April 15, 2022
A shop owner in enchanting Carmel-by-the Sea investigates yet another murder with otherworldly help. Courtney Kelly owns Open Your Imagination, a shop that specializes in all things fairy. She's well known for both her fairy gardens and her lessons in how to make them. When trust-fund baby Misty Dawn hires Courtney to throw a fairy-themed birthday party in her backyard for her friend Odine Oates, it seems like a fun and lucrative deal. Most of the guests are sorority sisters of Misty and her special guest, actress Farrah Lawson, whose past with some members of the group has been fraught. Courtney enlists some of her besties to help with decorations, games, and food, the last provided by her romantic interest, Brady Cash. At a spa party to which Misty invites Courtney, Farrah goes ballistic when a wax treatment by Twyla Waterman nearly ruins her eyebrows. So when Farrah's found dead, Twyla's an obvious suspect. Although Courtney, with some assistance from Fiona, her mischievous resident fairy-in-training, has already helped solve a number of murders, neither Detective Dylan Summers nor Courtney's father, a former police officer, wants her involved. Ignoring their wishes, Courtney digs into Farrah's background and uses Fiona's ability to overhear conversations to identify some alternate suspects. A charming cozy with gardening tips, recipes, and a raft of suspects for those who don't believe in fairies.
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May 30, 2022
In Agatha winner Gerber’s captivating third Fairy Garden mystery (after 2021’s A Glimmer of a Clue), socialite Misty Dawn recruits fairy garden specialist Courtney Kelly, owner of Open Your Imagination, a gift shop in Carmel-by-the-Sea, Calif., to host a fairy-themed 40th birthday party for a sorority sister of Misty’s. When one of the party guests, actor Farrah Lawson, goes to A Peaceful Solution Spa for a facial, she winds up berating the spa owner’s daughter, Twyla Waterman, for mistakenly waxing her eyebrows clean off. Farrah warns Twyla to watch her back. When Farrah turns up dead in the place she’s renting, apparently a poisoning victim, the police have questions for Twyla, who was seen in the vicinity not long before the body’s discovery. Intuitive Courtney and her fairy friend, Fiona, are certain Twyla, “who wouldn’t hurt a fly,” is innocent and set out to find the real culprit. Gerber keeps her fanciful tale grounded in the connections between Courtney and the members of her close-knit community. Fairy-themed pastry recipes are a bonus. This delectable otherworldly whodunit is sure to please cozy fans. Agent: John Talbot, Talbot Fortune Agency.