Pretty Poison

Peggy Lee Garden Mystery #1

by Joyce Lavene, Jim Lavene

When Peggy Lee, a botanist, the owner of The Potting Shed, and an occasional sleuth, stumbles upon the body of Mark Warner, the richest man in town, in her seasonal display, she must weed through a colorful cast of characters to catch a killer, while befriending a Great Dane and a sexy veterinarian. Original.

Genres: Mystery, Cozy Mystery, Cozy, Fiction, Gardening, Murder Mystery, Ebooks

267 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 2005

About the author

aka Elyssa Henry and Joye Ames, J.J. Cook, and Ellie Grant

Joyce Lavene and Jim Lavene are a wife and husband team who have written and published more than 70 books since 1999. They live in North Carolina with their family and enjoy cooking, photography and ghost hunting.

Reviews

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a new series and author for me and at first I just couldn't get into the story. I don't know if it was because I didn't really know the characters well before WHAM a murder occurs and everything gets crazy. I thought maybe the writing was too scattered and jumped around too much for me. But as I've read on I enjoyed it more and more and got very interested in the story. Who the heck was the culprit? There seemed lots of suspects, but no realistic ones at the time. There was also a couple more mysterious elements aka Nightflyer who was beyond creepy . I also got very frustrated with Paul, Peggy's son. What was with his attitude and his sudden over-protectiveness. I think it started to get explained, but hopefully will be explored more in future books. Also, can I please visit Peggy's house and store. They both sound lovely and this book makes me really want to visit Charlotte NC some day. The progression of the investigation went very fast and had some truly over-the-top events that occurred stealing a body from the morgue as a "prank" and digging up someone's cat as just a few. At the end I like the way Peggy started to put the pieces together and I had my suspicions about both Julie and her housekeeper Emma. I'm actually SO happy that this didn't end with Peggy being confronted by the angry killer and just barely rescued. That seems to be how most cozy's end and I liked this ending much better.

[Tari · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had started this book at the beginning of the month then real life took over and since I dubbed today as a reading treat day, I was able to finish it. It was the book for discussion over a week ago at an online book club.

I had read one other book by the Lavenes and really enjoyed it so I knew when the club picked this book that I would like it as well. Peggy is a great character and I loved her friendship with her deceased detective-husband's old partner, Al. Al was very protective of her as he knew that John would be if he was still around. It was really awesome how this story showed that a woman in her 50s can still find a man to date even if he is a little younger than she is. I'm anxious to keep reading the series to see how things turn out between her and her veterinarian friend, Steve.

The mystery itself was really good tying two killings together that involved plant poisoning. I had an idea eventually who did it and why, but it was fun and intriguing to see how they went about finding out. There were still some red herrings tossed in that made me doubt myself a couple of times. All in all, I'm happy for Peggy that she's got a relationship now and that she and her police officer son have a better rapport as well. It was comical in some places when Peggy would talk someone into doing something and they were sneaking around doing it--I could picture this happening in a TV mystery.

[Nuala Raftery · Rating 1 out of 5]

Peggy Lee is a botanist who finds a murdered man in her gardening shop. As usual in this type of fiction, she sets
out to solve the case. The characters are well wrought, the setting interesting but some of the situations are ridiculous. However, the story would still be a good read if the writing weren't so bad. The writers have never heard of the pluperfect tense with the result that one spends an inordinate amount of time trying to decipher the sequence of events. This lack of grammar results in the immortal sentence "...the dead woman was working in the Bank of America"! Are books no longer edited? I am reading the second in the series and have had to abandon it. It's a pity because I think with proof reading and proper editing the books could be quite good.

[Dawn Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

3 1/2 stars

Well!
I will be going out and snatching up the rest of this series, THAT'S for sure!!
This mystery was well written, well crafted and even thought I THOUGHT I knew who did it, I wasn't completely sure until the end when everyone ELSE found out.

Peggy (AND her cast of characters that accompany her) is fun and engaging and it was interesting learning about the different flowers and their meanings. I am not much (which means I NEVER dig in dirt) into gardening, but learning different and new things is right up my alley. AND if I don't have to get dirty in the process, EVEN better!!!

Quick, easy, fun, quirky read!!!

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting book. There was a lot of information about different flowers and I liked the poisoning aspect. The characters were likeable and the mystery was good and kept me guessing.

