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“If you love to try a new cozy series, you'll enjoy this one from Rosemary Harris. There's so many different kinds of cozies out there. But this one is different--it's a gardening cozy with some gardening tips, too. In Pushing Up Daisies, Paula Holliday is a gardener and gets a surprise of two, taking on the Halcyon job for landscape architecture. But what she uncovers, she unearthed some nasty old family secrets or two. And from there, it becomes a dirty business for her discoveries to find out clues on some cold case mysteries. And things become trickier for her, when her life's at risk. But there's a possible love connection to Felix, a hunky Mexican, or the hot cop, Mike O'Malley. This is an enjoyable read.”
Kristen H wrote this review Sunday, January 27, 2013. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No“Not bad for her first book.”
Rachel wrote this review Thursday, July 12, 2012. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“Decent mystery of a new gardener who stumbles across a very old mystery. I took off one star because the character development was kinda weak. Fun book tho!”
Salar_Shushan wrote this review Saturday, May 5, 2012. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“Paula Holliday, one year into her gardening business, finds a baby’s skeleton, while restoring a landmark garden. When one of her workers is arrested, she starts doing her own sleuthing. Interesting and humorous, but the lead character did not grab. Probably will not pursue this series.”
Linda C wrote this review Thursday, January 12, 2012. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“I was disappointed in this one. I think it could have been so much better. I really liked the idea of the main character being a gardener. I have a couple of gardening sites on my email and find the articles interesting to read, so I thought this story would be a little different from the usual cozy themes and fun to read. But, after finishing the story I felt like the author wasn't interested in gardening and didn't know squat about it (even though the back cover says she's a master gardener at home). This is the first book in A Dirty Business Mystery series. Maybe she will use this gardening theme more in the rest of the series....?”
jan w wrote this review Wednesday, July 6, 2011. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“Great first book! Loved the characters-down to earth(pun intended)”
bunny wrote this review Thursday, June 23, 2011. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No“I thoroughly enjoyed this.”
Joyce L wrote this review Saturday, May 21, 2011. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“Paula Holliday has left the tv production industry in the big city to build a nursery/landscaping business in the suburbs. She's got the energy and the artistic eye to pull off pleasing garden design, so it should be way less stressful/far more fulfilling, than her former life, right? Well...the first big job she lands...the first day on her tour of the property as a matter of fact, she discovers a buried box, which, appallingly enough, contains the mummified body of an infant child!
Vicki G wrote this review Tuesday, May 17, 2011. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
She is horrified, followed by nauseated, and is immediately immersed in a perplexing 30 to 40 year old mystery of just who, and whose, this child was. Amazingly, she retains the job to refurbish the formal gardens of the eccentric Peacock sisters, both of whom have passed away. The stately home and it's gardens have been left to the Historical Society and the hope is that the updated gardens will attract donations to Springfield Connecticut's Historical Society. Richard Stapley, the Historical Society's president has hired Paula to get the rundown site ready for a society fundraiser to be held in a couple of months.
Paula's environment is peopled with several unique characters including some of her Mexican employees, other small business owners, several police officials, and the genteel uppercrust of Springfield's society. As if one mysterious death is not enough, one of Paula's employees is surprised by an intruder in Paula's home, Paula is locked in the greenhouse at Halcyon gardens overnight by an unknown individual, and one of her landscape business competitors is attacked and left for dead in his office. There is a lot going on in sedate little Springfield, and before long her New York buddy and former co-worker Lucy Cavanaugh is joining Paula on weekends to prune and plant, and oh by the way, help get to the bottom of the various mysteries.
The dialog is clever and witty, and Rosemary Harris does a good job of weaving the mysteries together, leading us along the path to a satisfying conclusion.
Cleverly, the first chapter of the next book in the series is included for good measure. A fast and enjoyable ride...check it out! ”
“This book is the 1st in the series, and was a page turner. A strong female character whos funny and smart, a best friend who gets tips and helps out, plus a galore of men to enjoy.”
Jeanette R wrote this review Saturday, March 12, 2011. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“I love cozies and I love gardening, so choosing this book among the new cozies coming out was easy-cheesy. It pretty much made its way quickly to the top of the stack to read. It was my purse book as it fit the criteria (small enough to fit, easy to remember the story between reading time, fast moving story) and it didn't take long to read through this one thanks to sip'n'read times every once in a while and a wait for my car registration. And it was a good story.
IYamVixenBooks wrote this review Monday, August 9, 2010. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
The story has the gardening background to keep me interested and some good quirky characters, especially the side characters who help Paula investigate.
The mystery was a little loosey-goosey, but a decent one that kept me guessing and I was startled at the end with the whodunnit.
My one ishy bit was Paula's off and on issues with working out or what she ate. I either skipped over the part where she explained her issues or that she had been heavy in the past or her family had a propensity for weight, but she gardens and as hard as she works at that, the other issues of how much she'd have to run to work off something she'd eaten that wasn't healthy kind of bugged me. That could be because I deal with the weight issues in my own way, but I don't remember it being explained.
I do hope Felix comes back to town...he sounded yummy.....
All the way around, a good sturdy mystery with a fab premise and I look forward to reading more of this series.
Four diggin' in the dirt can lead to mystery beans...
”
