Kate Collins - Free Library Land Online - Animals

Statue of Limitations

Sat, 09 Mar 2019 15:37:02 +0200

In this delightful new series by the New York Times bestselling author of the Flower Shop Mysteries, Athena Spencer comes back home to work with her crazy big Greek family at their garden center. But she never expected a return to her roots would mean protecting her family from murder . . .

After her divorce, Athena has returned to coastal Michigan to work in her family's garden center and raise her son, while also caring for a mischievous wild raccoon and fending off her family's annoying talent for nagging. Working alone at the garden center one night, Athena is startled by a handsome stranger who claims to be the rightful owner of a valuable statue her grandfather purchased at a recent estate sale.

But she has even bigger problems on her plate. The powerful Talbot family from whom her papous bought the statue is threatening to raze the shops on Greene Street's "Little Greece" to make way for a condo. The recent death of the family's...

A Frond In Need

Wed, 01 Jan 2020 10:25:54 +0200

It's Summertime in New Chapel, Indiana, and feisty florist Abby Knight Salvare is up to her neck in work – supervising the construction of her float for the Fourth of July parade, managing her flower shop Bloomers, reigning in her over-eager cousin Jillian, and working with her hunky husband Marco in his private detective business – when her best friend Nikki comes to her with a big problem.

Blake Ryder, a handsome, charismatic surgeon at the New Chapel Hospital is a suspect in a murder case, and Nikki is supposed to go away with him for the holiday weekend. Is Blake being targeted unfairly or has Nikki gotten herself involved with a real life lady-killer?

The days are long and humid, the clues are leading in all directions, and the responsibilities are piling up as Independence Day quickly approaches. Abby can't turn down a friend in need, but can she solve Nikki's dilemma and handle all her other concerns before the fireworks?

Dearly Depotted

Mon, 19 Dec 2005 04:20:17 +0200

A Big Fat Greek Murder

Tue, 22 Dec 2020 00:00:11 +0200

Single mom Athena Spencer is back in Michigan working at her family's garden center, raising a pet racoon, and digging up clues in the smart new mystery series by the New York Times bestselling author of the Flower Shop Mysteries . . .

The entire family has been put to work when a big fat Greek wedding rehearsal is booked at the Parthenon. All hands are needed for rolling grape leaves, layering moussaka, and keeping the bride calm. But then the groom goes MIA and there's far more to worry about then just whether Yiayia's lemon rice soup has gone cold.

No matter how tangy the tzatziki, everyone's appetite is ruined when the groom is found dead, a pair of scissors planted in his back. When the bride accuses Athena's sister Selene, a hairstylist, of seducing and stabbing her fiancé, it's all-out war—and it's up to Athena to dig up the dirt on the suspects and nip these suspicions in the bud . ....

Seed No Evil

Sat, 22 Dec 2012 00:00:14 +0200

It's finally time to say, "I do!" As long as I can keep my mom
out of jail long enough to get her to the ceremony....

Someone's Biting Mad.

Abby Knight's wedding is in less than two weeks, and everything is going wrong. The cooler in her flower shop is leaking, her neck has swollen to unnatural proportions, her groom is acting distant, and she still doesn't know where she's actually getting married!

But things go from bad to worse when the director of her favorite charity, Protecting Animal Rights, is murdered, and Abby's mother becomes the main suspect. Abby's wedding worries will have to wait until she - along with her fiancé, Marco, and an adorable mutt named Seedy - can nose out who wanted the animal activist put to sleep. But they'll have to sort through the long list of suspects quickly, or her mom may be tossed in the slammer before Abby tosses the bouquet....

Big Trouble in Little Greektown

Wed, 22 Dec 2021 00:00:15 +0200

In a tourist town on Lake Michigan, Athena Spencer keeps busy raising a son (and a pet raccoon named Oscar) while working at her family's garden center. But sometimes, she also has to get the dirt on a murderer, in the new series by the New York Times bestselling author of the Flower Shop Mysteries . . .

Athena has invited Case Donnelly, recently relocated from Pittsburgh and awaiting his PI license, to accompany her to a Save Our Dunes fundraiser and art festival. And her date proves helpful when the body of a disgraced photographer turns up during a nature walk.

The crime—and the photos taken by the dead man—raise a lot of questions about local politics, environmental battles, and the victim's womanizing ways. As Athena's endearing Greek-American family strives to solve a mystery of their own (uncovering the identity of Athena's anonymous blog), she and Case try to find the tangled roots of this murder and make sure...

