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. … Chaos continues. … Murders abound. … Honestly? Doreen Montgomery’s new life in Kelowna was supposed to be a fresh start … was supposed to be a fresh start after a nasty split from her husband of fourteen years, plus a chance to get her bearings and her life back on track. Instead her first week in her new hometown was spent digging up dead bodies, chasing clues, and getting in Corporal Mack Moreau’s way.
But now that the old cold case has been solved, and the murderer brought to justice, Doreen believes things might go her way this week. When Mack hires her to whip his mother’s garden into shape, it seems like a second chance, both for Doreen’s new beginning in Kelowna and for her budding relationship with Mack.
But, instead of digging up Mrs. Moreau’s struggling begonias and planting them in a better location, Doreen discovers another set of bones … and another mystery to solve. As the clues pile up, Mack makes it abundantly clear that he doesn’t want or need her help, but Doreen can’t resist the lure of another whodunit. As she and Mack butt heads and chase red herrings, Doreen’s grandmother, Nan, sets odds and places bets on who solves the crime first.
All while a murderer is watching …
more
Another unusual cozy mystery about Doreen Montgomery in Kelowna working on digging and planting begonias to a better location Doreen discovers another set of bones with the help of her pets; a dog, a cat and a very talkative bird. Doreen is also working on a new relationship with Mack and he makes it clear he doesn’t want her help solving the crime but you can guess what is going to happen. Fun and suspenseful story.
second chance, both for Doreen’s new beginning in Kelowna and for her budding relationship with Mack.
I loved this book. The 2nd in the series and I am hooked! Love the characters and their interactions and really love the dog, cat and bird. If you like a good mystery, an entertaining book that keeps your attention and a book that keeps you guessing you will love this book!
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Canada, cosy-mystery, amateur-sleuth, RCMP, situational-humor, verbal-humor, small-town
Doreen is a formerly rich and privileged divorcee who until very recently was married to a control freak. Now she is living in a house owned by her grandmother who preferred to move into a comfortable retirement home nearby and make spending money betting on local gossip. Much of the hilarity comes from Doreen’s inability to do anything other than garden. No cooking skills (including how to turn on the stove!), no income or money for groceries or repairs. She recently became acquainted with the town’s police detective because of finding a body and then snooping. Now she is find scattered skeletal parts and is snooping with her assorted pets. Great fun! Good read.
Vanessa Moyen is the super perky narrator.
Good read!
Bones in the Begonias by Dale Mayer
Lovely Lethal Gardens Series Book Two
Doreen Montgomery’s move to her grandmother’s home has been an interesting one. She is already well-known in the small town. After all, finding bodies buried in your backyard is big news. Thankfully life is settling down. There are less people hanging out in front of her home.
And then…she goes to help work in Detective Mack Moreau’s mother’s garden to make some money. And gardening is the only thing Doreen knows how to do well—unless you count finding bodies.
This story is told from Doreen’s point of view only. Along with her dog, Mugs, and the cat and bird she’s inherited with the house her grandmother has given her, Doreen can’t seem to stay out of Mack’s way. She’s keeping the police force in this small-town busy. Not to mention the gossip mill. Great suspense and humor.
http://justjudysjumbles.blogspot.com/2014/09/dale-mayer-book-list.html
A great series continues! Have already read the first three books and all were great. In this mystery, believe it or not, Doreen finds another body (or parts of one!!) We find out more about her crazy aunt and she and Mack get closer. The animals are even funnier in this one. I just love how her grandmother left money in all her clothes to help out Doreen. As usual Doreen figures out who did it and solves the mystery! A cute and funny mystery that will brighten your day
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Thank you Book Sprout and Dale Mayer for the arc. I voluntarily leave my review. I read all things Dale Mayer. I am not a cozy mystery fan, so giving it 4 stars should tell you cozy mystery lover what a fast clipped, sometimes funny, sometimes over the top this cozy mystery is. I didn’t really appreciate Mack in book 1, but he is becoming more fleshed out and less of an ass-hat. I really enjoy when its Mack her friend as Doreen says. I like that Doreen is quick and thinks outside the box and I love her bonding with Nan after years apart. Thaddeus (parrot) Goliath (cat) and Mugs ( dog) are her partners in crime delving, by accident of course, into the cold cases. I would read this with my grandmother, and my child (of which I have neither by the way) without hesitation and would enjoy discussing it with them. Bring on the carnations now!
Finding more than bones in unexpected places…
There really aren’t enough adequate words to describe the Lovely Lethal Garden series! Except… OMG… I LOVE IT!! She makes you want to laugh and cry out loud all at the same time. That lady has back bone, heart and such a positive outlook no matter how bad things are looking.
