Peggy Lee is visiting her dear friend Darmus Appleby, when
his home explodes. Despite her valiant efforts to rescue
the man from the fire, Darmus dies and Peggy ends up in the
hospital. When Darmus' younger brother, Luther, is found
dead of an asthma attack a few days later, her suspicions
are aroused. But Peggy has more than these unexplained
deaths to deal with; her mom and dad, an aunt and a cousin
are coming to visit. And they haven't met Steve, the new
man in her life.
With her parents in residence, investigating the deaths of
the Appleby brothers isn't smooth sailing, but her pistol-
packing dad is more than willing to lend his assistance.
When her Internet chess buddy, the mysterious Nightflyer,
suggests there's more going on than meets the eye, Peggy is
determined to get to the bottom of more than one mystery
before anyone else dies, or an innocent person is convicted
of a crime they did not commit.
With equal parts humor, sadness and absolute terror (I
still shudder when I think about the funeral home visit!),
Joyce and Jim Lavene have constructed an outstanding
who-done-it in POISONED PETALS, the latest Peggy Lee Garden
Mystery. Peggy is an amazing heroine with real-life
troubles that everyone can identify with...except perhaps
all the dead bodies she encounters! Peggy's relationship
with her father offers many shining moments in this story.
The Lavenes have a gift for tapping into one's emotions.
POISONED PETALS is a wonderfully developed mystery,
something to be savored. Enjoy!
Peggy Lee is just about to deliver some endangered
sunflowers to Darmus Appleby when a gas explosion blows out
his door-and Peggy finds her fellow botanist dead on the
kitchen floor. Two weeks later his brother dies, with an
overpoweringly sweet purple hyacinth tucked in his pocket.
Now Peggy must follow her nose-and some cryptic clues from
an internet informant-to root out a killer before he
strikes again.