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Fern Grove #1

Carnations and Deadly Fixations

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A murdered unpopular business owner. A small town with busybodies and open secrets. Can a new girl in town start a new life before a murder investigation ends it?

Tracy Adams had three things going for her in her just-above-average boring life namely:
1. A good job
2. A good job... that she liked
3. A good job that she liked... and that paid VERY well

When she lost her job and had to move back to the small town where she grew up, it seemed like her life had lost all purpose. Helping out at her aunt's floundering floral shop seemed like the perfect distraction before she decided what to do next.

When her aunt's competition, a nasty and egotistical know-it-all is found dead, the rumor mill in Fern Grove goes into overdrive. With an important piece of evidence linking Tracy to the scene of the crime, she becomes a person of interest in the murder investigation. This leaves her feeling vulnerable and confused.

Moving back to Fern Grove was meant to be the start of a new life but this murder mystery is fast ending what has hardly begun. Will she retain her wits and piece together the clues that will lead her to the killer?

If you want to enjoy a light-hearted read, with an amateur female sleuth and a gripping murder mystery with a touch of romance, then you'll love Tracy Adams and all the friendly and not-so-friendly characters in Fern Grove.

No cliffhanger, swearing or graphic scenes!

Buy Carnation and Deadly Fixations to discover how events unfold in this cozy murder mystery.

121 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 19, 2019

496 people are currently reading
279 people want to read

About the author

Abby Reede

18 books34 followers

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5 stars
191 (41%)
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131 (28%)
3 stars
93 (20%)
2 stars
40 (8%)
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10 (2%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 81 reviews
Profile Image for S.A. Krishnan.
Author 31 books220 followers
July 20, 2020
Cute cosy mystery.
All Tracy wanted to do was help her aunt with her aunt’s floral business. However, a rival florist gets murdered and Tracy is the prime suspect.
The characters and the settings of the small town were cute and made me eager for more. The mystery was also fast paced.
Quick, light mystery read.
Profile Image for Kristina Anderson.
3,971 reviews78 followers
August 22, 2019
Carnations and Deadly Fixations by Abby Reede is the first Fern Grove Cozy Mystery. Tracy Adams has returned to Fern Grove to help her Aunt Rose with her floundering flower shop, In Season. Becky White has opened a rival flower shop featuring modern designs that has taken the business away from In Season. While Becky’s flowers may be lovely, her attitude could use an adjustment. Tracy comes up with a bold plan for In Season and schedules a grand re-opening. The relaunch of the shop is a hit until Becky’s friend, Emily bursts into In Season declaring that Rose and Tracy killed Becky. Detective Warren Copeland is in charge of the case and narrows his sights on Tracy because of evidence left at the scene of the murder. Tracy knows the only way to clear her name and get In Season back on track is to locate the killer. Can Tracy root out the guilty party or will she end up as garden fertilizer?

Carnations and Deadly Fixations is the first book in A Fern Grove Mystery series. I thought this new cozy mystery to be engaging and easy to read. Abby Reede has a conversational writing style that I enjoyed. I liked Tracy Adams and her aunt, Rose. They are friendly and relatable characters. Then there are those characters that you love to dislike. Becky White and her friend, Emily Maher fit into that category. Becky has an abrasive manner that turns off everyone she meets (no wonder she ended up dead). The mystery had a couple of suspects, misdirection and good clues. The whodunit suited the length of the story. I look forward to reading One Daisy & Two Crazy Funerals when it comes out. Carnations and Deadly Fixations is a delightful cozy mystery with beautiful blooms, a nasty nemesis, a dedicated detective, a cuddly cat, and a florist determined to uproot a killer.
Profile Image for Ferne (Enthusiastic Reader).
1,444 reviews50 followers
June 15, 2021
I've read many cozy mysteries about women returning to their home town at various stages of their life and for various reasons with many either helping an entrepreneurial relative or becoming an entrepreneur. However, I could not recall one of the businesses being a florist shop and as I love flowers I wanted to give the story of Tracy Adams and her Aunt Rose a try. I loved the name of the florist shop, "In Season" and the town coffee shop of "Grind It Out."

