Peaches and Schemes - A Review & Giveaway

 Review

PEACHES AND SCHEMES by Anna Gerard
The Third Georgia B&B Mystery

While not a fan of weddings, Nina Fleet is a fan of business success. So when her new friend Roxanna suggests she get a booth at the Veils and Vanities trade show, she agrees. Her B&B is a lovely Queen Anne with a gorgeous garden, so promoting Fleet House as an ideal wedding venue makes sense. As surprised as she is to see her frenemy, Harry, hawking his new business venture, she's even more surprised when he tells her of her ex-husband's upcoming nuptials. But that's nothing compared to the shock when, instead of a cascade of flowers, a body falls out of the huge prop wedding cake!  

PEACHES AND SCHEMES is both hysterically funny and genuinely moving. There's a complicated mystery, a motherless dog, and intriguing development in Nina and Harry's relationship. 

I love just about everything in this series, and the third Georgia B&B Mystery confirms that fact. Nina is smart, strong, yet still vulnerable. Harry is charming, annoying, and leading man material in oh so many ways. The mystery here is complex leading to some surprise suspects and a shocking penultimate scene.

PEACHES AND SCHEMES is a delightful mystery that had me laughing, commiserating, and gasping in shock. Its characters have wormed their way into my heart and I feel their pain as well as their joy. I was in stunned sadness at the end of the novel, which changed to hope, leaving me on the edge of my seat waiting for the next entry in this fantastic series.

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 Peaches and Schemes: A Georgia B&B Mystery by Anna Gerard

About Peaches and Schemes

Peaches and Schemes: A Georgia B&B Mystery
Cozy Mystery 3rd in Series
Publisher: Crooked Lane Books (May 11, 2021)
Hardcover: 304 pages

In Anna Gerard's third delightful Georgia B&B mystery, Nina Fleet learns that despite the satin, lace, and buttercream trappings, weddings often prove to be anything but sweet...

Nina Fleet might be new to the innkeeping business, but she's savvy enough to know that Cymbeline's tourists aren't enough to keep her fledgling bed and breakfast going. And so, Nina decides to tap into the destination wedding market by taking a booth at the Veils and Vanities Bridal Expo. The twice-yearly event is sponsored by the town's two wedding pros: Virgie Hamilton, the sixtysomething owner of Virgie's Formals, and Roxanna Quarry, a Gen X event planner and Nina's new friend. But everything goes wrong during the expo's fashion show, when Roxanna comes tumbling out of an oversized prop wedding cake, strangled to death by her own scarf.

Virgie is arrested for the crime, thanks to Nina's statement to the police about having overheard the woman accusing her partner of embezzlement. Meanwhile, the situation grows tense with her sometimes nemesis and current tenant, the dashing out-of-work actor Harry Westcott. Harry is concentrating on plugging his most recent side hustle ...but he's not too busy to break the news to Nina that her ex-husband is engaged to be married again.

Certain that Virgie's only offense is a bad temper, Nina decides to do her own investigating. First, however, she and Harry retrieve Roxanna's now ownerless dog, planning to foster him until a new home can be found. But local gossip soon convinces Nina that others beside Virgie might have had reason to murder Roxanna. As Nina gets close to the truth, she's putting her own life at danger. And when Virgie vanishes after being bailed out of jail by an unknown benefactor, Nina fears that if she can't find the dress shop owner in time, tying the knot will take on a whole new meaning for them both.

 

About Anna Gerard

DIANE A.S. STUCKART began her writing career in the 1990s as the critically acclaimed author of historical romance under the names Alexa Smart and Anna Gerard. She later switched to the mystery genre and is the NYT bestselling author of the Black Cat Bookshop Mysteries (written as Ali Brandon) and the award-winning Leonardo da Vinci historical mysteries. Her Tarot Cats Mystery series launched in 2018 with FOOL’S MOON. Her Georgia B&B Mystery series (also written as Anna Gerard) debuted in 2019 with PEACH CLOBBERED. Kirkus Reviews describes that book as “Filled with Southern charm and enough ditzy characters to keep readers guessing and laughing.” Book 3 in that series, PEACHES AND SCHEMES—her 17th published novel—will be on the shelves May 2021.

Author Links: https://www.dianestuckart.com/ 

 https://www.facebook.com/BlackCatMysteries  

https://bookloversbench.com/  

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