Lilies That Fester

October 1, 2001
The third mystery to feature Missouri florist Bretta Solomon, widow of Deputy Sheriff Carl Solomon, proves a less fruitful offering than its predecessors (Roots of Murder
and Murder Sets Seed). Bretta travels to nearby Branson, a small Ozarks town, to attend the first Show-Me Floral Designers' Competition and Conference. After checking in at her hotel, she finds a letter from some friends of Carl's, Vincent and Mabel McDuffy, stuck under her door, asking her to "right a terrible wrong." She tries to contact the McDuffys, but the couple has disappeared and a newspaper article leads her to think they may be murder victims. Add to this mystery spiteful attacks on competition contestants, and the situation is ripe for Bretta to jump in and investigate. What does the attractive man with the butterfly group have to do with all this? And why does he, a guest at the hotel, answer the phone at a local business? Though the plot is basically sound, Bretta lurches willy-nilly from episode to episode without continuity or logic, occasionally guided by the voice of her late husband, who still speaks to her in moments of stress. There's a large cast of secondary characters, stereotypical and tiresome, about whom it's difficult to get concerned. Harrison brings off a surprise ending with élan, but the story has already gone to seed.

November 1, 2001
Coordinator of a floral design contest at the statewide florist conference in Branson, MO, newly svelte Bretta Solomon (Murder Sets Seed) tackles several heavyweight personalities on her way to success. Numerous envious competitors want to discredit her, an attractive but mysterious man shows suspicious interest in her, and a couple who wanted their daughter's death investigated winds up dead. True to form, Bretta carefully sleuths her way to the truth but not without personal peril involving knives, razors, and heights. A special delight for series fans, this entry features a sympathetic heroine, comfortable prose, and an intriguing plot.

Copyright 2001 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 15, 2001
When a florist's convention comes to nearby Branson, Missouri, life as the design competition coordinator is hardly a bed of roses for Bretta Solomon. The combination of hothouse flowers and hotheaded florists proves to be a lethal one as a series of murders takes place within and around this thorny bunch of competing flower-shop owners. Recently widowed, Bretta puts the investigative skills she learned from her detective husband to good use to unearth the culprit who is pruning the ranks of local florists. Once on the scent, Bretta not only arranges to cultivate the interest of a sexy but enigmatic law enforcement officer, she unwittingly positions herself as both suspect and victim. Sure to become a perennial favorite of gardening mystery fans, this third Solomon mystery further establishes Harrison's budding character as an amateur sleuth with a fertile imagination whose blossoming love of mystery and intrigue promises to weed out all types of trouble going on right there in River City.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2001, American Library Association.)