Poison in the Pansies

This is the sixteenth book in Dale Mayer's cosy "Lovely Lethal Gardens" series, they are all wonderful, tongue in cheek stories. Doreen Montgomery is trying hard to divorce her ultra wealthy, cheating husband, she has no money and no skills including domestic skills. She is living in Kelowna in a house given to her by her Nan. Corporal Mack Moreau had become Doreen's best friend and is obviously in love with her but nothing could come of this until Doreen's divorce is finalised and Doreen is able to move on with her life. Much to long suffering Mack's frustration, Doreen found that she did have one skill.........weeding out information and she had built up quite a reputation as an armature sleuth and solving cold cases. When on a rare day out at the lake, Doreen and Mack come across a box of rat poison it was to be the start of a whole new convoluted story, a current murder mystery for Mack to solve and a cold one for Doreen, both murders are entwinned but who was the murderer ? Rosemore is the nursing home where Doreen's, slightly eccentric, interfering but wonderfully funny Nan lives, she and her friend Ritchie become involved with "helping" Doreen track down the murderer of one of the residents, although this is a serious subject there are also hilarious moments and Nan and Ritchie make a delightful duo. Doreen is a likable, slightly wacky character who goes everywhere with her menagerie of wonderful pets, Goliath the cat, Mugs the Basset hound and Thaddeus the quirky talking parrot. I love this series, i love the closeness and the interaction between Doreen and Mack and look forward to the next book. I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

After paddleboarding Doreen and Mack are having a picnic lunch on the beach when Doreen notices that there are a bunch of dead flowers in the flowerbed. Mack comes to look and finds a box of Rat Poison. Doreen jokes about someone dying from poison, and when Mack doesn’t answer, she realizes someone must have recently died from poison. Mack doesn’t let Doreen get involved in his active police cases, but she finds a way around this when she finds out that someone who supposedly died of natural causes had claimed to be poisoned. Doreen decides to investigate and see if it might be related to Mack’s case. While these books are whimsical murder mysteries, the best part of these books are the characters. Doreen is known for her pet dog, cat and Parakeet that are always with her. Then there is Mack he has been her friend since she moved to Kelowna teaching her how to cook and helping her any way he can. There is also Nan, who gave her the house and provided antique furniture and designer clothes that she could sell to make money. If you read this series, you will love getting to know all of them. I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

I absolutely loved reading this story . Doreen and her critters , Mugs , Thaddeus and Goliath are spending the day with Mack but soon it is interrupted . Doreen comes across rat poison in a bed of pansies of course that sets off a not so cold case for Doreen and Mack will have his hands full getting to the bottom of things and keeping Doreen safe . This story is so entertaining and the characters are unique and delightful. I love this series . I look forward to each and every story . I highly recommend taking the time to read . I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.