A new cozy mystery series from USA Today best-selling author Dale Mayer. Follow gardener and amateur sleuth Doreen Montgomery—and her amusing and mostly lovable cat, dog, and parrot—as they catch murderers and solve crimes in lovely Kelowna, British Columbia.Riches to rags. … Controlling to chaos. … But murder … seriously?After her ex-husband leaves her high and dry, former socialite Doreen … and dry, former socialite Doreen Montgomery’s chance at a new life comes in the form of her grandmother, Nan’s, dilapidated old house in picturesque Kelowna … and the added job of caring for the animals Nan couldn’t take into assisted living with her: Thaddeus, the loquacious African gray parrot with a ripe vocabulary, and his buddy, Goliath, a monster-size cat with an equally monstrous attitude.
It’s the new start Doreen and her beloved basset hound, Mugs, desperately need. But, just as things start to look up for Doreen, Goliath the cat and Mugs the dog find a human finger in Nan’s overrun garden.
And not just a finger. Once the police start digging, the rest of the body turns up and turns out to be connected to an old unsolved crime.
With her grandmother as the prime suspect, Doreen soon finds herself stumbling over clues and getting on Corporal Mack Moreau’s last nerve, as she does her best to prove her beloved Nan innocent of murder.
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In “Arsenic and Azaleas” author Dale Mayer takes us to Kelowna, British Columbia where we meet Doreen Merriweather, a thirty-five year old ex-socialite who is in the process of being divorced by her rich husband who is now engaged to her lawyer. Not knowing the relationship between her soon-to-be ex-husband and her lawyer, she signs the divorce settlement papers which leave her penniless with only her clothes, her basset hound Mugs and her old Honda Civic. Because she has no money and no place to live, her grandmother, called Nan because she believes the name grandma makes her seem old, gives her her old, run-down two-story house and goes to live in Rosemoor, a retirement home. In addition to the house, Doreen finds that Nan has left her with a very talkative parrot named Thaddeus and a huge Maine coon cat named Goliath. Doreen finds that the house on the outside has beautiful gardens that need a lot of work and an inside full of clothes and clutter. When she tries to relax after unloading the suitcases from her car, she sees that Mugs has something in his mouth. On close examination, she realizes that what Mugs has in his mouth is a human finger, complete with a manicured nail. She calls the police to report finding the finger because she believes that there is a body somewhere on the property. An older Royal Canadian Police officer, Constable Chester Pearson, arrives first, followed by a younger officer, Corporal Mack Moreau. She tries to explain that she has only been in the house one hour and that her dog found a human finger. Both officers ask her where the finger is and she points to the empty table where she had left it for the police. They finally do find the finger in a hole in the floor near the table and she tells them that it must have rolled off the table when she bumped into the table. When the parrot starts to say “Body in the garden” over and over again, and the cat runs in and out of the house, Doreen wonders what she has gotten herself into. More police come and search the backyard and finally find the body of a man in a shallow grave under a newer part of the outside porch. She has to explain to the police again that she had just arrived at the house one hour ago and knows nothing about the body. When she looks at the front door, she sees a gathering of many of her neighbors and they look very unfriendly. When her grandma is suspected of the murder, she decides she must find the murderer to clear her grandma’s name. Readers will not be able to put this book down until Doreen or the police find out who the man is and why he was in Nan’s backyard. I know they will be as delighted as I was with Doreen’s escapades and her interactions with Nan.
This is my favorite cozy mystery series. I love how the main character is starting over and reinventing her life. Love her animal side-kicks. Her grandmother is a kick. I am a gardener so the garden theme is right up my alley.
3 stars . Good mystery with amateur sleuth.
Unexpected ending. Did not see it coming. Looking forward to seeing Doreen get on her feet on hopefully get on with Mack as well.
Not my favorite
It was OK
A fun read. Interesting setting and plot.
Anything by Dale Mayer is always a good read. Love love love this author
I love these books. I have read all of this authors books that I could get!!
A really entertaining story.
It seemed like it might be a fun read, but I had to quit before I got very far into it b/c of the bad language–I did not expect to find the “F” word in a cozy mystery! Boo!!!
It was okay, a bit boring.
A good read and very enjoyable. Surprising at times.
interesting charcters and a fun read. CW
I was not able to finish this book. The main character is whiny, rude and unfortunately not very bright. It was painful to read.
There is never a dull moment in these books! And always a twist to the endings! I love all the character she comes up for each book… And who can forget about the animals!
It was dragged out too long. I didn’t mean to hit five stars.
You could picture them walking down the street, cute story
“Arsenic” set up a fairly rare kind of situation—a newly-divorced woman has lost all of her goods to her ex and his new girlfriend (who, it turns out…oops!) and is bequeathed a big old scary house from her aged aunt, who has finally decided to move into a retirement home. Many delightful characters, whimsical situations…and a set-up with a local or two that seems to ensure fun sequels. Great place to start!
Super cute book