This Cozy Mystery Gardening Theme includes authors who can be found on the Cozy Mystery site who write Cozy Mysteries with sleuths who are gardeners, botanists, horticulturalists, florists, or even people who simply love gardens.
Susan Wittig Albert (aka “half of” Robin Paige) writes the China Bayles Herbal Mystery Series which features an ex-attorney who lives half-way between Austin and San Antonio, Texas.
Alyse Carlson writes the Garden Society Mystery Series, which features a PR promoter of the exclusive Roanoke Garden Society.
Kate Collins writes the Flower Shop Mystery Series that is set in Indiana, with Abby Knight (the owner of Bloomer’s Florists Shop) as the sleuth.
E. V. Cunningham (aka Howard Fast) is the author of the Masao Masuto Mystery Series which features a Beverly Hills homicide sergeant who loves his rose garden.
Anthony Eglin‘s English Garden Mystery Series has a British professor of botany as the main sleuth.
Kathy Lynn Emerson has the Lady Susanna Appleton Mystery Series which features an herbalist in England during the reign of Elizabeth I.
Mary Freeman‘s Gardening Mystery Series features Rachel O’Connnor, an Oregonian landscaper.
Ann Granger writes the Markby and Mitchell Mystery Series, which although not a gardening mystery series, all of her fans know about Inspector Markby’s fondness for beautiful gardens.
Joan Hadley (aka Joan Hess) wrote the (short-lived) Theo Bloomer Mystery Series which revolved around a florist who used to be a spy. (I remember enjoying the novels and hoping that she would continue with the series.)
Rosemary Harris writes the Dirty Business Mystery Series. Paula Holliday is a master gardener and an amateur sleuth!
Janis Harrison pens the Bretta Solomon Gardening Series which features a floral shop owner from Missouri.
Julie Wray Herman‘s Three Dirty Women Landscaping, Inc Mystery Series is set in the south, and features three friends who don’t just get their hands dirty planting marigolds.
Vicky Lane pens the Elizabeth Goodweather Mystery Series which features a sleuth who owns a flower/herb farm in North Carolina…
Joyce & Jim Lavene write the Peggy Lee Garden Mystery Series which is set in North Carolina… in the “Potting Shed”.
Charlotte MacLeod (aka Alisa Craig) writes the Peter & Helen Shandy Mystery Series which feature a professor of horticulture and his wife, a librarian, in Massachusetts.
Ann McMillan: McMillan writes the Civil War Mystery Series set in Virginia, and featuring an herbalist.
Ellis Peters has the Brother Cadfael Mystery Series which takes place in Medieval England with a monk/herbalist as the sleuth…
Ann Ripley‘s Gardening Mystery Series takes place in Virginia and features an organic gardener/TV hostess as the sleuth.
Lora Roberts writes the Liz Sullivan Mystery Series which features a California sleuth who both writes and gardens… all from the comfort of her VW van.
John Sherwood writes the Celia Grant Mystery Series set in London, with a botanist/horticulturalist who looks for clues in places other than his microscope slides.
Susan Sleeman pens the Garden Gate Mystery Series which takes place in Oregon, and features a landscaper.
Dorothy St. James writes the White House Gardener Mystery Series which features an organic gardener.
Rex Stout‘s Nero Wolfe loves his orchids in New York!
Nancy Jill Thames writes the Jillian Bradley Mystery Series which features a gardening columnist and her Yorkie.
Maggie Toussaint writes the Dreamwalker Mystery Series. The sleuth is both a landscaper and a pet sitter.
Heather Webber‘s Nina Quinn Mystery Series revolves around the “Taken by Surprise” landscaping company in Ohio which specializes in “surprise garden makeovers”.
Marty Wingate: Potting Shed Mystery Series
Suzanne Young writes the Edna Davies Mystery Series which features an amateur herbalist in Rhode Island.
Here is my Florist, Flower Shop, and Flower Farm Cozy Mystery Series entry.
If you know of any other authors from the Cozy Mystery site who write gardening-related mysteries, please post a comment.
***To access more Cozy Mysteries by Theme click on this link.***
Cheryl says
My 18 year old daughter loves the Flower Shop series by Kate Collins. Any suggestions for a similar series for her to read?
