Looking for a fun way to spend these hot afternoons? How about Sitting in the shade, Getting some gardening tips and Solving a mystery? Get started with these titles rooted in gardening and blooming with murder and mayhem!

A Hoe Lot of Trouble By Webber, Heather 2004-07 - Avon Books 0060723475 Check Our Catalog I just started this fun mystery and already I'm laughing out loud!  A great bunch of quirky characters with quick dialogue! This debut cozy introduces Nina Collette Cesare Quinn, garden landscaper extraordinaire and very amateur sleuth. When Nina discovers that a beloved old friend has been murdered, she knows that it's time to start digging for clues. Original. …More

Donna Rose and the Roots of Evil By Johnson, Norma Tadlock 2009-01 - Five Star (ME) 1594147272 Check Our Catalog A thoroughly enjoyable cozy featuring a retired teacher now avid gardener.  The descriptions of the Puget Sound area make me want  to vist Washington State right away! …More

Death in the Orchid Garden By Ripley, Ann 2006-11 - Kensington Publishing Corporation 0758208197 Check Our Catalog The exotic setting adds a vibrant zing to this already delightful mystery!  Ann Ripley is a writer a cozy mystery reader can count on! The lush island of Kauai is the perfect place for Louise Eldridge to film a few episodes of her gardening show, especially since an elite botanical conference is taking place at her luxury hotel. Her taste of paradise comes to a halt when a squabbling, prima donna botanist is found battered to death. …More

Summer Garden Murder By Ripley, Ann 2005-08 - Kensington Publishing Corporation 0758208170 Check Our Catalog One good Ann Ripley deserves another...Here it is! When Peter Hoffman, identified by Louise Eldridge five years ago as the "mulch murderer," is released from a mental institution, he crashes a soiree in Louise's neighborhood. Later, Louise finds him buried beneath her azalea patch. Now she'll have to dig up some serious clues to bring a killer to light. …More

The Trail of the Wild Rose By Eglin, Anthony 2009-04 - Minotaur Books 0312365470 Check Our Catalog In this latest English Garden mystery, Lawrence Kingston finds himself at the center of a murder case where unexplainable accidents start claiming the lives of plant hunters, and all is not as simple as it seems. …More

Death of a Cad By Beaton, M. C. 2004-07 - Warner Books 0446607142 Check Our Catalog This is the second book in a series that extends to 26 books , and counting. What all the books have in common is that Hamish Macbeth, the main character,  loves his garden.  Hamish does most of his best thinking in his garden--Not so different from many of us, I imagine! …More

Snakeskin Shamisen By Hirahara, Naomi 2006-04 - Delta 0385339615 Check Our Catalog The protagonist of this mystery series (this is the third book),  Mas Arai, is an Hiroshima survivor living in Los Angeles.  He is now a retired gardener with a knack for puzzling out mysteries.  This series is well written and particularly interesting for its glimpses into Japanese-American life.  By the way, a shamisen is a Okinowan musical instrument similar to a banjo.  2007 Edgar Award Winner - Best Paperback Original Few things get Mas more excited than gambling, so when he hears about a $500,000 win, he's torn between admiration and derision. But the stakes are quickly raised when the winner, a friend of Mas's pal G.I. Hasuike, is found stabbed to death just days later. Mas suddenly finds himself caught up in a dark mystery that reaches from the islands of Okinawa to the streets of L.A.--a world of heartbreaking memories, deception, and murder. …More

Face Down in the Marrow-Bone Pie: An Elizabethan Mystery By Emerson, Kathy Lynn 2005-04 - Delphi Books 0966339797 Check Our Catalog An intriguing historical cozy set in Elizabethan England. "While husband Sir Robert tends to business for Elizabeth I in France, Susanna Appleton journeys to his neglected Lancashire estate, where an alleged ghost has caused the death of the estate's steward." …More

Snipped in the Bud By Collins, Kate 2006-05 - Signet Book 0451218310 Check Our Catalog Delivering a black rose ordered for her old law school nemesis, Abby's plans for a speedy delivery are foiled when he catches her dropping the bloom into the trash. Abby flees, but upon her return, Abby finds the rose decorating a dead professor, and herself the prime suspect. Original. …More

An Unthymely Death By Albert, Susan Wittig 2003-06 - Berkley Publishing Group 9780425190029 Check Our Catalog A great introduction to the China Bayles series!  Lots of info about herbs and central Texas small town life! Now readers can join China Bayles in ten puzzling cases--and get a taste of her world. This delightful collection features loads of wonderful herbal tidbits on everything from rosemary to feverfew to catnip. …More

Bindweed: A Gardening Mystery By Harrison, Janis 2005-11 - Minotaur Books 0312348134 Check Our Catalog River City, Missouri, florist Bretta Solomon is happy to spend an occasional day off with her helper, Toby, a slow-witted young man whose mother died from a terminal illness. But the unexpected news that Toby has been killed by a swarm of killer bees deliberately planted in his home puts decorating on the back burner. Determined to find out the truth behind Toby's murder, Bretta is once again in the thick of things in this charming, delightful cozy mystery series from Janis Harrison. …More