[Michelle · Rating 2 out of 5]

Cozy mysteries really can be hit or miss for me. This one had some high points, but when you find the quirky affectations of the main character particularly annoying, it doesn't bode well for the series.

Peggy Lee is a quirky gal with spirit. She's got a green thumb, and she owns a garden shop. She's widowed, still misses her cop husband, wears a purple cape (I wish I were kidding) and rides her bike everywhere because she is environmentally conscious. She's even converting her old Rolls Royce to hydrogen. Plus she teaches at the university. She does it all in her fabulous 50s.

The plot is thin...dead body in her shop overnight. Poison. Flowers. A sexy vet next door who is a (gasp) younger man and he's definitely interested in Peggy. A cast of characters in her shop who are nearly as annoying as she is. And an awesome, awesome dog. Honestly, I'm going to read book 2 because of the dog and the vet.

2.5 stars, and I just can't bring myself to round up. Sorry, Peggy, but you are trying way too hard to be quirky for me. Dial it back and you might get the third star in book 2.

[Sheri · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pretty Poison (Joyce & Jim Lavine)
Murder/mystery. Peggy Lee, a police officers widow, is a gardener and junior sleuth. She owns a flower shop in Downtown Charlotte. she enters her sop one day and finds a dead man, apparently murdered with a shovel to his head. The victim is a wealthy prominent married man with many mistresses. The suspect list is high. with the help of her son Paul, a police officer she finds that thins=gs are not as they appear and anyone is suspect, and everyone has motive. Twists turns, and surprises, Pretty Poison will have you guessing until the end. Also included gardening tips, and info on flowers/plants. Fast paced enjoyable read.

[Heather L · Rating 3 out of 5]

A pretty good mystery, I would probably pick up the second in the series if I happened across it.

[C. (Comment, never msg). · Rating 3 out of 5]

It took time to gel with “Pretty Poison”. I plodded because I love plants, flowers, and a protagonist over 30. Too many ‘young adult’ novels hold 20+ year-olds back. When there is adult material, characters are either this age, or bitter divorcées. This series starter has great components but delivery felt faint. I saw the mechanics of a book, instead of the mini world created. All movement felt deliberately plotted, as if the author’s outline were published instead of the life that ignites fiction. I could almost hear: “First we’ll do this, next those things happen, then we’ll take the character there”... The dialogue especially felt planned; odd as that sounds because writers do plan manuscripts. The best explanation is advice I received from an author as a kid, Martha Brooks: “Don’t tell a story. SHOW A STORY”.

Like weather delays buds, colour emerged later. The tense love between Mom and son drew in reality. The clerks goofed around like co-workers do. Peggy Lee’s heritage house made an interesting focal point. After she was attracted to a veterinarian, I enjoyed the novel. In the latter half the mystery got going, about the bank executive found in her florist shop, with multiple mistresses willing to kill him. Peggy Lee, a policeman’s widow with a son in the precinct, feels invested because an innocent vagabond is apprehended and her friend’s daughter is an alternative suspect.

The internet tipper adds a dose of fright but if an ‘all-knowing eye’ keeps up throughout the series, I see this angle getting cheesy. Information should go to police, not be unrolled like a prize to a 56 year-old civilian. Two schemes raised excitement with humour and intelligence: goading police to test for poison and a daring, morgue break-in caper; preventing the evidence from being labelled inadmissible!

[Andrea Guy · Rating 5 out of 5]

If this book is any indication of what the rest of this series will be like, I'm in. Peggy Lee is a 52 year old widow, who runs a garden shop. She has a "real" life. She has a son on the force, like her late husband, who she is having issues with. Paul is a jerk. She met a man, Steve, who is 7 years younger than her, who she is starting to have some romantic feelings for, oh and then there's the Great Dane that has moved in. All that and a murder in her shop and a friend asking her about a certain type of poison.

Now you would think things would move at a faster pace in the story, considering that there is a lot happening, but it doesn't. This could bother some readers, but not me. The pacing felt natural to me. I liked that there was more than one mystery involved in this story and that they were tied together

The big mystery aside from who killed Mark Warner in her shop, is who is Nightflyer, the computer chess player that is likely stalking Peggy. This is one of the reasons I will keep reading the series. I want to know who this person is.

