Author: Daryl Wood Gerber
Genre: Mystery/Fantasy
Paperback; Digital Book
ISBN #: 9781496741271
Kensington Cozies
304 Pages
$16.95; $9.99 Amazon
March 28, 2023
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With a theater foundation tea and an art show planned at Violet Vicker'. estate, Courtney is hired to create charming fairy gardens for the event. It's not so charming, however, when her best friend Meaghan's ex-boyfriend turns out to be Violet's latest artistic protégé. Even worse, not long after Meaghan locks horns with him, his body is found in her yard, bludgeoned with an objet d'murder.
There's a gallery of suspects, from an unstable former flame to an arts and crafts teacher with a sketchy past. But when the cops focus on Meaghan's business partner, who's like a protective older brother to her, and discover he also has a secret financial motive. Courtney decides to draw her own conclusions. Fearing they're missing the forest for the trees, and with some help from Fiona the sleuthing fairy, she hopes to make them see the light...
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Courtney is happy with her life. She has her fairy garden shop which is doing well, a boyfriend in restaurateur Brady Cash, and a new job for wealthy Violet Vickers -- turning her lawn into a giant fairy garden. With her father as the landscaper, she can't be happier. Everything is going smoothly, until her friend Meaghan runs into her shop in a panic.
It seems Meaghan's ex-boyfriend Nicholas has returned to town and he wants Meaghan back. Even though she states she's not interested, the man won't give up. Then someone else, an invited guest to Violet's soiree, turns up and Courtney's life takes an unexpected turn. But when Nicholas winds up murdered in Meaghan's yard, the suspects seem a little too close to home, including Meaghan's business partner, Ziggy. While Courtney and others are convinced he's innocent, the police have evidence. So what's a girl to do except try and find a killer?...
This is the fourth book in the series and I have read and enjoyed them all. This one, however, might actually be the best of them. We get to learn a little more about Fiona, Courtney's fairy, and that point is more interesting than not. I certainly am rooting for her all the way.
But back to the murder: some suspects are unexpected, while others are right there in front of us. The story is indeed done extremely well; the mystery is deep and twisted one way and then another. You must keep your brain moving to discover clues and keep them together; they are there, but threaded through the story and not falling one after another.
Surprisingly, while more than one person is upset by Nicholas's death, we learn that he was not all he appeared. His past was shaded with abuse to others, and he had more than one skeleton in his closet. Yet, for some reason, women seemed to flock to him. Could this have been his undoing, or was it something else?
I hesitate to add more of my impressions of this book, since I do not want to spoil it for others. Just know that there are so many subplots in this mystery, and yet all of them tie into the murder. The tapestry comes together one thread at a time, and when it is done, you feel rather sad yet understand. It is the fine melding of clues that create the art, and in the end, you wish for more. I look forward to the next in the series. Highly recommended.
I received an advance copy of this book from the publisher and NetGalley but this in no way influenced my review.
More on Daryl Wood Gerber's Books: https://www.fantasticfiction.com/g/daryl-wood-gerber/
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