The Final Arrangement
The Flower Shop Mystery Series, Book 1
Annie Adams
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Publisher: CreateSpace
Date of Publication: January 30, 2013
Number of pages: 304
Cover Artist: Kellie Ann Morgan/Inspire Creative Services
Available at the following retailers:
Review:The Vulture is dead.
The body of Quincy McKay’s nemesis and biggest competitor in the floral business has just been discovered in a casket at the mortuary, complete with flowers on the lid.
Derrick Gibbons, aka The Vulture, stole all of Quincy’s funeral business, and now she’s on a mission to get it back. But there’s a problem—Quincy is now the main suspect in The Vulture’s murder.
Armed with only her Zombie delivery van, good intentions, and the business card of a handsome cop named Alex, she must find the killer, save the flower shop, and keep from ending up in the next casket. If she can dodge burning bushes, the plague of a polygamist ex, and her mother's Mormon Mafia Spy Network, her life with Alex and her shop could become the perfect arrangement.
This is the first book in The Flower Shop Mystery series by Annie Adams. We meet our main character, Quinella "Quincy" McKay as she is opening her flower shop, Rosie's Posies that she has taken over from her aunt. Right off the bat we are introduced to a fascinating and multi-faceted group of characters.
Quincy finds out that one of her biggest competitors, Derrick nicknamed the Vulture, had been murdered. Not only that, that he was laid out in a casket with a flower spray in her style using her unique ribbon. Since Quincy and Derrick had been caught on tape the evening before at the mortuary having an argument. Next thing Quincy knows her delivery driver is complaining of being side swiped by 2 guys in a red truck, her sister gets beat up by her boyfriend and someone sets a bag of dog poo aflame on Quincy's porch. Life sure did get interesting very quickly for Quincy.
One of the themes of this book was domestic abuse. Quincy had escaped from it in her previous marriage and her sister Allie is currently in an abusive relationship. Several other incidents of it crop up here and there during the book. This really touched a nerve for me personally. Firstly, because I witnessed it first hand during my parents marriage and then with my sister's first marriage. I think Ms. Adams handled it very well in a truthful style that didn't hide the atrocity of it, but didn't over sell it either.
Another theme covered was hypocrisy. Hypocrisy concerning religion, substance abuse, sexual orientation and politics. Ms. Adams did a very good job of portraying this hypocrisy in many ways. From the sly wink, wink, nudges to the outright blatant. It really helps to draw a picture of how no matter what something looks like on the surface, you never really know what is going on deeper in a person or community.
When I first started reading Final Arrangement, there were moments that disturbed me, but I was drawn into the story and really needed to find out how things would turn out. Nice job. I am giving this book 3 stars on Goodreads.
Book Tour Info:
Don't forget to check out the other stops on the Book Tour:
June 10 - A Blue Million Books
June 11 - According to Squenn
June 12 - Brooke Blogs
June 12 - Lily Pond Reads
June 13 - Melissa’s Mochas, Mysteries & More
June 14 – Cozy Mystery Book Review
June 15 - Omnimystery
June 16 - Chloe Gets a Clue
June 17 - Musings & Ramblings
June 18 - Kaisy Daisy’s Corner
June 19 - Darla King Series
Author Bio:
Annie Adams is the author of THE FINAL ARRANGEMENT, book one in The Flower Shop Mystery series. She lives with her husband, two giant dogs, and two too giant cats in Northern Utah at the foot of the Wasatch Mountains. When not writing she can be found arranging flowers or delivering them in her own Zombie Delivery Van.To connect with the author online:
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