Like all cozies are heroine is super spunky and a whole lot hard headed. In the case of Nightflyer, if there was someone who was stalking you, wouldn't you report it to the authorities? Especially since this person knows a lot about you and the murders?

But it wouldn't be a cozy mystery if the characters didn't act that way!

I liked Peggy Lee. She is loyal, loving and flawed, just like any human and the secondary characters are great as well, especially Steve, the vet/love interest. It will be interesting to see how their relationship develops in the series and how her son deals with it.

[Kellene · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a new series to me, and I‘m not sure how I feel about this book. The fact that it is set in Charlotte, and I connected with many of the locations helped a lot. The characters were a mixed bag for me with connections. Some of them I really liked, some of them I really didn’t. Peggy and Steve were two that I took to immediately, and could see myself having lunch with. And I adore Shakespeare… such a typical Dane. The son grew on me, once he got over being an over-protective butt-head. However, the mystery itself was a bit far-fetched for me, and some of the situation Peggy found or put herself in were beyond the ridiculous toward the sublime. I hate reading something and thinking “what kind of idiot would even do such a thing?”, but it happened frequently in this book. And as a resolution, let’s just pull something totally out of left field to tie it all up. Then there’s the whole Nightflyer business… I’m not ruling out another read in this series, but it’s definitely not at the top of my list.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is a new series for me. I found it a easy read once i got into it.

[Georgiann Hennelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a clever murder/ mystery story. Peggy Lee is a police officers widow a gardener and a sleuth. She owns a flower shop in Charlotte. One day when she enters her shop she finds a man face down in one of her attractive wicker baskets of Anemone bulbs. It was part of an Autumn display she,d created along with a scarecrow and pumpkins. She calls the police and to her relief the Det who comes is her deceased husbands partner. When they turn over the body they discover it ,s Mark Warner one of the wealthiest men in Charlotte. And he was hit with a shovel. Was it jealousy or something else. Peggy is determined to find the killer!

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Peggy Lee is a widow and now owns The Potting Shed which is a local garden shop as well as a college Professor.
One morning when arriving in her shop Peggy finds the body of Mark Warner. How did he get in her shop and why is he dead? Murder or accident?
Peggy Lee starts digging around in places that could put her in danger to find the truth.
A good story and great information on plants.

[Lynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed it this cozy --- was comfortable, fun and entertaining especially liked how she got stuck with Shakespeare her great Dane dog! And, he helps to make the story very human!

[Mrs Robin · Rating 3 out of 5]

The botany presented throughtout the book was thoroughly researched. I appreciate the extra effort the author went through in including accurate information .The book isn't too lengthy, somewhere around 287 pages, so, it makes for a fine weekend read. For my conservative friends, there was a homosexual character. There's maybe 3 sentences total, averaging approximately 5 words per sentence so a total of approximately 15 words or so spread throughout the book that makes this bit of info obvious. In other words, it doesn't matter a big deal and no attention is paid to it. In fact, the love life of said character is forced, adding nothing to the story; just a way for the author to slip in some of her beliefs. After all, writing is an art and all artists leave a piece of themselves in their work. The main character rides a scooter to save the earth because of global warming, etc. Again, easy enough to get by. Though I disagree with this belief this piece actually does add to development of the main character and who she is personally. I felt like the ending was rushed. It just ended so abruptly, like the author was ready to be done with the book. It just didn't feel like Peggy would have ended things that way. Peggy's relationship with her son is painful to read, not only because it seriously sucks but because it seems, once again, forced. And Paul's relationship? Please. Adds nothing to any of the story. It's out of place and odd. Borderline awkward. Paul and his girlfriend have a lack of spark. Truthfully, my botanical obssesion is what kept me reading. That aside I didn't find it an extraordinary piece of work. I won't rate it too low because I was in a page-turning-must-solve-this-mystery state. Pretty poison is junk food in the book world. Adding this to mysteries I solved before the police in the book did. Maybe I should become a detective?? Ha.

[Jae · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty Poison is the first part of the "Garden Mystery" series. The main character is widowed Peggy Lee, who owns a garden shop in Charlotte, NC and also teaches at a local college.

