“Sweet April showers do spring May flowers”- Thomas Tusser, Poet
I am currently on day 6 of 8 of forecasted rain, and I hope Thomas Tusser is correct that all of this rain will lead to an abundance of beautiful flowers.
We moved into our house in May a little over 10 years ago and quickly planted daffodil bulbs harvested from my Mother-in-Laws house which initially came from her mother’s house and were used in their wedding bouquets. When the daffodils bloom every spring I am filled with joy that we have a tangible link to my husband’s past.
After the ground drains a little from all of the rain we’ll also re-plant the olive tree that my grandmother gave me for my birthday last August into our garden. It was the gift she gave me before she died and means a great deal to me.
This spring, we’ll be planting a fig tree, which was harvested from one my great-grandfather brought to America from his small village in Cyprus when he came to America. It is one of the only thing that still connects my family to the land where I came from many generations ago.
My garden holds many beautiful and bittersweet memories for me, and I can’t wait to sit among the many blooms and read in the warm Spring sun.
My May TBR
I had difficulty narrowing down my TBR this month because I have so many books with flowers on the cover or as the first clue to the mystery. However, I picked seven full-length mysteries and a short story that seem to feature flowers in various ways, such as the vital clue, the calling card of the murderer, an emblem of the victim, the names of the investigator, and much more.
Goodreads synopsis:
To rescue a lost flower child, Miss Withers must learn to think like a hippie
During a six-week college break, Lenore Gregory does what all the young girls are doing in the winter of 1969: She heads to Greenwich Village to protest the Vietnam War, painting flowers on her Volkswagen. And just as she’s starting to fit in, she disappears, becoming yet another missing hippie — and a problem for Detective Oscar Piper of the New York Police Department.
Lenore’s last known whereabouts are New Mexico, on the road to Los Angeles, and there is only one person in California whom Piper trusts with the case. To find the missing girl, retired sleuth Hildegarde Withers is willing to go to the edge of consciousness and beyond. She has plenty of experience dealing with middle school children—can a flower child be any different?
Hildegarde Withers Makes the Scene is part of the Hildegarde Withers Mysteries series, which also includes The Penguin Pool Murder and Murder on the Blackboard.
Goodreads synopsis:
Retired florist Theo Bloomer goes to Israel to rescue his niece from terrorists in this engrossing mystery. On the shores of the Dead Sea, Dorrie Caldicott is coming into bloom. A spoiled graduate of the finest prep schools on the Atlantic Seaboard, she went AWOL during a tour of Israel and put down roots in a kibbutz. Her mother simply won’t stand for this kind of behavior, and it falls to Dorrie’s uncle Theo Bloomer, a retired florist who’s as meek as a daffodil, to bring the girl home. But in the sands of Israel, this gentle flower will be forced to take root or die. Theo has hardly arrived at the settlement when a pair of murders makes it unlikely he and his niece will ever make it home. Under threat by terrorists, the police, and the attentions of a few dozen intellectual farmers, Theo and Dorrie must find the killers if they wish to escape the Holy Land alive. Anyone who has envied Nero Wolfe’s orchid collection will find himself right at home with Theo Bloomer, a globetrotting florist who—like Rex Stout’s most famous detective—would prefer to be at home with his plants. Readers won’t want to miss joining Theo in this unique series by Joan Hess, one of the funniest mystery novelists on the planet. The Night-Blooming Cereus is the 1st book in the Theo Bloomer Mysteries, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order.
Goodreads synopsis:
With more than a dash of glamour and serious helpings of style, the witty and courageous Phryne Fisher returns. In 1928 St Kilda’s streets hang with fairy lights. Magic shows, marionettes, tea dances, tango competitions, lifesaving demonstrations, lantern shows, and picnics on the beach are all part of the Flower Parade. And who else should be chosen to be Queen of the Flowers but the gorgeous, charming and terribly fashionable Hon Phryne Fisher? Phryne needs a new dress and a swimming costume but she also needs a lot of courage to confront her a missing daughter, the return of an old lover, and a young woman found drowned at the beach at Elwood.
