Carnations & Collateral

A hometown celebration, a deadly blast and fireworks with fatal consequences.

The Labor Day Carnations Festival should’ve gone off with a bang, but not like this. When a fiery explosion at the fireworks finale leaves prominent town matriarch Maxine Whitaker dead, florist Iris Bennett finds herself tangled in a mystery as layered as her floral arrangements.

The red carnations she dyed for the festival now feel like a warning especially as whispers of sabotage, secrets, and long-buried grudges ripple through the town.

With Winston, her one-eyed Persian cat, keeping close watch, and Detective Mark Cooper asking all the wrong questions, Iris begins digging into secrets someone desperately wanted to stay hidden. But in a town where everyone owes someone something, collateral damage is inevitable.

As Iris follows the trail of smoke and betrayal, she’ll have to decide: how much truth is too much and is justice worth the cost?

⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ Awesome
It was very entertaining and delightful. Great easy read. Characters were charming and endearing as well as a bit complex. Loved it.

⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ Carnations & Collateral is a great story about Iris a Florist and her special, clever cat Winston. Something happens at the Labor Day Carnation Festival and a mystery starts. Iris assists Detective Mark to look for the clues as she interprets clues in a different way and they work as a team.
Excellent story and series that I highly recommend you read.

AI reader was bad

this could have been a great listen if a real person had narrated it. it was written so cleverly with humor and with great metaphors but they are lost with the AI performance