An early description of the florist shop started by Tracy's aunt and uncle shared...
"The last time Tracy had been to the shop she was struck by just how frumpy and old-fashioned the interior appeared in relation to the new shops that had opened around town."
Upon Tracy's closure of the shop so that she and her aunt could refurbish and set up a reopening event description then shared,
"...Tracy hustled back to the shop where Rose was still hip-deep in the florist materials, advertising gear, cans of paint and other refurbishing supplies that Tracy had left for her to begin the marathon session they were embarking on."
I found that to sadly be a missed opportunity to not have more vivid descriptions of how the shop was transformed within a week from old to new. With the treasure trove of floral varieties today it also seemed sad that the only flowers mentioned were the carnations of the title and roses appeared in one character's garden. The cover art was more colorful than any description within the interior of the cozy. This cozy could have been ablaze with descriptions that fill the senses upon entering a florist shop in person and that some highly creative webmasters have even created online.

A light story to fill a few hours of reading time but not enough to encourage my interest to read more of this series.
3,791 reviews1,757 followers
January 12, 2021
While I liked the characters and setting and mystery, there wasn't enough time spent on any of it. A very short novel that would have benefited from a larger word count. Too many things were glossed over and many of the important events happened 'off page' -- with the reader being told about them after the fact which made for a very anti-climatic ending. Not sure if that is this author's style or if this first book in the Fern Grove Mystery series was more of a novella length introduction.
Profile Image for Jerri Cachero.
653 reviews47 followers
March 17, 2020
A fun mystery and an introduction to Fern Grove!

When Tracey moves in with her Aunt Rose, to revitalize the family flower shop, "In Season" , the mystery begins!

I enjoyed the characters, setting and I especially loved the flower shop setting. In this first book, the reader is introduced to the folks of Fern Grove. Unfortunately, a rival shop owner sees In Season as a threat and she becomes a victim of foul play.

The mystery was fast-paced, the characters believable and I was ready for a "small-town" mystery! I'm looking forward to the next book!

Profile Image for Loretta TheMoodyRedhead.
1,016 reviews4 followers
March 17, 2025
Some Mean Girls are in Here

This was a sweet short story... well, all but a murder. However, if I had to pick a person to be killed off it would have been one of two people. One of those people did get killed.

I was really excited about the reopening of the flower shop. I can't wait to read more about what happens next!
Profile Image for Lidia.
509 reviews6 followers
December 14, 2020
This is my review of the audio version as posted on Audible:

It's my first book by Ms Reede and it's a good one:)
The book is really short, even for a cozy mystery and yet it feels like a complete long novel:) There are great red herrings on the way to the solution of the crime, the plot is fast, the investigation mostly done through dialogues; and there's quite a lot of humour thrown into the mix, too. Narration by Ms Smith is great; I liked all the voices she gave individual characters, and I found it fast enough not to speed the book up:)
If you like cozy mysteries and look for something quite short for one afternoon, don't hesitate, grab this one - it's really entertaining:)

DISCLAIMER: I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.
Profile Image for Krystyna.
5,134 reviews52 followers
August 23, 2019
A really great twist at the end

Okay it was very similar to a lot of book I've read but the twist at the end was totally unexpected. It put the whole plot onto another level. Yes the characters still need a bit more work, a bit more fleshing out but this should come with further books and the fact that we get to know them better.
She's been made redundant from her corporate eventing position and the position to install new life into the florist shop her aunt and her deceased uncle had started gets her excited. It will be hard to drag her aunt into a new business plan but it would be worthwhile to keep the shop alive no thriving. Shame that the other florist shop owner didn't feel the same and tried to throw cold water on the news. Now the grand opening seemed to be a raging success utility news came in that the other owner was dead and she was accused of murder. Can she find out who the real killer is before it kills her aunt's shop? Does she really have a stalker?
Profile Image for Valerie Nicole.
Author 10 books5 followers
April 26, 2020
So to start one of the problems I have with this book was the character interactions. The dialogue is so unrealistic. The next thing is pacing. I found myself wishing we could get to the point more than a few times. I even went as far as skipping pages at a time because I was so bored. I will say there are no grammatical errors and the sentences are structured well.
128 reviews1 follower
July 26, 2020
Nothing to excite

I found this book to be ok. No better than that. Not much to say about the story. No excitement where there should have been some. The characters were two dimensional and their speech stilted. I love the mystery and humour of the « Cozy Mysteries » and I found neither in this book.
Profile Image for Cheryl Pulley.
7 reviews1 follower
August 13, 2022
Fun read