It’s a serious business finding dead bodies and bones in your first week in your new home. It’s fairly disconcerting that you can’t even use basic kitchen appliances It’s how does one earn money that’s badly needed? Do we mention those loveable animals that seem to scope out trouble all on their own!!… you wonder at times who the real sleuths are…I’m almost convinced they were human at one point in time…
You’d think with life settling down in her second week, things would be much easier. This is Doreen… Let’s go for broke and find more bones in unexpected places… Welcome to Doreen’s second week and see how it unfolds in BONES IN THE BEGONIA’S. It would seem that trouble loves to find her. Poor Mack has his hands full… Another aspect of this series that I love, is the interaction between all of the characters. Even though their is a certain chemistry it’s subtle but simmering. Time will tell just how this exasperating woman will fully affect Mack’s entire life. They are all in for a wild ride.
Dale Mayer continues to weave her magic with this series. It offers readers mystery but loads of fun and hilarity at the same time. It’s a wonderful weekend page-turning escape to brighten your day and solve a mystery, Doreen style. I highly recommend this new series. If you love mysteries and humour this book delivers…
I look forward to seeing the next adventures that Doreen faces…
This is book takes place a few days after the end of the first book in the Lovely Lethal Gardens series. Doreen’s life is just getting back to normal after solving 2 murders and a cold case, when Mack asks her to help save the begonias in his mother’s garden. Doreen discovers why the begonias are not doing well, after removing some of the bulbs she finds a wood box with human bones. Just like in the first book her dog, cat and parrot and humor to the story. They help find evidence and the parrot seems to understand and respond to the conversations taking place in the room. As much as Mack tries to keep Doreen out of his investigation he knows that she’s going to help him with or without his support. I think what makes this story good are the interactions between Mack, Doreen, and her animals. I really enjoyed reading this book.
Cozy mysteries are not my thing but this series is growing on me. I chuckled at the animals, they’re actually the stars in these books, Doreen just thinks she is.
Doreen and her intuitive animals have another mystery to solve…a cold case. There’s a drought happening, water levels are low and bones are showing up. Has a body been dismembered?
We’re still waiting for Doreen’s ex to get his karma.
Doreen and Mack are like kids in the playground, he treats her like a nuisance but with a twinkle in his eye.
I read this in one sitting and thoroughly enjoyed it.
As Doreen Montgomery continues her life alone with the exception of her menagerie, Mugs, Goliath and Thaddeus, she continues to be unable to stay out of trouble much to the chagrin of Mack a detective with the RCMP.
Doreen is often funny but not always in a humorous way. She has a way of finding items leading to a cold case and often it’s body parts of missing people.
I love the banter between Doreen and Mack.
Doreen continues to struggle with the gas stove in the house her grandmother left for her, not that she knows how to cook even if she could get the black monster to work. So she has the gas stove replaced with an electric one but still doesn’t know how to cook.
Between Doreen and Mack they solve the cold case of bones in the begonias but at the close of this book she seems to have stumbled on yet another mystery in the form of the sound of gunshots.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
This is such a fun read with captivating characters and a well-crafted mystery that I enjoyed from the first page to the last. I absolutely love Doreen Montgomery, a gardener who becomes known as the “bone lady” because she keeps finding old cold case bones, and her funky family that includes her basset hound Mugs, a blue parrot Thaddeus, a gigantic Maine coon cat Goliath, and her grandmother Nan. I really like her dynamic and chemistry with RCMP Corporal Mack Moreau who hires her to clean up his mother’s garden and she discovers a set of bones and another mystery to solve. Bones in the Begonias is a must-read for cozy mystery fans. I received an advance reader copy of this book from Booksprout and this is my voluntary review.
I absolutely love this story . This is book 2 in the Lovely Lethal Gardens series .
I love Doreen Montgomery and her furry and feathered
Family they are absolutely intertaining , interesting and a lively group .
This is a delightful cozy mystery .
Doreen is a magnet for mystery and mayhem . I love the interaction between Corporal Mack Moreau and Doreen the two of them and their friendship is really humourous . Oh! And Grandma Nan is fabulous . I could not put this story down and cannot wait to continue these delightful cozy mysterys . I highly recommend reading this story .
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
No good deed goes unpunished…
Seamlessly transitioned from Arsenic in the Azaleas, Bones in the Begonias is the second book in Dale Mayer’s Lovely Lethal Gardens series. Doreen and Mack are in his mother’s garden assessing the state of her flowers. A bit concerned that the begonias are not looking well in the space they currently occupy, she decides to transplant them to a more hospitable location. You guessed it…nestled in the roots of the begonias is a bone. Is it human? Do we need to ask?
