My second review of the day, and I’m delighted to share my review of Murder in Bloom by Liz Fielding, the third of her Maybridge murder mysteries: published by Joffe Books on 30th July, it’s now available for kindle (just 99p, or free via Kindle Unlimited), in paperback, and as an audiobook. The e-copy I read was my own, purchased for my kindle via Amazon.
In the run-up to Christmas, when new books and blog tours tend to ease off for a while, I always enjoy the opportunity to catch up with books that I was unable to add to my reading list when they were first released. And that’s how I first discovered this lovely series of cosy murder mysteries – I read both Murder among the Roses and Murder under the Mistletoe at this time last year, loved every moment (you’ll find my reviews here), and had been really looking forward to catching up with the third. Let’s take a closer look…
One part jealousy. Two parts rage. Somewhere in Abby’s sleepy little village, the perfect murder is brewing…
Abby enters the Maybridge Flower Show, never dreaming for one moment that she’ll win the gold. Or an invitation to appear on telly, alongside gardening legend Daisy Dashwood!
Some people say Daisy’s a tiresome diva. But starry-eyed Abby can’t wait for the cameras to start rolling. Until…
Daisy staggers out on stage. Only to collapse at Abby’s feet.
Her demise might seem like a tragic accident, resulting from a cocktail of booze and hay-fever medicine.
But Abby’s not so sure. She starts digging, to uncover shifty suspects at every turn. From snarky co-stars to a toy-boy lover, they all had reason to want Daisy dead and gone.
And that’s not the only puzzle playing on Abby’s mind . . .
In life, Daisy went nowhere without her trusty caddy of healing teas. Now it’s vanished.
What if someone’s been tampering with Daisy’s favourite cuppa?
Fans of Faith Martin, Jane Adams, Frances Evesham, M.C. Beaton, Clare Chase or Jeanne M. Dams will love this addictive cozy mystery! Liz Fielding is the winner of the Daphne du Maurier Award for Excellence in Mystery/Suspense.
Living in a peaceful Cotswolds village that has more than its fair share of unexplained deaths, Abby runs a successful gardening business, wrestles with the needs of her family, even has a little time for romance – but she just can’t resist getting rather more involved than she perhaps should be in the resulting investigations.
Having won the gold medal for garden design – although there are those who are a bit disparaging of her efforts – at the Maybridge Flower Show, she’s invited to appear on the TV show of her larger-than-life gardening hero, Daisy Dashwood. There are rumours that Daisy’s a little too fond of the drink, and she’s certainly not quite herself when she arrives on stage – before collapsing at Abby’s feet, and being declared dead on her way to hospital. At first, Abby’s involvement is largely accidental – helping Daisy’s PA recover her belongings, discovering more about her past, that she was in a relationship the press knew nothing about, hearing about the fierce competition to be top dog in the TV gardening world – but she becomes increasingly convinced that her death was murder.
The suspects multiply – all credible, all wonderfully drawn – and I’d rather written my own (entirely different…) ending when there was a further death, considerably raising the stakes, and I was back to square one. Quite apart from the central mystery – and that’s brilliantly handled, as Abby bounces ideas off her closest friends (a police detective sergeant and an estate agent, both useful in their different ways) and her always supportive partner (while he despairs of her penchant for putting herself in the direct path of danger) – I really love the characterisation. This time, the TV world only adds another level of duplicity and intrigue to the various relationships, Abby trying out her theories as they each begin to show their true colours. And I love the whole setting – the idyllic village so perfectly drawn, the houseboat for an escape when things get a little too close to home, the shocked (but always inquisitive) community.
Do read this one as a standalone if you’d like to – there are references to earlier storylines, but you’ll soon catch up – but, if cosy mysteries are something you think you might enjoy, I’d very much recommend you read the whole series. Engaging, exciting, a little bit different, and guaranteed to leave you pointing in the wrong direction – unlike Abby herself, who I’ve really taken to my heart and whose sleuthing skills are beyond compare. I loved it.
About the author
Liz Fielding worked as a secretary in Africa and the Middle East and was co-ordinator of the Brecon Jazz Festival before writing full time. Her books are published worldwide in multiple languages, she has won the Romance Writers of America’s prestigious RITA award for both The Best Man & the Bridesmaid and The Marriage Miracle and in 2019 was honoured with an Outstanding Achievement Award from the Romantic Novelists’ Association in the UK. She is now writing cozy crime for Joffe Books.
Liz lives in West Sussex.
Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Website
