Weeding Out Lies
A Texas Flower Farmer Cozy Mystery
by
Jackie Layton
Cozy Mystery
1st in Series
Setting - Texas
Publisher: Level Best Books
1st in Series
Setting - Texas
Publisher: Level Best Books
Publication Date: July 11, 2023
Print length: 302 pages
ASIN: B0C7JT33B4
Print length: 302 pages
ASIN: B0C7JT33B4
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SYNOPSIS:
Flower farmer Emma Justice’s life is firmly rooted in Lutz, Texas where she has recently begun her new business. One morning while delivering flowers, she stumbles upon a prominent citizen. Dead. When a friend is accused of murder, Emma launches her own investigation. She’s used to separating weeds from flowers. Emma will dig for clues, weed out red herrings and cultivate a plan to find the killer.
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REVIEW:
4 stars!
A new amateur sleuth blossoms in this fresh,
flower-filled, Texas-set debut cozy mystery!
Emma Justice is the unlikely new amateur sleuth in Jackie
Layton’s new Texas Flower Farmer Cozy Mystery series set in the small fictional
town of Lutz, Texas. A former pharmacy tech, she’s finally pursuing her dream of
flower farming now that her only child, daughter Abby, is out of the house and
off to college. Her transformation to gumshoe is courtesy of a promise to help her
dear friend and bookstore owner, Paige Booker, clear her name as the main
suspect in the murder of her part-time employee, Willow Moore. With loads of
suspects and as many possible motives for her murder, this first book is rife
with red herrings and plot twists.
Emma is hard-working and determined to find her joy in growing
and selling her beautiful blooms. There are plenty of descriptions of lovely
flower combinations throughout the story, and I was often tempted to try to
recreate some of her displays. In addition, Emma’s best friend, Sophie, owns
the bakery in town, and another, Brett, the local coffee shop, so many luscious
food items and delicious drinks are mentioned. Love interest Jake is new to
town and helping out his best friend, Brett, while he takes a break and does
his best to delight Emma with yummy new coffee concoctions.
As with most first-in-series books, the author must
establish the small-town setting and its residents in this entry, including the
protagonist, family, friends, victim, and suspects. Layton does a great job
providing a wide variety of people, professions, and businesses to populate
Lutz without overwhelming the reader. She hits a good balance with those who
make only a casual appearance and those who will have a more substantial hand
in the current proceedings.
With a victim everyone seems to like, Emma has to really dig
into Willow’s private affairs to discover suspects and their motives. However,
once she gets going, meanies start to come out of the woodwork. Emma is mostly
discreet about her inquiries, but it’s a small town, and word inevitably gets
around that she’s asking tough questions. She eventually narrows down her list
of names and motives, but it wasn’t until the final reveal that I knew the real
killer and the truth behind Willow’s death.
I recommend WEEDING OUT LIES to cozy mystery readers ready
for a new series featuring flowers, food, and a scrappy female protagonist in an
authentic down-home Texas setting.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
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Jackie Layton is the author of cozy mysteries with Spunky Southern Sleuths. Her stories are set in Texas, Georgia, and South Carolina. She lives on the coast of South Carolina where she enjoys walks on the beach and golf cart rides around the marsh. Reading, gardening, and traveling are some of her favorite hobbies. She always keeps a notebook handy to write down ideas for future stories. Be careful what you say around her, because it might end up in a book.
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Hi Paula, thanks for reviewing Weeding Out Lies!
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