Ellie
Allbright is contentedly living in her tiny home in Poppyville,
California, where she is also the proprietor of a perfume
shop, Scents and Nonsense. She lives with her beloved dog,
Dash, and has a cat named Nabokov who lives at the perfume
shop. The garden outside the shop is always beautiful with
a variety of plants and an intoxicating, magical aroma.
The women's
business group, the Greenstockings, has been pushing for a
museum dedicated to the California gold rush, and one item
that they find for the museum is a butter churn. The churn
is also a time capsule. At the public opening of the capsule,
many items are found, but two are very significant. One is
a large piece of gold, which is valuable and immediately put
in the vault at the bank. The other is a mysterious manuscript
written in an unknown language. Oh, and there just happens
to be a photograph of a woman who looks exactly like Ellie!
When
local history professor Eureka Sanford is murdered in the
museum, Ellie once again finds herself embroiled in solving
a murder. She must rely on her magical, empathetic instincts
to solve the crime and restore order and peace.
This
is such a special book in a special series. Bailey Cattrell
has a true gift for crafting a murder mystery with just enough
of the paranormal to elevate the setting and the characters.
You don't need to have read the previous two book in the series
to understand this one, but why not? The three books complement
each other, and following along as Ellie's abilities develop
is fascinating.
With
the beautiful flowers and scents described within the pages,
my imagination wandered and I daydreamed of having such a
talent and a garden. The only thing that could possibly enhance
the reader's enjoyment is if the book could somehow be a scratch
'n sniff!
You might
want to light a scented candle, or diffuse some essentials
oil while you read to bring your own olfactory sense into
the enjoyment of Marigolds for Malice.
Adrienne
Langer has created another beautiful cover. Her artwork has
graced all three of the books in this series.
Reviewer’s Note: Author also writes as Bailey Cates
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