Nightshade for Warning
Series: Enchanted Garden Mystery Book #2
Author: Bailey Cattrell
Publisher: Berkley Prime Crime
Page Count: 336
My Rating:
Book Summary
The second Enchanted Garden Mystery from Bailey Cattrell author of the “New York Times” bestselling Magical Bakery Mysteries as Bailey Cates.
Elliana Allbright s custom-made perfume shop and the Enchanted Garden behind it are garnering all sorts of attention lately, but a dead body could bury her in bad publicity…
Elliana’s business and personal life are flourishing in her hometown of Poppyville, CA since she opened Scents & Nonsense. She uses her very special skills to craft perfumes that almost magically ease heartache, inspire change, and bring joy and her customers love to relax in the beautiful garden behind her shop along with her corgi, Dash, and her cat, Nabokov. The shop is so popular that a journalist has come to write a feature about Ellie for a national magazine.
But then the journalist is found dead, and suspicion falls on the last person to see him who just happens to be Ellie s brothers girlfriend. So before everything goes to seed, Ellie must rely on her powers observational and otherwise to pick out the real killer from an ever-expanding bouquet of culprits…”
More Facts for Readers about our Sleuth:
Main Sleuth: Elliana Allbright
Physical Description: Hispanic female, (I can’t recall specific ancestral country, sorry!)
Business: Scents & Nonsense, Aromatherapist and Perfume Maker (storefront on the boardwalk)
Location: Poppyville, California
Pet: Dash, a white and tan Welsh Corgi, and Nabby, a gray cat
Love Interest: Ritter Nelson, former high school crush, and possibly Tanner Spence, a photographer
Family: Grandmother and mother both passed but who are mentioned regularly. A brother, two half-sisters, a step-mother, and a father who live elsewhere in another state.
Cussing? No, soft words only
Diversity? Yes! Our sleuth is of Hispanic heritage and her grandmother is referred to a lot both in terms of culture, and in terms of inherited gifts. I don’t know that specifically either her ex-husband, current crush, or friends are of Hispanic descent, and honestly, it doesn’t matter much to me, but I think having diversity is important. The main detective Lupe Garcia is Hispanic and also very intelligent compared to her narrow minded male partner who reads to me like a typical white male.
My Review
I loved Book 2, “Nightshade for Warning” in the Enchanted Garden Mystery series by Bailey Cattrell. I can’t get enough of these illustrated covers, it just sets you up for a good time right off the bat. Main sleuth Ellie is all set to have her tiny home and enchanted garden featured in a magazine spread, enter photographer and possible love interest Tanner Spence accompanied by the crabby journalist who will actually write the article. At the same time Ellie’s free-spirited brother and his girlfriend Larken arrive in town for a quick visit. They’re all staying at the same hotel and after they all have an unpleasant and heated dinner together in the hotel restaurant the journalist ends up dead and Larken is the prime suspect. Ellie has to work fast to clear her brother and Larken of suspicion…
When you have a tiny home and garden as cute as Ellie’s it’s only natural that a magazine would want to feature it, and being introduced to another great guy and contender for Ellie’s hand – count me in! This second book in the series amps up the action with a mysterious vehicle zooming around town trying to kill Ellie as she investigates, and we see more of Ellie’s family life when her wayward brother shows up unannounced with a girlfriend in tow. Good thing she and Ellie are two birds of a feather when it comes to their connection to the earth. This was another great read with a more unique / modern sort of story angle. It’s more complicated than revenge or crimes of passion. I’m eager to reader book 3.
