Mums and Mayhem: A Magic Garden Mystery

Magic Garden Mysteries, Book 3

De: Amanda Flower

Narrado por: Eilidh Beaton

A famous fiddler has been kilt. A magic garden's left to wilt. Does Fiona Knox's father hold the guilt? Will florist Fiona's blood be spilt?

World-famous fiddle player Barley McFee arrives in blustery Bellewick, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, for a grand homecoming concert organized by jeweler Bernice Brennan. Fiona Knox, owner of the Climbing Rose Flower Shop, is starting to regret volunteering to help with the concert. Bernice is an exacting taskmaster, and Fiona has enough tension dealing with her parents, who have traveled from Tennessee to visit Fi and her younger sister, Isla, and to reveal a secret about Fi's birth. But when Barley is found dead in his trailer during the concert's intermission, and his death is shockingly tied to Fiona's father, Fiona discovers there are more secrets surrounding her family than she realized.

Much to the chagrin of handsome Neil Craig, Chief Inspector of the County Aberdeen Police, Fiona delves into the case to clear her father's name. To make matters worse, Fiona learns that Duncreigan, the magical garden that she inherited from her godfather, is dying. At some point during the concert, someone broke into the garden and cut the centuries-old climbing rose - the source of the garden's magic - from the standing stone.

The stakes are higher than ever and Fiona could lose all that she's grown unless she's able to dispel this terrible curse and dig up the truth - fast.

©2020 Amanda Flower (P)2020 Audible, Inc.

ANOTHER ENTERTAINING SCOTTISH OUTING

NARRATED IN PURE SOUTHERN STYLE. THESE CHARACTERS AND THEIR STORIES CONTINUE TO DEVELOP. THE GARDEN IS INTRIGUING, AND I CANNOT WAIT TO SEE WHERE FIONA GOES FROM HERE.

Side story overshadows the mystery

I do enjoy the book and have disregarded other complaints about the narrator’s southern accent and mispronunciations of words pronounced typically by Americans. I just get a bit impatient with how the side stories slow the progression of the main purpose of the book: the mystery. I couldn’t relate to the mother who was so controlling yet so dishonest to her daughters. She seemed so unloving to her own flesh and blood. She seems to be all about maintaining an image of propriety at the expense of a decent relationship with her daughters. I think she could have been written a little personable. I’ll be looking forward to the next book. I did want to mention that there was too much unnecessary dialogue that interfered with the progression of the story. For example when Fiona had to tell the band to keep playing so the people wouldn’t leave the concert, all that conversation between Fiona and the manager was unnecessary. Fiona did not have the clarity of mind to do what was needed. There were other places in the story as well.

Great series

I have loved these books and I hope there will be more. Gardens and magic make a great story.

Too slow - and a bit dramatic!

The mother is the most annoying character and it is overboard! The story is very slow. The story could have been cut in half! Also this is book 3 but they repeat the same stuff from the other 2 books, more than once!

All sanctimonious and self-centered characters

This should have been a book about magic instead of being about solving mysteries. Maybe then it would have at least been more interesting. The dialogue drags out every thought far more than necessary, and most of those thoughts are dead weight. Fiona, the main character, has more guts than brains, and keeps thinking that she needs to do the police's job, even though the chief detective proved himself to be worthy of skill and trust from day one. There was no real reason why Fiona had to investigate, and yet, she does. She keeps putting herself into dangerous positions even though she has been warned not to, and even though she thinks she is being sly when she asks questions, she is actually super rude by going around accusing everyone of murder. She is always shouldering responsibility for the dumb or selfish actions of everyone else around her (especially her sister, her parents, and all the "suspects" she questions), and at the same time, her brain is too slow to catch on to what is right in front of her. I mean, come on! She is a florist and gardener, and it takes her nearly a week to figure out how to save the cut rose??? And really, if this is a magical garden and her life's purpose, shouldn't saving it have been on the top of her priority list? But no, instead she plods around asking all the same questions of everyone AFTER the police had already asked them in order to investigate a murder that her very skilled police boyfriend was already working on. And why does he like her anyway when she doesn't trust him or respect his job??? I had to force myself to finish this book because I hate to leave anything incomplete, but it was hard to get through it and I am definitely not exploring anything else by this author.