A Rose from the Dead by Kate Collins, a Mysterious Review.

Review: Florist Abby Knight continues her amateur sleuthing in A Rose from the Dead, the 6th delightful mystery in this series by Kate Collins.

Never one to turn down an opportunity to drum up business for her flower shop, Abby agrees to share a booth at a local convention for funeral directors. When the organizer, Sybil Blount, a flamboyant and eminently dislikable woman who always wore her signature red rose, is murdered and found, appropriately enough, in a casket, the police suspect Abby's friend Delilah. Of course Abby finds this unacceptable, and with the help of Marco, her ex-cop, ex-Army Ranger boyfriend, she follows her "gut feeling" about who might have killed Sybil. But will her pointed questions help identify the murderer, or will she simply set herself up to be next?

Despite, or maybe in spite of, the venue of the story, Collins introduces a considerable amount of (sometimes dark) humor into A Rose from the Dead. An early scene where Abby walks into an upright casket painted to look like a telephone booth, and is promptly locked inside as a prank by the sons of a local businessman, is very humorous. Then there's Angelique, a harpist, owner of Music for the Soul, who is available to play music at a funeral written from the soul of the dead. There are several more eccentric characters, all of whom seem perfectly suited for this light-hearted mystery, who add a great deal of diverting pleasure for the reader.

Even with the fun and laughter there is still a murder to be solved and Abby with her "gut feeling" is up to the task. A Rose from the Dead is entertaining from start to finish.

Special thanks to guest reviewer Betty of The Betz Review for contributing her review of A Rose from the Dead.

Acknowledgment: Kate Collins provided a copy of A Rose from the Dead for this review.

Acts of Violets
Signet (Mass Market Paperback), March 2007
ISBN-13: 9780451220745; ISBN-10: 0451220749

A Rose from the Dead

A Flower Shop Mystery with Abby Knight by Kate Collins