Although it's not yet Thanksgiving, Peggy is already thinking ahead to the holidays. Thoughts of getting her shop ready for Christmas, however, are derailed when she's involved in a minor bicycle-automobile accident, a young Great Dane barges into her life, and she finds a man, murdered in her shop. It turns out the victim was one of the wealthiest men in town, as well as a known philanderer. The police are keen to pin the crime on a local homeless man, but Peggy doesn't believe he'd kill anyone. As she tries to determine who really killed Mark Warner, she realizes that any of the women in his life (including his wife) could have done it, or any jealous husband.

In the meantime, a former cohort of her late (police officer) husband has contacted Peggy in regards to a murder elsewhere, in which the manner of death was poison. As a specialist in botanicals, Peggy is uniquely suited to consult on plant-based poisons. In addition to everything else she has going on in her life, Peggy seems to have attracted the unwanted attention of a cyber-stalker who goes by the name of Nighflyer. Lucky for her, she has friends to rely on, as well as a new romantic interest.

There were plots on top of plots in this story. Unfortunately, they did not weave together seamlessly. I usually enjoy cozy mysteries more when the narrative is not completely consumed with the investigation, but in this case, there was simply too much going on. Peggy's character was fully-realized; the others were less so, but one can hope that changes as the series progresses.

I'm waffling over a score, but this one claws its way up to a four.

[Victoria · Rating 4 out of 5]

I immediately fell in love with Peggy Lee, a garden shop owner, botanist, and botany professor. After a body is discovered in Peggy's shop, The Potting Shed, a local homeless man that the employees all like is accused. Knowing that it couldn't be him, Peggy, using the skills she learned from her deceased policeman husband, sets out to discover the real culprit.
I liked all of the characters in this book, even Paul, Peggy's son who did irk me at times. I loved that it was set in Charlotte, a place I lived for years. I could picture the city I miss so much with each page of the book! I also really liked Steve, the local veterinarian and possible new love interest for Peggy. In this book, Peggy also comes by a cozy companion in the form of Shakespeare, a loveable, oversized dog! I also learned so much about flowers and plants from this book. Seeing that spring is on the way, it made me really want to get a garden going this year!
The mystery was fresh and I could not solve it. The twist was surprising and original. I was very happy that the authors didn't take too long to introduce the murder, either. There also wasn't the typical Peggy gets confronted by the killer and is only rescued by the skin of her teeth trope that is so often used in cozies. There were a few 'c'mon, really?' moments (view spoiler)
There were some cliffhanger-y elements that I want to dive deeper into in the next books, so I am excited to read on with this series. 4 stars, a great start to a fun series!

[Vickie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I will start that this book has been on Mt Git'r'Read for a long while. I decided to take a look at the books in my chest of drawers section of my collection a couple of days ago and found hidden treasures. I pulled a few from the drawer and looked on Goodreads to make the stack. PRETTY POISON is first in its series and I love gardening and cozies and have enjoyed the Lavene's books in the past so started with this one for the holiday weekend. And I'm glad I did.
This is a whirlwind of a book in all ways. The main character, Peggy, is a busy woman. She owns a gardening shop in downtown Charolotte, North Carolina, The Potting Shed. She teaches botany at a local university. And she finds herself involved in a murder investigation after finding the body of a local bigwig in her shop.
Each chapter introduces a flower or plant with the botanical and common name along with a tidbit of information. There are gardening tips in the back of the book at the end of the mystery.
I like the characters and their interactions, especially Peggy and her slightly estranged son. Peggy is a widow of two years and her son, Paul, is both distant and overprotective. I liked watching their relationship repair slowly. I loved seeing Peggy rescue a dog she finds hiding in the back garden of a neighbor.
It's a delightful book and I can defnitely recommend this book, likely the series and definitely the author/s.

[EmmyT · Rating 1 out of 5]

Just didn't like this book. The one thing I did like was the gardening, garden store aspect. The rest felt like Scooby Do and Gang, without it being cute. "Let's go into morgue and tamper with evidence." "OK" says the police forensics. "Let's steal the body from the funeral home." 'OK" say the same plus the Vet and co workers. "Let's put the week old corpse in a college cafe for a coed to find." "OK" Didn't see the appeal Vet has for Peggy except money. A 25 room mansion, that she lives in by herself, doesn't seem large to her. Course she inherited it and all its contents. BTW, Peggy willingly gave back the starved, abused Shakespeare to owner, instead of getting Vet or Police son to report abuse. Even though she knew he was abused. The dog didn't want to go with him. She only gets Shakespeare away from owner when dog runs away after a choke collar yields open, bloody wounds. No consequences pursued to the abusive owner. He gets a $300 for the dog. Then the matter is dropped!! (All the so called professionals know that will be used to buy and abuse another dog.) Why even bring up abused animal scenario of you're not going to address it?

