Happy Book Release Day! Death by Dumpling by Vivien Chen, A Riesling to Die by J.C. Eaton, Plain Confession by Emma Miller, The Summer of New Beginnings by Bette Lee Crosby, The Uninvited Corpse by Debra Sennefelder, Murder with a Cherry on Top by Cynthia Baxter, Murder, She Knit by Peggy Ehrhart, The Bengal Identity by Eileen Watkins, The Promise by Susan Lantz Simpson, A Mother's Gift by Charlotte Hubbard, Just in Time by Marie Bostwick, Natural Thorn Killer by Kate Dyer-Seeley and The House on Harbor Hill by Shelly Stratton are some of the new books out today. You are bound to find a few new books to add to your TBR pile!
Natural Thorn Killer by Kate Dyer-Seeley is the first installment in A Rose City Mystery series. Britta Johnston has been putting her dreams on
hold (having her own floral shop) and working two jobs so her husband, Chad can
work on his novel (he needs to concentrate on it fully). When Britta discovers
that Chad is having an affair, she decides it is time for a change. Britta packs up her belongings and heads back
home to Portland, Oregon where her Aunt Elin lives and has her floral boutique
and wine bar combination, Blooma. Aunt Elin
raised Britta and is happy to have her return.
The timing is perfect since Elin is getting ready for the grand opening
of her cottage that will feature classes/workshops on floral design (flower
jewelry for example). Britta is soon
immersed in running Blooma, but not everything is rosy. Someone is leaving dead roses at the shop and
a seedy real estate developer is intent on buying up Riverplace Village (where
BLooma and other charming shops are located).
Britta is opening up Blooma one morning and notices the doors to the
cottage are open. She goes inside and
finds Frank Jaffe, the developer, on the floor with Elin’s floral shears
sticking out of his chest and roses scattered on the floor. Detective Pete Fletcher hones in on Elin as
the killer which makes Britta determined to dig up the guilty party.
In Natural Thorn Killer I was
drawn right away into the story. I liked
the author’s conversational writing style.
The book had a nice steady pace and good flow. The two main characters of Britta and Elin are
engaging and relatable. I liked their
creative energy and ideas. I appreciated
that the author gave the characters a Swedish background and had Swedish
words/phrases sprinkled throughout the story.
Two side characters that added to the story were Nora who owns Demitasse
(spunky) and Officer Tomo Iwamoto (great personality and I wish his parents restaurant was real--yum). I enjoyed the descriptions of the Riverplace
Village where Blooma was located. It
sounds just charming and has a nice small-town feel (even though it is in
Portland). The author included some interesting
facts about Portland. I did feel that it was too soon for a romance for Britta
since she just left her cheating husband.
I really hope that there will not be a love triangle (there are hints of
it). The author included wonderful descriptions of
the flowers and arrangements created at Blooma along with interesting facts
about the flowers. She really brought
them alive with her words. The one downfall of the book was the mystery. There were a limited number of suspects and little
investigation (just some questioning). There was a lack of action and the
reveal was disappointing. I wish the
author had found a different way to wrap up the book (it was more supposition that
fact). The why part of the murder was slightly
farfetched. At the end there are tips
for increasing the longevity of a bouquet of flowers, recipe for Swedish pancakes,
and how to pair flowers with wine (never thought of that before). I give Natural Thorn Killer 4 out of 5
stars. If the mystery had been more
compelling, I would have been a very happy reader. The next book in A Rose City Mystery series
is Violet Tendencies (out November 27).
Thank you for visiting today. Next time I will be featuring Murder with a Cherry On Top by Cynthia Baxter. I am off to do some housework. Take care and Happy Reading!
Kris
The Avid Reader
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