Yews with Caution
A Flower Shop Mystery, Book #19
By Kate Collins
ISBN: 9780451473455
Author website: http://www.katecollinsbooks.com/
Brought to you by OBS reviewer Kayt
Synopsis:
Flower shop owner Abby Knight is out to help a friend in need but soon finds herself in the weeds…
The Spring of Abby’s Discontent
It’s April in New Chapel, and Abby and her husband, Marco, are off to buy shrubs for their new house. But the owner of the local landscaping company is nowhere to be found. Abby’s best friend, Nikki, meanwhile, believes she unwittingly helped a group of her hospital coworkers conspire to kill the man.
After the police get involved, Nikki becomes a suspect. Abby digs deeper for clues to save her friend only to discover bushels of folks bearing a deep-rooted hatred for the two-faced business owner. Marco attempts to help Abby with the case but soon falls critically ill. Now Abby must find the real culprit on her own before everything goes to pot…
Review:
Kate Collins’ A Flower Shop Mystery series is one you can always count on to be vivid, full of fun and mystery and a super read. Not only are they great to read, but they are so good Hallmark has made a series out of them. (Remember the shows are never completely true to books). Yews with Caution is the 19th book in this series, yes that is right, 19th! So you know this long lasting fun is truly worthy of your time. Let me just say, not one of these 19 have ever shown signs of becoming stale either. And Yews with Caution is anything but stale. I was so nervous, anxious and excited towards the end of the book I almost (yes almost) wanted to skip ahead to make sure everything turned out ok. I held myself in check though. This one has a hang on to your seats ending.
Abby Knight and her man Marco (everyone’s dream man) are settling into their new home, so why not get the outside looking nice. They decide to get some landscaping plants. What better place to go than DK’s Landscape Center that is known for their safe plants, they never use harmful chemicals or toxic treatments. Off they go to find something to put in front of their house. The owner is nowhere to be found, but the second man in command is able to help them. They decide on some yews and other plants to put in their front area. Funny thing while they are there they over hear that a former customer has lost his mind and threatened to kill the owner. Why? Because he thinks they poisoned and his wife. Also, Abby gets a S.O.S. from her friend Nikki saying she may be involved in a murder plot inadvertently. Well now isn’t that nice.
It really gets crazy when it is learned that owner of the landscaping business and subject of the murder plot Dick Kennison has been reported missing. Could Nikki and her nurse friend really be behind his murder? Well Abby is going to have to find out of course. Poor Marco gets seriously ill after planting their yews and now Abby is on her own to figure out all the different scenarios and hopefully not only save her friend, but also husband Marco. The plotting is so tight and full of twists and turns I was not able to put this book down.
Even if you have not read any of the 19 books in this long lasting and wonderful cozy series, you can happily read Yews with Caution as a standalone. Some series get a bit tired after 10 or 15 books, (those few that actually last that long) and seem to reuse the same story lines. Not author Kate Collins. This is fresh, exciting and unique as all the books in her series are. I could not wait to get to the end to see how things turned out. Then was sad it was over. It is fast paced and plot driven, does not sit on its laurels and coast through. Fun, fabulous and fantastic. I cannot remember the last time I was so caught up in a book that I forgot everything else and just had to make sure everyone came out OK. I was so worried. I think this may be one of the very best in this enduring cozy series. I recommend Yews with Caution to anyone that enjoys the perfect cozy!
*OBS would like to thank the publisher for supplying a free copy of this title in exchange for an honest review as part of their ongoing blog tour*
