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A Twinkle of Trouble (A Fairy Garden Mystery)
by Daryl Wood Gerber
A Twinkle of Trouble (A Fairy Garden Mystery)
Cozy Mystery
5th in Series
Setting – California
Publisher : Kensington Cozies (April 23, 2024)
Paperback : 304 pages
ISBN-10 : 1496744934
ISBN-13 : 978-1496744937
Kindle ASIN : B0CFGF36NM
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Carmel-by-the-Sea garden shop owner Courtney Kelly sees things others can’t—like fairies, and hidden motives for murder . . .
Courtney is delighted when her tiny friend Fiona returns from the fairy realm, appearing at the base of a Cypress tree. When her Ragdoll cat, Pixie, emerges from her own portal—aka the cat door—the three set off for a busy day. Busier than usual, since Courtney has rented a small plot of land at the Flower Farm, where she hopes to grow her own supplies for her fairy-garden business. Plus, the annual Summer Blooms Festival is coming up, and Courtney has booked a booth . . .
But the murder of Courtney’s friend, Genevieve, casts a pall over the festival. Ever since Genevieve sold her floral business, she’d been building a career as an influencer. She was perennially opinionated—but in her new role she’d become surprisingly vicious, dissing local entrepreneurs with nasty posts and unwarranted bad reviews. That’s landed a couple of Courtney’s other friends on the suspect list—including Flower Farm owner Daphne Flores. And when a second victim is discovered, seeds of doubt about Daphne’s innocence sprout in Courtney’s mind. With only a germ of a clue, Courtney will have to overturn every rock to get the dirt on the real killer . . .
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Enjoy this peek inside:
Fretfully, Fiona sped to the far end of the patio by the learning-the-craft corner. I could see her wings trembling. She couldn’t possibly be upset by what Genevieve had said in jest, could she? On the other hand, fairies didn’t have the same sense of humor as humans. They could be spirited, but they took many things seriously.
I excused myself from my friends and drew near. “What’s wrong?”
“Whatever do you mean?” Fiona skipped along the table’s edge, arms spread as if to balance herself. She pirouetted and stared at me.
“You eeked back there.” I pointed at her to spill the beans.
She worked her tongue inside her teensy mouth as she shimmied away tension. “There’s malice in your friend’s heart, and it worries me.”
“Who? Genevieve? She was joking.” I’d recognized her playfulness the first time I’d visited her website. It was filled with witty memes. My favorite meme consisted of black words on a white background: I’ve got PMS, OCD and ADD. I want to cry and look pretty while I kill everyone, but I can’t focus on that right now. I’m cleaning. That about summed up how every woman I knew felt at one time or another, myself included.
“She wasn’t being flippant,” Fiona said. “I sensed hatred.”
I wagged a finger. “Uh-uh. Stop. You are not allowed to sense anything.”
“Yes, I can. I may intuit emotions now that I’ve been to the realm and back. I’m not allowed to read minds, and I can’t insert thoughts into peoples’ heads, but I can feel things and prepare myself for trouble ahead.” She flicked her fingers. “What’s really frustrating is that I can’t know why she is acting this way.”
“Maybe it hurt her when Oliver drummed her out of the flower business.” On one occasion, when Genevieve and I met for coffee alone, she confided that she had truly enjoyed owning Garden Delights. She’d loved making customers smile. I asked why she hadn’t looked for a job with Petunia or Daphne, but she fanned the air. By then, she’d already aimed her sights on being an entrepreneur and ultimately an influencer.
Fiona met me eye to eye. “Should I dowse her with a forgiveness potion?”
Greenish frog with mottled throat,
Little imp in speckled coat,
I will teach you how to sing in a Fairy way.
Sing in drip-drop water-notes,
Lightly as a lily floats,
Softly as the rushes swing on a Summer day.
~ Annie R. Rentoul, “A Singing Lesson”
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About Daryl Wood Gerber
Agatha Award-winning author Daryl Wood Gerber is best known for her nationally bestselling mysteries, including the Fairy Garden Mysteries and Cookbook Nook Mysteries. As Avery Aames, she penned the popular Cheese Shop Mysteries. In addition, Daryl writes suspense including the well received The Son’s Secret, Girl on the Run, and the popular Aspen Adams series. Recently Daryl, who loves a challenge, published a Christmas romance, Hope for the Holidays. Fun Tidbit: as an actress, Daryl appeared in “Murder, She Wrote.” She loves to cook, garden, read, and walk her frisky Goldendoodle. Also she has been known to jump out of a perfectly good airplane. You can learn more on her website: https://darylwoodgerber.com
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