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Cheryl, I will pose the question in an upcoming entry… but in the meantime you might want to investigate these authors for her:
Deb Baker
Kate Carlisle
Krista Davis
B. B. Haywood
Denise Swanson
Melinda Wells
Heather says
Sheila Pim wrote four mysteries with garden themes. She wrote the first one for her father who enjoyed mysteries and was unable to get new ones because of a paper shortage during World War II. They take place in Ireland. Two of them are in print and available from the Rue Morgue Press. The others may be in the library.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Thank you, Heather, for telling us about Sheila Pim.
Here is the chronological list of her Irish Village Gardening Mystery Series:
Common or Garden Crime ’45
Creeping Venom ’46
A Brush with Death ’50
A Hive of Suspects ’52
Rosemary Harris says
Hi all,
My traditional mystery series is listed on the Author page but not here on Gardening Mysteries. My heroine, Paula Holliday is a landscaper and there’s a botanical theme running through all of the books, but I don’t stop the story to tell you how to plant a tree or grow tomatoes (!) so I’m not sure if that qualifies as a “gardening mystery.” 😉
Cheers,
Rosemary
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Thank goodness you don’t stop the story to tell us how to plant a tree! We would definitely look at a gardening book for that!
Yes, your Dirty Business Mystery Series sure does fit into the Gardening Mysteries theme. Thank you so much for reminding me!
Nancy Jill says
Gardening columnist Jillian Bradley finds herself embroiled in several mysteries revolving around a gardening conference, an endangered species of orchid, and an unusual winter garden hidden away from civilization. Together with her Yorkie companion, Teddy, the two help solve homicides.
stellans says
Are you the author? Nancy Jill Thames?
Nancy Jill Thames says
I am.
Edith says
My Local Foods cozy mysteries would be a good fit for this section, I believe, with organic farmer Cam Flaherty, the members of the Locavore Club who belong to her farm share program, and even a Girl Scout working on her Locavore badge. And locally sourced murder, of course. Thanks,
Edith
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Thank you, Edith Maxwell, for telling us about your Local Foods Mystery Series, starting with A Tine to Live, A Tine to Die.
Diane says
Thank you for giving the author’s name. I had no idea who it was. Because of your information, Dana, I got “A Tine to Live…” from the library and look forward to reading it while the flooding rains continue.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Diane, you’re welcome! I’m glad I could help you on a rainy day.
Kat says
This is such a good resource for mystery readers and gardeners. I for one don’t mind the story being “interrupted” by a few lines on how to plant a tree–if it fits with the story. I’m surprised this List is dated June 4, 2008–granted some of the comments are newer, but can it be updated? From what some of the bloggers are writing it seems there are more authors with more sleuth/gardener heros. Happy Reading & Happy Gardening–my two favorite things!
Kat
P.S. I learned of this list from American Rose magazine.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Kat, I’m glad you joined us! I try to update the list as people suggest Cozy Mystery authors who are on the Cozy Mystery site.
PK says
Does anyone remember the author or title of a book, believe set near DC or Virginia, and thought it was titled Mulch Murders but cannot locate. Starts where she has her kids help her go out in station wagon at night to steal neighbors’ bagged leaves waiting for disposal pickup. But when spreading them in her garden a head rolls out, but now she isn’t sure which house the bag came from. Her husband may have been a spy or intelligence person.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
PK, your description doesn’t ring a bell for me. Hopefully someone else will know who you are talking about…
SL says
The author is Ann Riply.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
SL, thank you for telling us the author’s name! (Ann Riply)
Linda says
I am currently enjoying the Potting Shed series by Marty Wingate – 3 so far and two more on the way. She also has a another series – Birds of a Feather.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Linda, thanks for telling us about Marty Wingate‘s Potting Shed Mystery Series. I have added her to the Gardening Cozy Mysteries theme.
MBC says
Another series in the gardening theme is Bailey Cattrell’s (aka Bailey Cates) Enchanted Garden mysteries. Set in Poppyville, California, botantical-essence expert Ellie Allbright runs Scents & Nonsense, a small shop where she creates custom perfumes using the plants and flowers from her garden. There is a touch of the supernatural in the books as Ellie relies on her own “scent sensitivity” and her grandmother’s botantical journal to help her solve local mysteries. The three books in the series are Daisies for Innocence (2016), Nightshade for Warning (2017), and Marigolds for Malice (2018). A fan of Susan Wittig Albert’s China Bayles mysteries might be interested in this delightful series.
Nancy Jill Thames says
Thank you for the referrals. I’ve met Susan Wittig Albert and enjoy her Facebook posts on gardening. I will check these out!
MBC says
You’re welcome! As a bonus, this series has the absolute prettiest book covers. I love seeing them on a shelf.