Of course, the neighborhood is still upset with Doreen over the whole azalea incident, there are people still gathered at her driveway, and a local journalist prowling her property uninvited and seeking an exclusive interview.
If you’re expecting a spoiler here, not going to happen. Just assurance that it will be chaotic, interesting, and funny. Mack, Mugs, Thaddeus, and Goliath are great, and Nan is her sweet, funny, and very determined to get insider information to launch the next betting pool. You have to read the book for the nitty gritty details. Love these!
I’m not sure what prompted this author to take on Cozy Mysteries but I’m glad she did. This is the second book in a new series. As Doreen becomes enthralled with becoming an amateur detective, she seems to get plenty of experience as she again finds bones relating to an old unsolved case. She was going to help her ‘real’ detective friend with his mom’s garden where she found these bones. The story is great and the banter between Doreen and her three pets (Mugs, Goliath and Thaddeus) is priceless. Thaddeus, the parrot, who repeats everything he shouldn’t, Goliath, the cat, who is every bit a cat and Mugs, her dog, who is lovable as well as he adores her and pretends to be a guard dog. The relationship between Doreen and Mack is also well done. What can I say? I’m hooked.
Cozy mysteries is a new genre for Dale Mayer and she has hit it out of the park! This is the second book in this new series and is so enjoyable. Doreen is getting divorced and she is finding out that living a pampered life style never prepared her to live a normal life. She has no money, no job and no hopes of finding one.
Doreen’s one talent is finding dead bodies or just their bones. Mack is the Detective who is assigned to each of the cases. This is a funny, delightful series and I can’t wait for the next in the series.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Oh wow I devoured this one in one sitting.
This book is continuing Doreen the bone lady journey with her quirky cat, dog and parrot to find who she really is after an ugly divorce and with her keep tripping over dead body or human bones, this is one heck of a journey. And this book starting with bones in the begonias, so it’s another cold case mystery to solve with sexy Corporal Mack.
This book really fun to read, with unique characters that always make me laugh and mystery that keeps me turning the pages, I love this book, although sometimes Doreen recklessness a bit annoying and make me rolling my eyes and smack my head, but that’s so totally Doreen, so yeah I still love this book.
If you’re a cozy mystery fan, this book is perfect for you.
*I voluntarily received a review copy of this book
I love this series! I start off laughing, and then enjoy every word as the mystery plays out. I love Doreen, she doesn’t know how smart and strong she really is. Her pets are atrociously amusing. Thaddeus is the absolute best with the words he keeps picking up and Mugs and Goliath have become quite the pair.
In the first book, Mack asks Doreen if she would work on his mother’s garden. She is unable to give it the attention it needs and she’s worried about her begonias. They don’t seem to be doing well. This book opens with them going to work on that garden.
I’m not sure if I feel sorry for Mack or not. Doreen listens but doesn’t, and she has more than her fair share of problems with the house and money.
Her struggles are real and when her pets find more stuff at the creek she delves even deeper in to the mysterious disappearance of a young girl.
I couldn’t put this book down. Between Doreen’s comments to her stove and her pets. Add in Mack’s frustration with her investigating and you will be intrigued, laughing and turning the pages.
There is definitely an attraction between these two, that I’m sure her Nan wants to see come to fruition as well.
I can’t wait to read the next book in this series.
Another great book in this series and yep just as the title suggests, there are bones in the begonias. After her last “help” she gave to Mack all Doreen wants is a quiet life. Well she could get it if she didn’t find a bone with Mack there. A pretty box, a ring and many more bones later and the hunt is on to find the victim and the person who committed it. Will Doreen leave well alone? Or will her interest be piqued enough to investigate? I love Mack the awesome policeman dispairs at Doreen’s interference but really doesn’t do much about it, at he animals who all have their place and at Doreen’s Nan who is always the one who says so much but doesn’t seem to mean it. I can’t wait to read other books in this series.
This series is so funny, plenty of drama, and lots of bones, and cold cases that Doreen just has to solve to the chagrin of the local RCMP’s Corp Moreau. What is a person to do. She loves gardening and apparently killers love to hid their misdeeds in the garden. Throw in Thaddeus an african grey parrot with the habit of picking up stray sentences and repeating them at the worst time possible, a cat named Goliath that loves to trip you up and a basset hound named Mugs with a penchant for digging up things he shouldn’t. What is not to love about a comedy of errors resulting in solving a cold case. Hopefully I have not given out any spoilers.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.