![]() ![]() Booted out of the fairy kingdom for being an imp, Fiona has to help humans solve problems. In the Fairy Garden Mysteries, when Courtney Kelly, a former landscaper, spreads her wings and launches her fairy garden store Open Your Imagination, Fiona, a sleuth fairy, appears to her, and the magic begins. I did a deep dive and discovered the answer was no. Was there a fairy sleuth among the many choices? I wondered. What if an honest-to-goodness fairy appeared to a fairy garden storeowner and helped her solve crime? I’m known for my culinary mysteries, but I read paranormal mysteries featuring witches and ghosts. While I was putting it together, the mystery author in me came alive. I roamed the shop, selected fairy figurines and such, and returned home to fashion my first one. Her book Fairy Gardening is now one of my go-to resources. Garden-style brick-and-mortar shops are not that plentiful-there are many places online to purchase items-but what I did find, about ninety minutes from my house, was a delightful garden shop owned by Beverly Turner, who teaches fairy gardening seminars. When I got home, I immediately went online to search for a fairy garden shop near me. ![]() By creating a fairy garden, I believe-as does the protagonist in my Fairy Garden Mystery series-that you invite magic to enter your life.Īnyway, back to the day I went to the fair. Many of my gardens (I’ve become slightly obsessed-I’ve even built a fairy town in the nook outside my office!) have themes about reading and enjoying books. Add a sign to anchor the story if you like, and voila. Find a pot you like, add some plants-in my Los Angeles home, I’m big on succulents-and then create a story with fairy figurines and environmental pieces like swings, slides, houses, and more. The beauty about fairy gardening is it’s all about the story. If you don’t know what a fairy garden is, think of it like doll-housing for the garden. There were twinkling lights and pretty plants and the most adorable fairy figurines in each garden. However, fairy gardening was right up my alley. I’m not a crafty person-I can sew and bake and color inside the lines-but until now, I had rarely used a glue gun, so designing adorable cards or making jewelry or furniture were out. Instantly, I became enamored with the art. But one day when I was at a Renaissance Faire, I came upon a woman who was selling fairy gardens, and my eyes lit up. Planting planters was about as difficult as I could manage without injuring myself. But there came a time when my shoulders wouldn’t let me do the heavy lifting. Agent: Nicole Resciniti.I love to garden. Amish cozies can work, but Flower needs to work on making characters credible and compelling. Flower offers imaginative touches: pets with character (a crabby cat named Gigabyte). ![]() The bad guys are cartoony (“he grinned at me, tobacco juice trailing down his lower lip”) the theology of the Amish implausible (“there is not one right way to be obedient to the Lord”). Unfortunately, the characters are cardboard. Thus begins the novel’s central relationship, soon complicated by Chloe’s work environment, a car accident that kills an Amish bishop, and Becky’s hunky brother Timothy, who has left the Amish but is still righteous enough to be a Mennonite. Driving to her new home in Appleseed Creek, Chloe meets a young Amish woman, Becky, who needs rescue from two local thugs harassing her as she walks down the road. A sad family history is packed in her baggage. The premise promises: Chloe Humphrey is a 24-year-old geek hired to direct technology services at a tiny college in Ohio’s Amish country. Flower (Maid of Murder), a librarian, diversifies the popular Amish niche with this unsuccessful cozy.
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