This was a fun and easy book to read. I really didn't figure out who the killer was, till Tracy did. I also enjoyed learning about the history of the flowers.
Profile Image for Julie Howard.
Author 2 books28 followers
November 28, 2020
This is the first book I have listened to by this author but I enjoyed it, so it won't be my last. I liked the unusual setting of being in a flower shop, very different to the normal cosy mysteries which all seem to be set in coffee shops or bakeries. The author also didn't bombard you with useless facts about flowers and concentrated on the mystery. The few facts that were included were taste full done. The mystery it's self was interesting and contained a number of suspects but it was the characters that I liked best. They were well rounded and like able. The story is short and to be honest I tend to like my stories longer but I found I enjoyed this one so much that I didn't really notice it was short and I never felt like any of the story or explanation was left out. A series to look out for in the future.
When Tracy is downsized from her job she moves back to her hometown to help her aunt's floundering business. Her aunt and uncle built the flower shop up from the ground but after his death, her aunt let things slide. Tracy has lots of plans and ideas ready to put into practice but not everybody is pleased with the idea. Namely the owner of the other florists shop in town who had been profiting from her aunt shop being run down. On the morning of the grand opening the competition is found dead and Tracy's aunt becomes the prime suspect. Can Tracy clear her aunt's name and turn her fortunes around .
I liked the narrator, she spoke clearly and gave each character there own voice in this fun light hearted cosy mystery.
I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.
Profile Image for Amorina Carlton.
Author 2 books36 followers
February 9, 2022
This was a perfectly lovely book.

As far as cozy mysteries go, it offered a tidy little mystery and sweet characters. However, the mystery was wrapped up rather quickly. There wasn't any real buildup. Afterward, I could see the setup, but it wasn't super elegant.

It was however a super easy, quick read. I enjoyed it. I'll read the next one to see if the author reach her stride. I did enjoy the main character and her immediate supportive characters - which is always a very important element in cozy mysteries. If this character is going to carry a series for a multitude of books, the author has to make a strong, interesting character. And the author has done a reasonably good job. Tracy isn't my favorite among cozy mysteries I've read so far. But she's good enough to carry the series.

The biggest complaint I had was I really felt like I was finally into the book, and all of a sudden it was solved. It was like out of left field, a shock really.
1,033 reviews2 followers
November 5, 2020
A Delightful Series by Abby Reede

Tracy lost her high paid job in Portland when the company got in over their heads and had to layoff staff. Her aunt asked her to come home and help her with the flower shop she and her late husband had built that was not doing well since he passed and their children had moved away, causing her to lose interest. This was in a little town that Tracy had grown up in. She suggested updates to the shop and other improvements, closing for a week and having a grand reopening. The other florist in town was a nasty person, and she was murdered. Tracy becomes the prime suspect. Enter the sexy detective....
Profile Image for Sabetha.
Author 20 books130 followers
March 21, 2021
Overall this was a cute little read.

The mystery left a lot to be desired, the flow was a bit disjointed in places so it pulled me out of the story. I wasn't really able to believe the reasoning behind some events.

The dialogue and banter was great though, an array of characters within the town. There's a lot of great potential for the series. I loved that Tracy didn't have to have her Aunt die just to get the story going. It was a breath of fresh air for the genre to see her join in and work along side her family member instead of inheriting due to death.

I also enjoyed how well everyone's plot line was wrapped up at the end, no loose ends that were opened but not addressed. Every character receives a close out.
2,132 reviews45 followers
August 4, 2022
I enjoyed reading Carnations and Deadly Fixations. Thirty-eight year old Tracy Adams has lost her job and moved back to Fern Grove to help her widowed aunt, Rose Bishop, run her floral shop. The shop, In Season, has one competitor nearby-- Becky White. When Becky is found dead at the foot of Larson Cliff, Detective Warren Copeland, begins his investigation. Tracy wants to solve the murder mystery and get things back on track for her aunt's shop. I liked the small town setting and tight knit community feel, the characters, and the hint of a romance in Tracy's future. I look forward to seeing what happens next in Fern Grove.
Profile Image for Jillian.
1,166 reviews95 followers
October 1, 2024
Carnations and Deadly Fixations is book 1 in the Fern Grove series. It is a cozy mystery. I tried to get through this book three or four times and just couldn't do it. I don't know what I disliked more, the story or the narration. I found them both bad. Perhaps the narration was worse. This is my first book by this author. I don't think I would try another from her at this time. It was really boring and dragged on. This should have been a quick listen at 2 hours and 20 minutes, and the fact that I couldn't force myself to finish such a short book says a lot. I listen at a faster speed too so it was even shorter. This was not for me and I don't recommend it.
154 reviews1 follower
February 19, 2021
Leaving the big city and big company to return to
her small home town, Tracy is going to help her Aunt Rose to spruce up In Season Flower shop. She talks her aunt into closing for a bit so they can paint and change things up to be more modern. When her aunt's competition, a nasty and egotistical know-it-all is found dead, the rumor mill in Fern Grove goes into overdrive. Tracy is the number one suspect due to the competitions friend accusing her. Lots of twists and turns and a very good read. If you enjoy a good mystery this is a must read.
36 reviews
March 12, 2021
Disappointed