[Karen Stallman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty Poison - Peggy Lee Garden, Bk 1
Author: Joyce Lavene, Jim Lavene
I have read several of their books and enjoyed them all. In this series It's another busy fall day for Peggy. A quick cafe lecture on African violets is followed by a minor bike accident involving a good-looking Saturn driver. Upon returning to her shop, Peggy discovers one of the wealthiest men in town--and one of the biggest philanderers--sprawled face down across one of her seasonal displays, apparently beaten to death with a garden shovel.

When the cops pin the murder on a local homeless man, Peggy must sift through evidence and dig up secrets to root out the real killer.

And then there's an enormous Great Dane who seems determined to adopt her and Peggy doesn't even like dogs. Good thing that Saturn driver is also a veterinarian.

I read this book 13 years ago, started it again and it all came falling back. I highly recommend

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was pretty typical for the genre. I was entertained and enjoyed the development of the characters. Sam is my favorite. I cannot stand Paul. I am not really a gardener so this was informative as well as entertaining. I was not surprised that the housekeeper was the killer. I did think that the unveiling was a little rushed. The book seemed to flow really well, until the discovery of the cellar, then it was kind of sloppy. Otherwise, I enjoyed it. I will read more from this series, and I will probably read more from these authors as well.

[Groucho42 · Rating 2 out of 5]

A very enjoyable first book in a series. In a small town in France (no, not Remulac), the local police chief has a very nice life. The center mystery is around the murder of an Algerian-Frenh war hero, but just as important is the author talking about the wine, food, and culture of a region he obviously knows and loves. The combination is a very enjoyable read. The ending was a bit too pat and, in some ways silly; but doesn't ruin what was a fun read.

The only thing keeping it from one-star is that the writing wasn't bad.

[Andy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had mixed feelings about this book. I liked it overall but there were just a few things didn't quite work for me. I enjoyed the mystery. The author created an interesting premise and I liked all of the plant information that was in the book. I think what didn't work for me was the main character didn't seem quite real she was bit too perfect. Like she owned a shop, taught at the local university, and experimented with plants in her basement into the early morning. In addition to all that, she is planning on converting her classic car from gas engine to a hydrogen one because in her words "How hard could it be?" I would collapse from the lack of sleep alone. Also the dialogue felt over the top at times.

[katie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I did NOT expect to be as invested in this book as I became, but I finished it one day. I needed to know what happened. I honestly thought that the killer reveal was a bit underwhelming, but I do give this book points for humor and creativity. I loved all of the side characters and their quirks, and Steve is just a gem. I don’t know if I’ll fully entrench myself in this series, but it’s nice to know it’s an option should I choose to do so.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a fun cozy mystery to read. I appreciated that the protagonist Peggy Lee is close in age to me instead of being in her 20s or 30s. I felt as if I could relate to her as a result.

Lots of gardening tips and plant information scattered throughout the book, but it wasn't heavy-handed as if you're being lectured.

[Marseydoats · Rating 4 out of 5]

I tried a book in this series almost 10 years ago, and didn't care for it, but this was really good. I probably should have started with the first one, but it wasn't available at the time. I enjoyed this, all the characters are great! Loved Shakespeare, I DID want his former abusive owner to be shot. looking forward to reading the rest of the series!

[Pearl Meaker · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great mystery with a lot of information in it as well. Each chapter opens with a one-page informational listing of a plant or flower that is mentioned in that chapter - including if the item is poisonous or not. Lots of great characters and a plot that kept me guessing.

[Logan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really wish this had more action or suspense. I liked the characters but the mystery was so boring that it took me way longer than necessary to finish this one. I may give the series another try but not sure I’d be missing much.

[Kathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting cozy mystery. I loved the information about plants and gardening, and the fact that the the heroine is in her fifties. The mystery kept me guessing up till the end. To me, that makes a good story. I liked the book.