Bretta Solomon

The Flower Shop in River City, MO, is Bretta Solomon's whole life. Widowed more than a year ago when her cop husband had a heart attack, Bretta has thrown herself into her florist's business and her place in this small rural Midwestern community. And her diet-she's lost a lot of weight in the intervening year. If only she could shed her grief in the same way. When Bretta reads in the newspaper that Isaac Miller, an Amish farmer who supplied some of her most beautiful flowers, has died under mysterious circumstances, she's shocked and saddened. But her shock turns to curiosity when Isaac's brother, Evan, a friend of hers since his family bought her parents' farm in neighboring Woodgrove, calls and asks her to help him find out more about his brother's death. What Bretta finds when she begins looking into Isaac's murder-for that's what it was-is a complicated web of mistrust and suspicion both inside and around the Amish community. The sheriff suspects Evan, Evan suspects the neighbors, and Bretta finds her florist competitors unnaturally interested in Isaac's garden. Bretta's talent for digging around is both her blessing and her curse. Roots of Murder is the first novel in Janis Harrison's Bretta Solomon Gardening Mysteries-a charming cozy mystery and an atmospheric story about small-town life.

When Flower Shop owner Bretta Solomon leaves her hometown of River City, Missouri, and heads for a florist convention in Branson, she's surprised to find a letter from Vincent and Mabel McDuffy slipped under her hotel room door, begging for help. The McDuffys seem to know of Bretta's success as an amateur sleuth around River City, and that, coupled with their admiration for Bretta's late husband, a police officer, has inspired them to ask Bretta to find out what happened to their daughter, who died of a heart attack a few months ago. The trouble is, Bretta can't find the McDuffys-after leaving her several messages at the hotel, they seem to have vanished. And although she's curious to track them down and find out exactly what they want her to do, she's got her hands full already running the design contest at the annual florist convention, coping with back-stabbing competitors and suspicious colleagues. Once again, Janis Harrison's likable and enterprising sleuth, Bretta Solomon, unearths a murderer in the unlikeliest of places. Combining a traditional puzzle with a delightful gardening backdrop, this charming mystery distinguishes a series that continues to bloom.

Janis Harrison's gardening mysteries combine a popular "cozy" pastime with a delightfully populated small Missouri town and juicy mysteries. In her fourth outing, Bretta Solomon has been hired along with a few other River City business owners to put together the town's wedding of the year. But when the landscaper responsible for the nuptial's setting and the bride's hairdresser both die suspiciously on the same day, Bretta can't help but think there's something more sinister in the air than love and marriage. It's up to her to figure out just exactly what's going on before the guests arrive for the big event, and with Janis Harrison at the controls it's sure to be another fantastic outing in an admirable series... in A Deadly Bouquet.

In River City, Missouri, the "wedding of the year" is causing florist Bretta Solomon one headache after another. Bretta and a few other River City business owners have been hired by a newcomer to this small Midwestern town to throw an unforgettable party for Evelyn Montgomery's daughter, and Evelyn wants every lavish detail to be perfectly done. Bretta; Oliver, the landscaper; Sonya, the wedding coordinator; Claire, the beautician; Dana, the caterer; and Kasey, the photographer; are all being driven nuts by Evelyn's last-minute, over-the-top demands. Furthermore, during the week leading up to the wedding, Bretta's estranged father shows up for a "surprise" visit and moves himself into her house. And as if these two events alone weren't enough, the enigmatic Bailey Monroe, a DEA agent Bretta met during a previous adventure, also has arrived in town claiming a desire to get to know her better. It's shaping up to be quite a week. But, just when she thinks things can't get any worse, two wedding workers die suspiciously on the same day, and Bretta can't help but think there's something more sinister in the air than love and marriage. In Reap a Wicked Harvest, it's up to Janis Harrison's delightfully determined gardening sleuth to figure out just exactly what's going on before the big day.

River City, Missouri, florist Bretta Solomon is happy to spend an occasional day off with her helper, Toby, a slow-witted young man whose mother died from a terminal illness, leaving him on his own. Everyone in town, including Bretta, takes extra care to make sure Toby is doing okay. However, today, before Bretta can relax, she must fulfill another promise: her father's new, and younger, girlfriend wants to redecorate Bretta's home. Bretta is less than thrilled about the task ahead. But, the unexpected news that Toby has been killed by a swarm of killer bees deliberately planted in his home puts decorating on the back burner. Determined to find out the truth behind Toby's murder, Bretta is once again in the thick of things in Bindweed, another entry in the Bretta Solomon Gardening series-a charming, delightful cozy mystery series from Janis Harrison.