The heroine was likable as was the premise. Tracey gets laid off,and returns to her small hometown to help out her aunt in her flower shop. Suddenly a murder occurs and the town is looking at Tracey, including the good looking detective. It started off as a decent cozy mystery, but felt apart toward the end. The conclusion came across as rushed, and not well thought out. What started out as promising,ended in disappointment. I would pass on this one. Perhaps subsequent books in the series will be better.
2,424 reviews6 followers
September 29, 2021
This is a clean, sweet book good for an afternoon’s distraction. The protagonist, Tracy, is hardworking and willing to use her big city talents to help Aunt Rose revitalize her small town florist shop. Suddenly, Tracy becomes a person of interest in a murder.

The plot is reasonable but the story is sadly lacking in details. What were Tracy's great ideas for sprucing up the shop? Did she report her missing shoe? No lawyer in a sketchy situation?? Even the facts surrounding the solving of the murder and Tracy’s part in that were rather naive and unbelievable.
Author 1 book67 followers
June 28, 2020
A murdered unpopular business owner. A small town with busybodies and open secrets. Can a new girl in town start a new life before a murder investigation ends it?

Tracy Adams is an interesting character with a new job. She's working at a flower shop in Fern Grove. This book, a nice escape, kept my attention from cover to cover. Surprising ending added to the pleasure. I'm onto the next book in this series.

No cliffhanger, swearing, or graphic scenes!
Profile Image for fred jones.
1,709 reviews11 followers
July 7, 2024
Nice start to this series

This is a good well written cozy mystery with engaging characters, the usual cute pet and chunky detective. Tracy returns to Fern Gelb to help her aunt with her florist shop, when a rival is murdered she comes under suspicion. I liked the story but I though the ending was a little weak. However I have already bought more of these a look forward to reading more of this short cozies.
1,235 reviews2 followers
October 28, 2024
Very short and cute little cozy. When Tracy loses her job, her aunt's floundering floral shop is the ticket for a reboot to her life. But when the nasty competition is found murdered, then Tracy becomes suspect #1. We meet the hot cop, the bouncy teenage girl, the feisty aunt, and supportive pastor, all become nice people we wish we knew. it wrapped up way too neat and tidy., and quickly. But a nice palate cleanser.
612 reviews4 followers
August 4, 2020
After losing her job in the big city, Tracy returns to her hometown to help her Aunt Rose get her floral business back on track. At their grand reopening event Tracy and Betty White the owner of the new is floral shop, have a run-in, instigated by Betty. When Betty is found dead the detective in town & Betty's friends suspect Tracy. But who really did the deed?
Profile Image for Elaine.
Author 29 books29 followers
September 18, 2020
The place is Fern Grove and Tracey is there to help her relative, Rose, perk up her flower shop business, In Season. Since Rose's husband's death, the shop was going downhill. Blooming Bouquets, owner, Becky White, was their only competitor until something happened to shake up both stores.
A nice cozy mystery.
Profile Image for emeraldragonlady (Maddie).
496 reviews3 followers
August 4, 2021
I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

Many people move back to their small town home town for different reasons. Yet somehow murder always follows them and they are to blame just because they are new. Jeannette really brings the book to life. I enjoyed it and look forward to reading it again.
Profile Image for Gail.
547 reviews1 follower
February 28, 2023
Intriguing cozy mystery!

Tracy returns to Fern Grove to help her Aunt Rose with the floral shop, In Season. The owner of the other floral shop is found dead at the bottom of a cliff. Abby Reede leads you on a journey to find the killer. She keeps your attention to see what will happen next! If you like cozy mysteries, this book will not disappoint you. Happy reading! 😊
Profile Image for Victoria Williams.
Author 52 books431 followers
March 1, 2020
This was a nice start to a new series. The character development was handled well and the pacing was good. The ending was a bit fast, but all the loose ends were tied up. I look forward to reading the next book.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 81 reviews

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