Port Danby Cozy Mystery Bundle (Books 8-14)

~Book 8: Hyacinths and Homicide~

After a busy day providing bouquets and pumpkins for a ten year high school reunion at the posh Chesterton Regency Hotel, Lacey Pinkerton is thrilled to have a nice romantic dinner with her boyfriend, Detective James Briggs. But when the reunion's class bully is thrown from the hotel balcony, Briggs is called to duty. Lacey soon finds herself involved in a complicated murder investigation where the evidence points in every direction and the victim has more than his share of enemies.

~Book 9: Crocuses and Crime~

The new year is off to a smooth start. Pink's Flowers is doing well and Lacey is growing even closer to her wonderful boyfriend, Detective James Briggs. But when a local man is killed, one of Lacey's dearest friends is implicated in the murder. Briggs has asked her to step away from the case but Lacey is determined to find the real killer. Will her meddling cause irreparable damage to their relationship? Lacey must risk everything, including her heart, to find the truth.

~Book 10: Sunflowers and Sabotage~

Lacey "Pink" Pinkerton is in the middle of a bustling summer in Port Danby. Les and Elsie, her neighboring shop owners are up to their usual sibling rivalry antics. Lola's parents make a rare stop in town, causing a rift between Lacey's best friend, Lola, and her shop assistant, Ryder. In the midst of it all, Lacey is starkly reminded that her boyfriend, Detective James Briggs, has a dangerous job. And of course, summer in Port Danby wouldn't be complete without a murder.

When a human handler in the Chesterton Dog Show, a very popular and prestigious event, winds up dead, Lacey and her wondrous nose must track down a killer . . . without her usual handsome partner.

~Book 11: Lavender and Lies~

There's a new man in town, Lionel Dexter, an eligible, handsome bachelor who has taken up residence in a Chesterton mansion. He quickly wins over many hearts, including Kate Yardley's, the stylish, man crazy owner of the Mod Frock Boutique. Much to everyone's chagrin, it turns out Lionel is quite the scoundrel. Soon, jealousy and heartbreak flood the town. When the town's newest hot commodity winds up dead, Lacey joins her boyfriend, Detective Briggs on a quest to find the killer. Could it be a jilted lover or was there more to Lionel than broad shoulders, graying temples and a blinding white smile?

~Book 12: Freesias and Foul Play~

Port Danby residents, including grumpy Mayor Price, are giddy with the prospect of a live theater show in town. Everyone dons their best outfits for opening night of The Wizard of Oz but when the lead actress is found dead, an exciting night out morphs into a full blown murder mystery. The traveling theater group has brought many new faces to town and finding the killer proves tricky. Despite a head cold, Lacey's super nose is on the case.

~Book 13: Cornflowers and Corpses~

Pink's Flowers is in the middle of a busy bridal season, and Lacey is struggling to find a replacement for her irreplaceable assistant Ryder Kirkland. In the midst of dealing with quirky, incompetent and occasionally just unpleasant new floral assistants, Lacey finds her focus and time once again taken up by murder.

The West Coast Bird Watcher's Society has come to town for some birding frivolity and excursions. When one of the members winds up dead, Lacey and her super nose jump into action. The victim had plenty of enemies and not many friends so theories and accusations take flight. Detective Briggs and Lacey must untangle the clues to find the killer.

~Book 14: Jasmine and Jealousy~

It's a busy end of summer for Lacey Pinkerton and so much is happening Lacey can hardly keep up. Ryder returns but his arrival does not go as expected and Lacey finds herself smack in the center of a Lola driven bout of drama. On top of that there's a new detective in town. While Lacey's happy that Briggs will have more free time (especially if it's spent with her) she's not too sure about Detective Fairchild. And worse, it seems Detective Fairchild is not too sure about Lacey.

