Peggy Lee Garden Mysteries Books In Order

Publication Order of Peggy Lee Garden Mysteries Books

The Peggy Lee Garden Mysteries series is a series of thriller and cozy mystery novels written by the popular American authors named Joyce and Jim Lavene. This series is comprised of 8 novels and 1 novella in total, which were released between the years 2005 and 2015. All the books in the series depict the chief protagonist in the role of Peggy Lee, who is described by the Lavene authors as being the owner of a garden center called as ‘The Plotting Shed’. Peggy is also a widow, whose deceased husband used to work as a detective. As the mystery series progresses, Peggy Lee herself ends up taking up the role of an amateur detective and solving the criminal cases in the city. Each and every book of the series is given the setting of Charlotte in North Carolina, the United States. Authors Jim and Joyce Lavene began writing the Peggy Lee mystery series in the year 2005 and in the same year, they also published the first book of the series titled ‘Pretty Poison’. After the death of author Joyce Lavene, Jim Lavene took the responsibility of carrying forward the mystery series. He is currently working on the development of the story of the next book in the series. Each novel of the series includes garden journals, several gardening tips, as well as information about several specific species of plants. Author Jim Lavene has informed the readers that very soon he is going to release a new book in the series, which is long awaited since the death of author Joyce Lavene. The series depicts the central character of Peggy Lee as having an expert knowledge about the botanical poison. She also plays the role of a dedicated mother, a dutiful daughter, as well as a hopeful romantic. Peggy Lee appears to be very lonely after the death of her detective husband. And therefore, her mind and heart wander around in search of love once again. However, she is not the kind of woman who would easily trust anyone with her heart. She knows how to judge a person just by looking as his personality and behavior. These techniques were taught to her by her detective husband and they prove to be of great help to her in the difficult times. Also, Peggy Lee uses these techniques along with her sleuthing abilities to solve the mysteries taking place around her.

One of the initial books published in the Peggy Lee Garden Mysteries series is titled as ‘A Thyme to Die’. This novel was released by authors Joyce & Jim Lavene in the form of an ebook edition in the year 2013. At the start of the novel, it is shown that Peggy Lee and her friends from the gardening business become successful in managing to persuade the organizers of the International Flower Show to shift it from Atlanta to Charlotte for the current year. Peggy appears to be very much enthusiastic and excited, and looks forward to the event. She even agrees to take up the role of the director of the show. But, all her efforts go in vain when one of her friends is found dead on the opening day of the event. The victim is named Dr. Aris Abbuto, who was a popular orchid grower hailing from South Africa. He was shot dead and buried in a temporary grave, which was covered with a layer of pink thyme. Peggy seems very much devastated at the news of Dr. Abbuto’s murder because he had come to the event on her personal request.

Soon, the sleuthing skills of Peggy Lee hint at an important clue that could help her find the murderer. The pink thyme on the grave was used during the ancient times on the occasion of burial rites. This makes Peggy have a firm belief that someone from the show is involved in Dr. Abbuto’s murder. On the request of the Charlotte Police Department Peggy Lee agrees to work with them on the case. She joins their team of specialists as a forensic botanist. After a little while in the case, Peggy discovers that the FBI of Charlotte is also taking a keen interest in the case. This makes her realize that her husband named Steve is also involved in the case in some way. But, Peggy’s main focus lies in finding the killer of her friend as well as carrying forward the flower show in spite of hundreds of unhappy vendors moving out. Later in the plot, it is revealed that the questions of Peggy Lee lead her into a dangerous plot, with one of her friends and his daughter in the middle of it. Peggy Lee knows very well that she could land in a great trouble by asking the wrong questions. But, she is very much determined to find and catch the murderer of her friend. She also knows that if she won’t watch each step carefully, she might also land in a grave covered with flowers at the hands of the killer.

One of the other successful novels in the Peggy Lee series was released under the title ‘Killing Weeds’. This book was published by author Joyce Lavene in the year 2015 in the form of a Kindle edition. The starting sequence of this book shows that it is the time of the spring season in Charlotte, North Carolina, which is the home of the garden shop owner and forensic botanist named Peggy Lee. The current season of spring appears to be beautiful like always with wonderful blue skies and flowering trees. But, a killer is roaming free who Peggy fears can play the role of a spoilt sport. The killer seems determined to cause destruction of everything and everyone that Peggy Lee cares about. Very soon, she comes to know that her garden shop, which is known as The Potting Shed, has been vandalized very brutally by someone. When Peggy arrives at her shop to check the amount of destruction, she realizes that it might just be the beginning of a bigger game. The son of Peggy Lee named Paul, who habitually moonlights as a private detective in order to investigate about his father’s death, becomes a prime suspect in the murder of a woman when a poisoned mink coat is discovered on the woman’s body. Peggy quickly identifies the poison on the coat, which was a blend of different botanical poisons. To make the matters worse, the police finds the case to be even more interesting after finding that Peggy is a specialist in dealing with botanical poisons. The attacks on Peggy Lee and her family members continue to happen and Peggy is required to do something about it in order to cause further destruction in her life. She is required to look back into her past life and find out the person who knows very much about her personal life and is using that information in destroying her family and business. And Peggy is required to act quickly before it becomes too late.