While it’s commonly said, “april showers bring may flowers,” you can check out your local flower shop in the meantime.
But like any sector of society, the world of plants and flowers can be rife with bitter rivalries, jealousies, and even murder.
You’ve never seen competition until you’ve seen people duke it out over the best gardens or the rarest orchid hybrid.
Here are six cozy mysteries that take place in flower shops.
Death in Bloom
When Sierra Ravenswood started as a part-time employee of the Flower House in her hometown of Aerieville, TN, she did not expect to become the de facto owner overnight.
The first in the three-book Flower House Mystery Series, of course, she also hadn’t expected anyone to die during her bouquet-arranging workshop either.
Now running a business, taking care of a Corgi, and avoiding her family’s best intentions, Sierra has to find out who killed the customer before she finds herself in another unexpected place: prison or a coffin.
Roots of Murder
Bretta Solomon is trying to turn a new leaf after the death of her husband. She’s trying to make The Flower Shop work in River City, Missouri, even if she feels a bit awkward about charging people for funeral flowers.
But when one of her suppliers, an Amish farmer, is discovered dead in a field of his flowers, his brother asks Bretta to see if she can find out why his brother died.
Bretta aims to get to the bottom of it before someone else can stop her, in the first in the six-book Bretta Solomon Mystery series.
Mum's the Word for Murder
Abby Knight is determined to track down the man who hit and ran her precious yellow Corvette. It’s bad enough that her flower shop, Bloomers, is being killed by a competitor charging lower prices, but touching her car is the limit.
So she enlists the help of Marco Salvare, a private investigator and bar owner, to find the driver, but the trail leads to a dead body. Now she’s found herself in the middle of a mess with corruption and a tad of road rage.
Will she get to the bottom of this dirty flower pot of crime? Will she and the handsome Marco become an item? So much is in store in the first installment of the 20-book Flower Shop Mystery series.
Flowers and Foul Play
Fiona Knox is having a terrible time. Her flower shop is failing due to a large competitor. She finds out that her godfather Ian MacCallister has passed, leaving her his beloved cottage and garden in Scotland.
But when her fiancé runs off with another woman, she decides to head out to her godfather’s cottage. She meets the caretaker, who tells her about the magical garden and cottage. Unfortunately, someone’s got worse luck than her when she and the caretaker stumble upon a man’s body in the garden.
The dead man had many enemies in town, but the police think the caretaker is the main suspect. Now she’s on a mission to clear the caretaker’s name while trying to settle into her new life.
It’s the first of the three-book Magic Garden Mystery Series, and starts a flower shop, the Climbing Rose Flower Shop, in the second book, Death and Daisies.
Natural Thorn Killer
Britta Johnston has returned to her hometown of Portland, Oregon, leaving her cheating husband behind and her dull life behind.
Her Aunt Elin has welcomed her into her flower shop, Blooma, in the Riverside district, where Britta gets to flex her creativity in arranging wonderful bouquets for their customers. Her new life isn’t all champagne and roses. Someone is leaving roses around the town.
And there’s a real estate developer who is keen on buying up all the property, including Aunt Elin’s shop. When he’s found dead, killed with Aunt Elin’s shears in his chest.
Britta must figure out who hated the man enough to take him out once and for all. There are two books in the appropriately titled Rose City Mystery series.
Sugar and Vice
While it’s the second mystery in the Cookie House Mystery series, this one includes a flower shop. No one wants to have to try to clear their best friend’s name. She’d rather concentrate on delicious baking cookies, making eyes at the new veterinarian, and moving on from her ex-fiancé.
Kat McGuire, the co-owner of the Cookie House bakery, was helping her BFF Maxi with the garden behind Maxi’s flower shop, both located in Coral Cay, Florida. It begins innocently enough until the dog finds a skeleton in pirate clothing in the dirt.
At first, they think it’s the remains of Sir George Bly, a 16th-century pirate, but it’s revealed to be much more recent. Now Kate and Maxi have to navigate the murky waters of investigation, amidst the Coral Cay’s Pirate Festival.
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