A taco truck arrives in town. The popular Taco Brothers run a smooth operation but the relationship between the siblings is anything but smooth. When one of the brothers winds up dead, Lacey is anxious to help investigate. But the new detective doesn't want her around. Of course that doesn't stop her from finding out who killed the Taco Brother. And in the midst of such a whirlwind week, Lacey finally gets a big break on the Hawksworth murder.

Will Lacey finally put together the pieces to solve the hundred-year-old murder mystery?

Hyacinths and Homicide:

The store bell clanged behind me as I carefully placed the last potted hyacinth on the counter. The lush blue stalks had cost a pretty penny due to the fact it was late fall and the fragrant flowers were a good six months early for their natural bloom.

Ryder's coat rustled as he pulled it off to hang on the hook. "It's definitely big toe weather."

I pulled my admiring gaze from the flowers and cast him a quizzical brow. "Did you just say it was big toe weather?"

"Yep." He walked over to the work island and took a moment to breathe in the heady scent of the hyacinths before continuing. "My grandpa always knew when it was going to rain. He'd hang onto his gray suspenders with his thumbs—" He nodded. "Yes, he did that, cliché as it sounds and his belly was round too." Ryder stepped back, pushed out his stomach and hooked his thumbs around invisible suspenders. "He'd stand just like this and bellow, 'my toe's achin' so it's gonna rain, sure as I'm standing here."

"My dad always says his bones hurt when the weather is changing, but I don't know if I've ever heard someone predict weather with his toe. Was he usually right?"

"Spot on every time but that's not the crazy thing about it."

Kingston gurgled from his window perch to catch Ryder's attention. Ryder walked over and grabbed the crow's treat can and pulled out a peanut butter dog bone. "The crazy part about the story was that Grandpa didn't have any big toes." Ryder handed Kingston the treat and walked back to the counter. "When my grandpa was fourteen, he and a group of friends had gone off on a hike in the snow behind his dad's farm. They got lost for three nights. His work boots had so many holes, he ended up with frostbite. They had to cut off his two big toes."

"That's terrible. Poor guy. But then how did he predict the weather with them?"

"He claimed he could still feel the toes. You know how people can still feel their limbs after they've lost them? Same thing with toes, I guess. And he claimed that they'd be throbbing in his shoes when the weather was turning bad."

"He sounds wonderful. Is he still around?" I moved the hyacinths back farther on the counter so I could design the centerpieces for the high school reunion.

Ryder's shoulders dropped some. "No, we lost him to a bad heart four summers ago, but he had one of those personalities that just permeated our lives. Still does. That's why we always say it's bad toe weather when it's about to rain."

"I'm sorry to hear that. He sounds adorable and grandpa-ish."

"Yellow roses, right?" Ryder asked as he headed toward the refrigeration unit where we kept roses and cut flowers fresh for bouquets.

"Yes, thanks, and I'll get the vases."

Ryder and I met back at the work counter to create the arrangements. He took another whiff of the spike of bluish-purple flowers. "You know, I don't think these hot house blooms smell nearly as strong as the ones that bloom naturally in spring."

I leaned forward and ran my fingers gently along the petal laden stems. Each bloom resembled a tiny purple starfish packed snugly into clusters of waxy florets. Glossy green leaves framed the bottom of the stalk, providing the perfect contrast for the bluish-purple flowers. "You might be right about the fragrance. When I worked for the perfume industry, I spent a lot of hours with my sniffer poked into stalks of hyacinths. They're a popular fragrance for cosmetics. And as I recall, they always made me sneeze. These have a rich, heady scent but no sneezes. Of course, now that I said it, my nose is tickling." I rubbed it a few times to stop the tingle. "All I know is these forced bloom hyacinths cost four times as much as the blooming bulbs do in spring. But Debra Geppler, the woman in charge of the reunion, insisted that the centerpieces for the luncheon contain Blue Jacket Hyacinths and Bright Canary Yellow Roses. Supposedly the two flowers are a perfect match for the school's colors, royal blue and yellow."