Flowers and Foul Play: A Magic Garden Mystery by Amanda Flower

Image provided by Crooked Lane Books.

             When I saw Amanda Flower was going to have a book about a magic garden, I was very excited.  I have enjoyed so many other series of Ms. Flower's (as you can probably tell if you’ve read my blog for a while), I did not have any doubt I would enjoy this one too.  Unfortunately, when I was able to get Flowers and Foul Play from the library, I had to cram though it in seven days.  I don’t like doing that, but for a book I was waiting so long to read, I was perfectly willing to do it. 

                Life has not gone according to plan for Fiona Knox.  She had to close her flower shop because competition opened up nearby.  Then her fiancé left her for their cake decorator.  Finally, her godfather, Ian MacCallister, died, eliminating a support Fiona always expected to have.

                The odd thing about Uncle Ian’s death is that he left everything to Fiona.  His entire Scottish estate goes to her; no one else.  Needing to desperately get out of town, Fiona goes to Scotland to see her inheritance and meet with Ian’s attorney.  Once she has done this, Fiona must decide if she will live in Scotland for good, or return to her life in the U.S.

                At least that is the plan.  Getting her passport taken away after finding a body in the garden definitely puts any thoughts of returning to the U.S. on hold.  The body is Alastair Croft, the attorney Fiona was supposed to meet.  The main suspect: Ian’s beloved caretaker, Hamish MacGregor.

                Fiona does not believe that Hamish is guilty of killing Alastair.  She does not know that much about Hamish, but if her Uncle Ian trusted him, so does she.  That is why Fiona wants to clear Hamish’s name.  This is not going to be an easy task, though.  Being new to town, and an American, not everyone warms up to Fiona at first sight.  Add in the mystery surrounding the MacCallister garden, and some people are outright antagonistic.

                The fact that there is a mystery surrounding the MacCallister garden is something Fiona doesn’t understand.  When she first arrived, the garden looked dead, but it very quickly came back to life.  Hamish keeps telling Fiona that she is the one who will keep the garden alive and thriving, but Fiona doesn’t understand how.  If only she could find the letter Ian was supposed to have sent her that explains everything.

                Even though there has only been one book, I’m really liking this series already.  Fiona and Hamish are great characters, and so is Chief Inspector Neil Craig (it’s very clear where the love story is going).  Fiona has also met some really nice people in the town.  I’m interested to see what happens to all of them in future books.

                Then there is Duncan the squirrel, Ivanhoe the cat, the fox Fiona sees, and the garden itself.  There are mysteries surrounding all the things I just listed, and I’m curious to see what the truth about them is, and when it will be revealed.