Roses Are Dead, Violets Are Blue

Sun, 19 May 2024 11:05:13 +0300

Roses are Red, Violets are blue, Sugar is sweet . . . unless murder's involved.
Valentine's Day is just around the corner, and Abby Knight Salvare and her crew at Bloomers Flower Shop are hard at work preparing for the busiest day of the year. But after Abby attends a play at the town's theater, and the director, Richard Rose, is found dead, she's convinced that Rose's death is no accident and sets out to uncover the truth. Rumors of a curse surrounding the theater run rampant in Abby's hometown of New Chapel, Indiana, but she refuses to believe a curse was the cause of Richard's death.
As Abby digs deeper, she unearths a tangled web of secrets and lies that threaten to close the theater forever. With the help of her husband Marco Salvare, the hunky ex-Army Ranger who owns the local bar, Abby races against time to solve the mystery before the killer strikes again.
As the temperature drops and the threat of a major snowstorm looms, Abby and...

Snipped in the Bud

Mon, 19 Dec 2005 04:20:15 +0200

When I swapped the thorny problems of law school for the budding business of my flower store, Bloomers, I vowed that I, Abby Knight, wouldn’t be caught dead visiting that hateful campus ever again. But sometimes a girl’s got to face down her dragons....

PLANT OF ATTACK

Someone orders a black rose for Abby’s old law school nemesis, Professor “Snapdragon” Puffer. But her plans for a speedy delivery are foiled when he catches her putting the bloom on his desk and sends it straight into the trash. Abby flees in terror, only to run smack into Carson Reed, the professor who recently had her arrested at an animal rights protest. After a biting exchange, Abby storms out of the building. But if there’s anything she can’t stand, it’s injustice and bullies. So, even though she knows bad luck comes in threes, she ignores the advice of her sometimes boyfriend, hunk-a-licious Marco Salvare, and heads back in to retrieve her dignity and her flower—only to find the rose now decorating a dead professor, and herself the prime suspect....

Night of the Living Dandelion

Sun, 19 Dec 2010 04:20:09 +0200

Flower shop owner Abby Knight does not believe rumors that Vlad Serban, friend and employee of Abby's fiancé Marco, is a vampire. But how to explain that Vlad is from Romania, has prominent canines, likes bizarre plants such as bloodwort and Dracula orchid, and dresses entirely in black?

When a local woman is found dead, her body drained of blood, the stakes become life and death. With Vlad the #1 suspect, Abby and Marco race to find the real killer, before Vlad's life really starts to suck.

The Jillian Knight Osborne Fashionista Diaries

Tue, 22 Dec 2020 00:00:13 +0200

Abby Knight Salvare is the friendly local florist, the feisty amateur sleuth, and New Chapel, Indiana's very own hometown hero.
Her cousin, Jillian Osbourne, is the complete opposite.
Beautiful, bubbly and beaming with unwarranted pride, Jillian takes you on a weeklong journey, sharing her advice on fashion, fitness, and overall health.
But remember, it's easier to advise than be advised, and in Jillian's case this might be true when she gets herself wrapped up in a mini mystery.
Will Abby be able to help from behind the pages of Jillian's diary?

I guess we'll find out...

Nightshade on Elm Street

Thu, 22 Dec 2011 00:00:17 +0200

Enjoy her wedding shower...or receive a cold dunking?

In addition to running her flower shop, planning her wedding, and juggling two mothers who both want to host an elaborate bridal shower, Abby Knight is facing another complication. Her ditzy cousin Jillian asks her and her longtime beau, Marco, a private detective, to find a woman who's gone missing from the exclusive beach house belonging to Jillian's in-laws, the Osbornes. The missing woman is also the fianc e of Pryce Osborne, a wet noodle with a big bank account who dumped Abby just before their wedding several years ago. Merely being anywhere near Pryce makes Abby's insecurities grow like kudzu....

Then a woman's drowned body surfaces, and Pryce becomes a prime suspect in her death. Unless Abby and Marco can get a killer to come clean, their bridal shower will turn into a complete washout...and Pryce will be exchanging a sunny beach for a prison cell.

A Good House for Children

Tue, 18 Apr 2023 22:01:17 +0300

Acts of Violets

Tue, 19 Dec 2006 04:20:12 +0200

During the annual Pickle Fest, Abby's boyfriend Marco inexplicably disappears for a day. When he returns, he's the main suspect in the death of a clown. It seems the cops have found Snuggles pushing up water-spurting daisies-and Marco was the last person seen leaving Snuggles's house. Although Marco is still a mystery to her, Abby knows he's innocent. Now she has to find a way to prove it.

Evil in Carnations

Fri, 19 Dec 2008 04:20:10 +0200

The dating scene can be a killer...

Determined to help her roommate Nikki out of her singles slump, Abby Knight encourages her to give speed dating a try. Of course, Nikki wants the guy at the very bottom of Abby?s list, Jonas Treat?a.k.a. ?Treat the Cheat??and figures just one date with him couldn?t hurt. But then Jonas is found dead?and evidence points to Nikki as his killer.

To clear Nikki?s name, Abby enlists the help of her hunky ex-Army Ranger boyfriend, Marco. But Marco?s rambunctious extended family turns Abby?s hectic life into a disaster zone. With her patience seriously wilting, and a killer on the loose, Abby is determined to dig herself out of this mess?before someone buries her instead...