Murder in the Marigolds by Dale Mayer (good books to read for 12 year olds txt) 📗

she said, “And, no, I’m not going to the hospital. After this time, I may never get back into an ambulance.”

Epilogue

Several Days Later …

Doreen was still babying herself, several days later, just sitting at home, doing a jigsaw puzzle that Richie had loaned her from the abundant supply they had at Rosemoor. Doreen had it spread out on the kitchen table, and it provided a mindless enjoyable fun that didn’t require abstract thinking. She wanted to get bored for a change and just relax. She had puttered around in the garden, made a sandwich, worked on the puzzle, then puttered in the garden some more. And that was about the extent of her days.

When she heard a car door slam and footsteps, she smiled as Mugs raced to the front door, his tail wagging. When the front door opened, she peered around the corner and said, “Hey, Mack.”

He walked in with groceries and said, “You up for some dinner?”

“If I don’t have to do a single thing about it, absolutely.”

He walked in, then frowned at her. “You’re still feeling down?”

“It’s not so much about feeling down,” she said. “I’m just tired.”

“Good,” he said, “a few more days of relaxation will be good for you.”

“If you say so,” she said, with a smile. “I was thinking that it would be about time to pick up something else of interest, but so far nothing has really appealed.”

“Again, good,” he said. “Maybe you’ll stay out of trouble for a change.”

She laughed. “There isn’t anything for me to get into trouble with,” she said. “You’ve got everybody already locked up.”

“Yes, that is quite true,” he said.

She said, “I was thinking about looking at the Bob Small cases, but nothing jumped out at me for now. I didn’t find anything that sparked my interest. I need to look into the Solomon files but not just yet.”

He looked at her in surprise. “That’s a pretty big serial killer case involving Bob Small,” he said. “It won’t be a case of a single crime.”

“No, but he never was caught, was he? He was only a suspect.”

“And we don’t know that he is to blame for any of them.”

“One of the cases was in Vernon. A young woman, a model, who was found in an orchard. It was originally thought he was to blame, but they caught the killer. So they solved that one, didn’t they?”

He nodded. “Yeah, they did. So it’s not a case for you.”

She stretched, rolled her neck, and said, “Surely something interesting is happening around town, isn’t there?”

“I thought you just said you would take a few more days off?”

“I did, and I will,” she said, “but, as you know, we just finished up with the Murder in the Marigolds case.” He stopped, stared at her, and she chuckled and said, “Well, the name fits.”

“So, what’s next then?” he asked in exasperation.

“I don’t know,” she said. “It could be all kinds of things.”

At that, Mack’s phone buzzed. He looked down and frowned. “I will need a rain check on dinner.”

“Why is that?”

“We have a kidnapping,” he said, immediately racing to the front door.

“What? What kind of a kidnapping?”

“A gardener,” he said, looking at her. “A gardener was kidnapped while working in his garden.”

“Wait,” she said. “Do you know what kind of flowers he had?”

He frowned, shaking his head, and said, “What difference does it make?”

She shrugged. “Maybe nothing.”

He looked down at the text message on his phone. “Nasturtium. He was picking nasturtium flowers for a salad.”

“Oh, one of those kinds of gardens,” she said, clapping her hands in delight. “Nasturtiums are lovely to eat.”

He stared at her. “I’m gone.”

And, with that, she felt all her fatigue falling away. She stepped out in the front yard and said, “Call me when you know more.”

“Like heck I will,” he said. “Go back to your puzzle.”

“Nope,” she said. “I’d rather work on yours.” And, with that, she gave him a huge fat grin and waved him off. She hoped the smile on her face brightened his mood, since he’d been worried about her, and clearly she was much happier now.

Turning to the animals, she said, “Look at that. We have a new case to work on. It’s not a cold case, but it’s a case. Nabbed in the Nasturtiums.”

This concludes Book 13 of Lovely Lethal Gardens: Murder in the Marigolds.

Read about Nabbed in the Nasturtiums: Lovely Lethal Gardens, Book 14

Lovely Lethal Gardens:

Nabbed in the Nasturtiums

(Book #14)

A new cozy mystery series from USA Today best-selling author Dale Mayer. Follow gardener and amateur sleuth Doreen Montgomery—and her amusing and mostly lovable cat, dog, and parrot—as they catch murderers and solve crimes in lovely Kelowna, British Columbia.

Riches to rags … Chaos might be slowing … Only a new murder occurs … Sending her off the trail again …

It’s been a tough few weeks since Robin and Mathew, Doreen’s ex-lawyer and her ex-husband, slid back into her life.

Okay, so maybe Robin isn’t here any longer to cause torment, but Mathew is. And he’s not planning to leave Doreen alone anytime soon, although thankfully he’s gone back home for a while. Trying to recuperate looks doubtful for Doreen, when a local gardener is kidnapped, while picking nasturtiums for dinner.

The case heats up when the missing man’s niece appears on Doreen’s doorstep, looking for help, including asking Doreen to accompany her to the police station.

Not at all sure what’s going on, but willing to help someone in need—particularly after having been a suspect herself—Doreen tags along, looking to do her good deed for the day.

But no good deed goes unpunished, and, when Mathew calls, Doreen gets more than she bargained for, including all the usual suspects: love, jealousy, and … greed. It takes everything from her feathered and furred critter team to keep her safe, as she digs to the bottom of yet another crazy case …

Find Book 14 here!

To find out more visit Dale Mayer’s website.

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