From the jacket:
When Pauline Clobury is found murdered in the dark and the rain near the gate of Prior’s Farm, suspicion centers on her young husband whom she plans to divorce. But when a new development occurs at the greenhouse of the same estate, both Superintendent James Waghorn, of New Scotland Yard’s CID, and his friend, the veteran Dr. Priestley, decide to visit the scene. What they discover in the formal gardens leads the way to a strange theory of the events and an entirely new twist to the investigation.
As usual, the plot of this Rhode story is daringly conceived and logically developed, and the story ends with a complete justification of that grand old man of detection, the venerable Dr. Lancelot Priestley.
Goodreads synopsis:
1920s London isn’t the ideal place for a brilliant woman with lofty ambitions. But research assistant Saffron Everleigh is determined to beat the odds in a male-dominated field at the University College of London. Saffron embarks on her first research study alongside the insufferably charming Dr. Michael Lee, traveling the countryside with him in response to reports of poisonings. But when Detective Inspector Green is given a case with a set of unusual clues, he asks for Saffron’s assistance.
The victims, all women, received bouquets filled with poisonous flowers. Digging deeper, Saffron discovers that the bouquets may be more than just unpleasant flowers— there may be a hidden message within them, revealed through the use of the old Victorian practice of floriography. A dire message, indeed, as each woman who received the flowers has turned up dead.
Alongside Dr. Lee and her best friend, Elizabeth, Saffron trails a group of suspects through a dark jazz club, a lavish country estate, and a glittering theatre, delving deeper into a part of society she thought she’d left behind forever.
Will Saffron be able to catch the killer before they send their next bouquet, or will she find herself with fatal flowers of her own in Kate Khavari’s second intoxicating installment.
Goodreads synopsis:
Three rival actresses team up to solve a murder at the stately home of the author who made them famous – only to discover the solution lies in the stories themselves. A contemporary mystery with a Golden Age feel, perfect for fans of Agatha Christie and Jessica Fellowes.
In attendance: the VIP fans, staying at Aldermere; the fan club president turned convention organizer; the team behind the newest movie adaptation of Davenport’s books; the Davenport family themselves – and the three actresses famous for portraying Lettice’s 1930s detective, Dahlia Lively.
National treasure Rosalind King, from the original movies. TV Dahlia for thirteen seasons, Caro Hooper. And ex-child star Posy Starling, fresh out of the fame wilderness (and rehab) to take on the Dahlia mantle for the new movie.
Each actress has her own interpretation of the character – but this English summer weekend they will have to put aside their differences, as the crimes at Aldermere turns anything but cosy.
When fictional death turns into real bodies, can the three Dahlias find the answers to the murders among the fans, the film crew, the family – or even in Lettice’s books themselves?
Goodreads synopsis:
Hercule Poirot gets an an alarming telephone call late at night, in which the phrases “it’s life and death” and “the table with the yellow irises,” are whispered. It results in Poirot rushing to the luxurious restaurant Jardin des Cygnes. He’s desperate to stop an impending murder, and find the person behind the voice on the phone. After bumping into an old acquaintance, he is invited to join a dinner party in full swing. But, just as the dancing begins and champagne is overflowing, a morbid announcement is made and the lights go out. By the time they come back on, everything has changed….
Librarian’s note: this entry is for the story, “Yellow Iris.” Collections of short stories by the author can be found elsewhere on Goodreads. Individual entries for all Poirot short stories can be found by searching Goodreads for: “a Hercule Poirot Short Story.”
Goodreads synopsis:
Pat Abbott was all set to marry Jean Holly when Molly Terrill walked into his office to report her brother’s disappearance.
For seven years Molly had had no word from her brother. Then she received a wire telling her to come to Frisco to save him from danger. Arriving there, she found the address she’d been given was non-existent.
Eager to get away on his honeymoon, Pat referred Molly to Charley Dickens, another detective. Hardly an hour later the news reached Pat that Dickens had been murdered!
His wedding sidetracked, Pat picks up the trail of the killer and follows it to a surprising conclusion in this smash-hit novel.
Golden Age of Detective Fiction 
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