Nightshade on Elm Street

Enjoy her wedding shower…or receive a cold dunking? In addition to running her flower shop, planning her wedding, and juggling two mothers who both want to host an elaborate bridal shower, Abby Knight is facing another complication. Her ditzy cousin Jillian asks her and her longtime beau, Marco, a private detective, to find a woman who’s gone missing from the exclusive beach house belonging to Jillian’s in-laws, the Osbornes. The missing woman is also the fiancée of Pryce Osborne, a wet noodle with a big bank account who dumped Abby just before their wedding several years ago. Merely being anywhere near Pryce makes Abby’s insecurities grow like kudzu…. Then a woman’s drowned body surfaces, and Pryce becomes a prime suspect in her death. Unless Abby and Marco can get a killer to come clean, their bridal shower will turn into a complete washout...and Pryce will be exchanging a sunny beach for a prison cell.

I know I'm going to sound like a broken record but I love this author and her Flower Shop series. I know when I read a Kate Collins book I will be entertained.  I love her subtle humor and the banter that the main character has with her cousin Jillian, gets me every time.  And Marco, isn't so bad either, who wouldn't want an ex-Ranger for a fiance... I read this book in one afternoon.  It was a perfect read for a snowy Sunday afternoon.

This book had it all.  The regular characters who are just like old friends, the new characters that were interesting and some hilarious in a very unique way; Abby and her usual nosiness, her crazy conversations with Jillian; quality time with Marco; two mysteries to solve; all this and also the planning of her bridal shower. This time around there was also a small journal entry by Abby at the beginning of each chapter.  It was a nice touch.

If you haven't read this series yet, what are you waiting for?  If you love cosy mysteries you will love the Flower Shop mystery.

Nightshade on Elm Street by Kate Collins (4.5/5) Contemporary Mystery; Published: Obsidian Mystery (11/2012); Series: # 13, Flower Shop; New Release; Library; Books (48);