Laid Out In Lavender
The Blurb
Dreaming she’ll someday return to her less pungent life of computer coding, Mabel continues to honor her deceased aunt’s legacy by running her garlic farm. To make ends meet between harvests, she’s renting out the property’s mercifully downwind lavender field for summer weddings.
Mabel’s first clients are a retirement-age couple celebrating their second chance at love in their later years. Too bad the bride is allergic to lavender. Hosting a rehearsal dinner with fresh foods seemed like a good idea to promote the farm until the dead body of one of the wedding guests is discovered. The suddenly departed was the soon-to-be-ex-business partner of the groom, supposedly poisoned by goat cheese hors d’oeuvres provided by Mabel’s neighbor.
Despite the tragedy and the scandal, the groom insists on keeping his wedding date. But with the adult children from the couple’s previous marriages scheming to stop the new union, Mabel’s garlic and lavender farm are reeking with suspects. And if she doesn’t uncover the murderer, her goat farming neighbor will get sent to the pen for life.
The Details
Series: A Garlic Farm Mystery – Book #3
Author: Gin Jones
Genre/Category: Cozy – Business/Garden
Publisher: Lyrical Underground
ISBN: 1516109635
Page Count: 199
Rating: 
The Review
Mabel and the garlic farm have added a new twist to the “A Garlic Farm Mystery” series, in the latest addition, Laid Out In Lavender. Weddings! I cannot imagine having a wedding at a garlic farm; the smell seems like it would be overwhelming. But apparently, it’s the Lavender that does everyone in, or maybe the food. A guest dies during the wedding of Mabel’s first event, and the blame is placed directly on Emily’s shoulders. Then a couple of more are added to the death toll.
The main characters in this series are still evolving. Mabel is still somewhat selfish and self-centered, which makes it difficult to like her. Why she is desperate to sell the garlic and lavender farm isn’t really clear. Yes, she likes being alone and is somewhat introverted, but introverted does not mean that you have no friends or don’t go out. Emily is obsessed with her goats and will do just about anything not to lose her farm, yet she isn’t making any money, and it looks like everything has come to a head, and she is about to lose everything. Charlie, Mabel’s love interest, needs to ramp up the action, or he will never get Mabel to go out with him. The suspects in this book do not at first appear to have a motive. However, before long, readers will see the reasons behind each suspect, the evidence that connects them, and figure out who the killer is before it’s too late. The motive of the murderer becomes evident and adds the needed twists that make a cozy special.
Laid Out In Lavender has moments of joy, misery, tension, and action. It is the type of book you can sit down and read without reading the entire series. Mabel is growing and starting to fit in with her neighbors and friends, even if she doesn’t admit it. The garlic and lavender farm is becoming more and more important to her, and she has begun to realize that she can’t just run back to her old life and pick up where she left off. Her life has changed, and she isn’t the person she was when she first arrived on the farm. This is an evolving series that readers will enjoy, and the recipes are worth trying. I look forward to the next book in the series.
The Author
Gin is a retired lawyer who specialized in ghost-writing for other lawyers. She prefers to write her own books, though, since she doesn’t have to worry that her sense of humor might get her thrown into jail for contempt of court. In her spare time, Gin makes quilts, grows garlic, and advocates for patients with rare disorders.
Readers will enjoy the first book in the “A Garlic Farm Mystery” series, Six Cloves Under.
Represented by: BookEnds Literary Agency
Contact Gin: 
Find Gin on Social Media:
Follow the Cozy Review on Bloglovin’
Contact The Cozy Review
Leave a Reply