It’s Independence Day weekend, and Maria Dolores, the descendant of Danger Cove’s first lighthouse keeper, is the new manager of the Lighthouse Farmers’ Market. While she may be a bit uncertain about her career change–trading financial planning for flower stalls and farm fresh produce–she’s still determined to get the market into shape and onto one of the region’s “best of” lists. From the very … very beginning, though, events conspire against her. Her mentor and attractive local, Merle Curtis, fails to show up to introduce her to the vendors, the stalls are all in the wrong place, and an earthquake shakes up everyone in the market! In its aftermath, Maria’s trial by fire continues as she realizes the flower vendor is more than shaken up… he’s dead. Maria suddenly finds herself embroiled in a small town mystery that’s got everyone on edge. Will it all lead to the end of Maria’s new career? Or worse yet… her life?
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This review is for the audio book.
This was a fun mystery. I have listened to a few books in the danger cove series, which are written by a number of different authors and it was fun,with a number of the characters and even an author having a cameo roll in this book. I liked the characters, especially the special needs boy Gary. The mystery was interesting and there was a number of suspects to keeps you guessing. This isn’t the best book in the series and I think In some ways it would have done better with a different narrator but it certainly won’t put me off listening to others in the series.
Maria has given up her high powered job for something a lot more simple, the position of running the lighthouse farmers market. Where she thought the hardest part of her job was making sure the vegetables was all locally grown or reuniting lost children with there parents. This doesn’t prove to be the case when her friend fails to show.up and introduce her to all the vendors, her assistance has smelt down and refuses to get up off the floor, two of the vendor’s try chasing or scaring customers away and an earthquake hit. But all that pales in comparison when the build of another vendor is found underneath the sound equipment. Did Maria do the right thing returning to her grandmother’s home town? Or was her mother right? Maria starts to investigate because her new assistant found the body and she fears the police won’t look any further than him. It seems to he dead lady had a checked past and wasn’t who everybody thought she was, so could her past have finally caught with her?
I have heard this narrator before playing the part of a much older character where she did well but not sure how old this character was meant to be but for some reason she sounded to old for the part. Also the voices sounded a bit monotonous and you could miss chunks of the story if your mind wandered.
Who knew so much went into organizing a Farmers Market? Maria does! She’s so well organized and handles everything with calmness I can’t imagine. I want to be her friend! Great book with so many twists and turns. Looking forward to more about Maria’s life in Danger Cove
“The Death in the Flower Garden” earns 5/5 Locally Sourced Market Treats!
I am a new visitor to Danger Cove, and eager to stay for a long time. Joining Danger Cove resident Elizabeth Ashby (What a delightful idea for a writing team!), Gin Jones pens another perfect view of the community. Although she took us on three journeys with Danger Cove Quilting and introduced the Farmers’ Market in the short story, “A Killing in the Market,” in the Killer Beach Reads collection, this is the first full length visit into the Danger Cove Farmers’ Market; two more visits are set for releases in August, “A Saying in the Orchard,” and October, “A Secret in the Pumpkin Patch.” Check out the Danger Cove official website at http://www.gemmahalliday.com/Danger_Cove/
I have started looking suspiciously at those at my local farmers’ market. Heirloom vegetables? Handmade crafts? Locally grown produce? Who knew a farmers’ market could be so dangerous and deadly? The story is very engaging with several motives revealed, and although alibis tend to be a stumbling block for a quick arrest, it makes for an entertaining twisty-turny story. I found Gin’s characters, my favorite Maria, well developed even this early in the series; Maria very clever and admirable, and her relationship with Cary, who exhibits behaviors on the ‘autism spectrum,’ was treated with realism and respect. The setting of the fictitious Danger Cove, delightfully present in all of the Danger Cove books, and details surrounding the ‘ins and outs’ of managing a farmers’ market along with the market itself play out in the background. I highly recommend this book, and if you’re able to get a copy of the short story, it is a very helpful introduction.