A Flicker of a Doubt

February 20, 2023
Set in Carmel-by-the-Sea, Calif., Agatha winner Gerber’s well-crafted fourth Fairy Garden mystery (after 2022’s A Hint of Mischief) finds Courtney Kelly in her shop, Open Your Imagination, creating fairy garden centerpieces for a charity tea when her best friend, Meaghan Brownie, bursts in on the verge of tears. Meaghan’s ex-boyfriend, artist Nicolas Buley, is in town and wants her back. Meaghan owns an art gallery, along with her partner, Ziggy Foxx, and still represents Nicolas’s artwork. Nicolas doesn’t take rejection well, and following an ugly altercation, he’s found murdered in Meaghan’s yard. Nicolas has enemies galore, including his own brother, so there are suspects aplenty. But when Ziggy, Meaghan’s protective friend and mentor, is accused of the crime, Courtney takes it upon herself to assist the investigation whether the police want her to or not. It doesn’t hurt that Courtney has the help of her intrepid companion, Fiona, a fairy on probation who’s earning her way back to the fairy realm by helping humans solve problems. Readers will keep turning the pages to see what happens next to the appealing leads. Recipes round out this gentle cozy with a touch of magic. Agent: John Talbot, Talbot Fortune.

March 1, 2023
The California fairies pitch in to solve a murder case involving their human friends. Courtney Kelly is just beginning her workday when her best friend, Meaghan Brownie, arrives with fire in her eyes. Furious with her artist ex-boyfriend Nicolas Buley, who keeps texting her, Meaghan needs calming down. So Courtney, who's busy making large potted fairy gardens for wealthy Violet Vickers and teaching several classes on making fairy doors and smaller fairy gardens, does her best to soothe Meaghan. Although not everyone in Carmel can see fairies, many of the locals are trying to attract them by hook or by crook. After Nicolas gets into a verbal altercation with fellow artist Hunter Hock and gallery owner Ziggy Foxx and is found murdered in Meaghan's yard, Courtney's friends are high on the suspect list. Although Det. Dylan Summers makes it plain he needs no help from Courtney, she and her fairy friend Fiona still investigate when Ziggy is arrested. Courtney learns that Nicolas has left a trail of broken hearts, and his volatile temper has made him plenty of enemies, including his own brother, who claims Nicolas owed him a great deal of money. But which of these enemies went so far as to kill him? Plenty of suspects, gardening tips, and fairy lore combine for a sweet treat.

COPYRIGHT(2023) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.