Floral Misfortune

A Willow Wisteria Cozy Mystery #1

by Audrey Shine

Willow Wisteria is more than just a florist; she is a brilliant floral artist, sought worldwide, who effortlessly blends aesthetics with personal touches that make each project unique.

When Willow is invited to the serene lavender fields of Provence to design centerpieces for a high-profile culinary event, the last two things on her mind are romance and murder.

But Willow will face both in one in the affections of a handsome event planner, and the other when a renowned chef is found poisoned, with suspicion falling on Willow herself. With her livelihood and love life on the line, Willow must clear her own name and catch a culinary killer.

The Willow Wisteria series is an endearing cozy mystery that effortlessly transports you to exotic locations, bewitches you with a magical ambiance and hooks you so thoroughly you'll find it hard to put down. Brimming with surprising narrative turns and a compelling mystery at its heart, this enthralling read promises to hold your attention well past bedtime.

Future books in the series are also available!

Genres: Ebooks, Cozy, Mystery, Novella

157 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 6, 2024

Reviews

[Grace · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don't like this book. too much description not enough meat. Its also read by AI.

Reading other people's opinion, I am not the only one.

I am ready to toss it out as I think about reading but stops because I don't want to continue the book.

i know what I will do, since I got this book from library, I still have 9 days to go in my borrow time. so If I stop now and read something else and I didn't get back to it within the due date, then that is that. when its bad, its bad. no need to continue torturing myself.

[MinglingThreads · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is read by AI.
Many words were very badly pronounced, especially EVERY French word.
The writing is very floral, culinary, and cliché. Any and every metaphor had been used. I wonder if it was written by AI.
This was a free book. I will not read or listen to any other books in this series.

[Re Qu · Rating 1 out of 5]

Horrible narration (AI mispronounced words regularly). The author overused gardening and floral words throughout the book. The idea that the main characters did all the sleuthing with minimal reference to the police along the way was unrealistic.

[Christine Jackson · Rating 2 out of 5]

enjoyed the plot but too many cliches

Every paragraph seemed to have at least two cliches, which inhibited character development and sincerity. Overall a good read but I got so sick of the double entendres and hokey words, I resorted to skimming to get to the real story.

[Debbie Tryforos · Rating 2 out of 5]

Talk about flowery text. Way too much focus on flowers and their ties to crime. If I had to read any more about the sun reflecting on Anton’s hair I was going to gag. Way too much description on minor things

[Bailey Kinsey · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Virgo would appreciate this.

[Lise · Rating 3 out of 5]

An invitation to partner with a prestigious event firm has Willow Wisteria jetting off to the lavender fields of Provence, France. Her work is unceremoniously cut short when the guest of honour is murdered and she becomes the prime suspect.

This story had a slow pace, continuity issues, and a general lack of understanding of French culture. It's interesting that Willow's store is named "Floral Prose," as the language is very flowery. I was not fond of the main character who felt smug and overconfident. I doubt I will read the next book in the series.

[Cidney · Rating 2 out of 5]

Willow Wisteria is a renown flower arranger, well with a name like that she couldn't really be anything else! She receives an invitation to do the flowers at a posh event in Provence and on arrival she meets the man organising all of this, the good looking host, Anton Bellini who's renown for something but I forget what now. They spend time in the garden searching for the perfect flowers to decorate all those tables and she wants chandeliers of flowers and flowers on the tables. It did sound idyllic. Until the chef cooking and organising all of the food and menus is found dead on the kitchen floor, and Willow finds him and then manages to ring the police in france. The lead detective is suspicious of Willow, a woman with a penchant for flowers is walking along the lavender rows and the happens to stumble across the body of th dead chef. It's a little light on the characters and sadly I think when that happens then you don't pay enough attention to the storyline. I wasn't really connecting or even that interested in either Willow or Anton and so began to rush my way through the book to reach the finishing gate, which is a shame when someone takes all that time in writing a book.

It doesn't get that deep, it is a cozy crime, but Anton and Willow start to carry out their own investigations to find who killed Chef Armand, now that the venue has been closed down whilst the police are investigating. So off they trot questioning people already questioned by the police. And they do find out who murdered Chef Armand and are nearly disposed of in the process by the murderer. i think they then met over a dinner later on and he was off travelling somewhere else and she was heading home, and that was that! It passed a pleasant hour or so on the sofa with the cat in the early hours of the morning because neither of us could settle with the very very high winds racing round the house at the moment. We've been living with these winds for a couple of weeks now and if they don't stop soon I shall find myself either doing puzzles or reading books to send me to sleep several times a night!

[Beth Cole · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was an easy read and pleasant enough, however I don’t think it lived up to its potential. The cover of the book did throw me off as it doesn’t seem to have anything to do with any of the content of the book (bar the plants). At times I felt as though the author was using a lot of words but not really saying anything, so the book could’ve been half the length. While the main character is a florist and the plot revolves around plants, the author did over do it with plant related metaphors and double entendres - not to mention calling the main character Willow Wisteria!

[Madison · Rating 1 out of 5]

I tried starting this book twice, hoping it would grow on me the second time, but it didn’t. Even though it was free, it wasn’t worth finishing. The writing is overly flowery and lacks substance—there are plenty of words, but very little actually happens. I never connected with the characters or the plot, as the story felt more like word salad than a cohesive narrative. It reads like it was written to meet a word count, filled with unnecessary language that obscures the point.

DNF.

[Laurel · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you like extremely detailed descriptive writing that is flowery in style as well as deeply enbedded with flower parts, this book may be for you. This book was actually written in such a manner where the English lady, starts sounding French. The cadence is almost like watch Gomez Addams on TV grabbing Morticia when she spoke French.

[Eirlys · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good read

Willow is a florist with an exceptional talent, and receives an invitation to travel to Province to design centerpieces for a top event. In a strange country, Willow , finds a body, becomes a suspect, and finds love.
Unusual, but interesting story.

[Larry · Rating 3 out of 5]

My main concern, too much fluff and not enough passion. Otherwise, it's a decent story with interesting characters. The plot is easily followed, and the premise is finding out who killed the talented chef and why. I am not sure I will continue with the series.

[Anne Newman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Willow Wisteria is a flower arranger extraordinaire. She gets an invitation to go to Provence to do the table decorations for a big event & happens upon a murder! She notices some tiny piece of greenery on a kitchen knife near the victim & tracking this down, with the aid of the event organiser, she solves the murder.

[Celest · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Fun and Intriguing Mystery

This is a great story with interesting characters. I didn't have any idea who dun it until the very end. My first book by Audrey Shine and certainly not my last. Hoping to get book two soon.

[Liza · Rating 2 out of 5]

Willow is a florist invited to Florence to create the floral displays for a special event. When someone is murdered, she decides to investigate.

The story is extremely over the top. Constant exaggerated plant references drove me insane.

[Janell Hartzell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great quick listen to while working.

[Sara Stuart · Rating 4 out of 5]

The ai narrator on Spotify is a bit odd to listen to, with the odd extra sound thrown into the mix. Otherwise it's a great story

[Tasha Mackey Carle · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is very slow. I didn’t feel not mind that it was AI read. It was more the very slow start.

[Dilys Spence · Rating 5 out of 5]

Total Mystery

Excellent to the end with surprise that keeps you enthralled and gives an insight into the
Wonderful Lavender fields of Provence.