DEATH AND DAISIES by Amanda Flower

"Amanda Flower charms us with another tale featuring a magical garden!"

Death and Daisies

Posted: November 17, 2018

Fiona Knox is still learning what it means to be the Keeper of the Garden at Duncreigan while juggling the opening of her new business, the Climbing Rose Flower Shop. Unfortunately, not everyone in Bellewick is happy with Fiona's legacy. The local parish rector, Quaid MacCullen, despises everything about Duncreigan and is determined to make Fiona aware of how unwelcome she truly is. Fiona isn't the only one unhappy with Minister MacCullen, however... When his body washes up on the beach, Fiona finds herself embroiled in another mystery to clear her name.

DEATH AND DAISIES is the second book in the Magic Garden Mystery series. Readers new to the series can jump right in and enjoy the story as author Amanda Flowers provides enough of the back story on the characters. However, I suspect readers will quickly find themselves wanting more of this fascinating world.

Sometimes a book enchants you so much that it's hard to find the words to express just how much you love it. DEATH AND DAISIES is definitely one of those books! I love each and every aspect of the storyline, from the characters who I (mostly) want to meet to the exquisite world building that incorporates such a magical garden. Fiona, Isla, Hamish, Kipling, Presha, and all the other residents of the village have me completely charmed.

Amanda Flowers is starting to give us hints about the origin and mystery behind the garden. We already know the basics about the first Keeper, Baird MacCallister, and how the sea spared him due to his promise to remain in Scotland forever to help others. However, we have all sorts of unanswered questions about the menhir, the garden itself, and of course, the ever-present fox whom Fiona assumes is her Uncle Ian.

I absolutely adore the Magic Garden Mystery series! Amanda Flowers has definitely hooked me as I want to see more of the enchanted garden and her fascinating characters. If you love cozy mysteries with a solid dose of magical realism, then look no further than DEATH AND DAISIES as Amanda Flowers has a real treat in store for you!

Book Summary

Florist Fiona Knox left behind her gloomy life for a magical garden in Scotland, but a murder on her shop’s opening day spells doom.

Fiona Knox thought she was pulling her life back together when she inherited her godfather’s cottage in Duncreigan, Scotland—complete with a magical walled garden. But the erstwhile Tennessee flower shop owner promptly found herself puddle boot-deep in danger when she found a dead body among the glimmering blossoms. One police investigation later (made a trifle less unpleasant by the presence of handsome Chief Inspector Neil Craig), and Fiona’s life is getting back on a steady, though bewitched, track. Her sister Isla has just moved in with her, and the grand opening of her new spellbound venture, the Climbing Rose Flower Shop in Aberdeenshire, is imminent.

But dark, ensorcelled clouds are gathering to douse Fiona’s newly sunny outlook. First, imperious parish minister Quaid MacCullen makes it undeniably clear that he would be happy to send Fiona back to Tennessee. Then, a horrific lightning storm, rife with terribly omen, threatens to tear apart the elderly cottage and sends Fi and Isla cowering under their beds. The storm passes, but then, Fi is called away from the Climbing Rose’s opening soiree when Kipling, the tiny village’s weak-kneed volunteer police chief, finds a dead body on the beach.

The body proves difficult to identify, but Kipling is certain it’s that of the parish minister. Which makes Fiona, MacCullen’s new nemesis, a suspect. And what’s worse, Isla has seemed bewitched as of late…did she do something unspeakable to protect her sister? The last thing Fiona wanted to do was play detective again. But now, the rosy future she’d envisioned is going to seed, and if she and Craig can’t clear her name, her idyllic life will wilt away in Death and Daisies, national bestselling author Amanda Flower’s second enchanting Magic Garden mystery.