Death in Bloom by Jess Dylan: Book Review

Death in Bloom is the first book in the Flower House Mystery Series by Jess Dylan. First published in May 2021 by St. Martin’s Press, this cozy mystery set in the mountains of Tennessee introduces us to Sierra Ravenswood as she is trying to figure out the path she needs to take to find the future she dreams of having.

Synopsis from Goodreads

Sierra Ravenswood is the new part-time employee of the Flower House, a flower shop in Aerieville, Tennessee. It’s true she didn’t expect to be back in her hometown at twenty-eight years old, but after her dream of making it as a singer in Nashville crashed and burned, she’s just grateful to have found a soft place to land.

Because, after all, Sierra firmly believes in being optimistic and positive about life, so she’s sure she won’t have to work at the Flower House forever. But things take a decidedly negative turn when a customer drops dead in the middle of her new bouquet-arranging workshop at the store. When it’s discovered a snack poisoned him at the event, everyone at the workshop, including Sierra, is on the suspect list. To make matters worse, her boss has gone AWOL and left the store to her for the cost of one dollar, leaving Sierra in charge of both his store and his high-energy Corgi puppy, Gus.

The town is on edge, and Sierra knows that murder is something that an upbeat attitude and a bouquet of sweet-smelling roses can’t fix. She’s determined to figure out whodunit before anyone else in town meets an untimely reason for needing funeral flowers.

Positives

Like many cozy mystery series, this one is set in a small town where not much happens. And as such, Aerieville is a quaint little town in eastern Tennessee. The descriptions of the town make it easy to picture the layout and the friendliness of the people.

Sierra is relatable, as in she doesn’t quite fit in with her family yet knows they’ve got her back no matter what she does.

Negatives

As the first book in the series, there are some holes in the character development. And I hope those will start to be filled in as the series continues.

And what is up with the sudden disappearance of Felix and Jim? Is that going to be an ongoing mystery in the series? I have a feeling it will be. And if it does, I won’t mind.

My Opinions

Death in Bloom is only the second cozy mystery I’ve read this year and one that I enjoyed. It took me a while to read, but that was because life just got in the way. As silly as this may sound, this cozy mystery is a cozy read.

I did find myself getting annoyed with some of the characters as the story went on. And I hope that it is just holes in character development that will be filled in as the series progresses, more than anything. My favorite character has to be Gus. Is it strange to say a dog is my favorite character? He did more with his little legs to solve the mystery than some of the humans did.

I did not know who the culprit was until Sierra did. Though, I did have my suspicions. The way it was written, I enjoyed that it could have been almost any of the suspects. I say almost because two of the original suspects were cleared soon after the murder happened.

I enjoyed reading Death in Bloom and can’t wait until I can read Petals and Poison, the next book in the series.

Looking for some more books to read? Check out my other book reviews and my monthly reading wrap-ups.