the table. Then, after a contentious meeting of local business owners, he's found on the floor of the shop, with Elin's garden shears planted in his chest. And before the police decide to pin the crime on her beloved aunt, Britta will have to find out who arranged this murder...
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This is the first book in a new series, and I loved Ms. Dyer-Seeley's previous one, so I wanted to give this one a chance. But I'm not even going to go over the plot again; it's pretty much what the blurb tells you it is.
I was so disappointed in this book that I don't think I'll even write a detailed review, but just give my thoughts from the few chapters I read before I became totally bored by it: First off, Britta just walks out on her husband when he's sleeping. Yes, I get that he was cheating, but where's the closure? She never confronted him with what she knows and states that he'll realize she's gone for good when she doesn't come back. Well, duh. The fact that her clothes are gone would be a real clue. But is she so devoid of feeling anything that she doesn't want to lash out or tell him what she knows? She spent ten years with the man and doesn't react at all -- just packs her bags and leaves. What a boring woman. No anger, no sadness, no anything.
Also, she's too contradictory. First she states how she hates her job and wants to be creative, but when her aunt offers her the chance to do so, she panics and tells her that she can't. Huh? This doesn't make any sense. She also mentions how she hated her husband Chad's watered-down coffee. Excuse me, you were married ten years and you never either a) told him it was watered-down and you hated it; b) showed him how to make proper coffee; or c) just made it yourself? To top it off, she's willing to start a new romance after just leaving a marriage that obviously left her numb.
I don't know if her husband ever contacted her, if she ever realized he was just lazy and happy that she was willing to support him, and I honestly don't care. Like Britta, this book left me numb (what I read of it). The book went downhill more after that, so I stopped reading and didn't even care who the killer was or why. Again, while I loved Ms. Dyer-Seely's other series, this new one is less than enthralling.
https://www.amazon.com/Natural-Thorn-Killer-Rose-Mystery/dp/1496705130/ref
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2884309279
More on Kate Dyer-Seeley's Books: https://www.fantasticfiction.com/d/kate-dyer-seeley/
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