I'm happy to turn over the blog to Kathryn Long today. Kathryn writes the Sierra Pines B&B Mystery series. Blooming with Murder is the third book in the series.
By Kathryn Long
If you received a bouquet of red and white tulips from someone you’ve been dating, or perhaps from a secret admirer, your first thought might be to admire the beautiful display. However, would you have guessed those flowers symbolize respect and commitment to love?
I’m Kathryn Long and author of the Sierra Pines B&B series—Boarding with Murder, Snowed Under Murder, and my latest, Blooming with Murder. (By the way, I also write the Paint by Murder mysteries as Bailee Abbott.) I’ll admit, one of my favorite parts of the writing process is finding interesting nuggets of facts that are unexpected and sometimes unusual. Those unusual ones are the pure gold nuggets! Let me say, even though I write fiction, my research often uncovers loads of that factual information which I can include in my stories. So, in developing the plot of my latest Sierra Pines B&B mystery, Blooming with Murder, I came up with this idea for the main character, Alexis, to receive clues to the mystery which are delivered through flowergrams. Both alarming and mysterious, right? At least that’s what I would think. What Alexis doesn’t realize at first is that those flowers have meanings, which of course should help her to figure out whodunnit. Or so we hope. To explain a bit further, floriography, the language of flowers, is a centuries-old practice, once popular but not so much today, of sending messages, secretive at times, between lovers who might have reason to keep their relationship quiet. Think Romeo and Juliet whose love was forbidden. You have to admit, if you’re intrigued with secret coding as much as I am, it sounds like a fun way to communicate. (As a child, I had a book on secret codes and loved to write messages, pretending I was a spy. Yeah, I was kind of nerdy, but also very creative.) In BWM, my idea was to use flowers matched with the relevant symbols and combine them with line quotes from some classic movies. (Of course classic movie references had to be included since that’s a signature trait of my B&B series. Right?) When Alexis reads “Round up the usual suspects” she’s wavering on whether the mysterious sender is friend or foe. Could he or she be encouraging her to solve the murder? Then after a visit to the local pub, she receives another delivery with the line, “Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, she walks into mine.” Now, she’s wondering if her flowergram sender is a stalker. However, the beautiful orange flowers attached to the note are Indian Paintbrush, which she learns symbolizes trust and confidence in your journey. Of course, being the optimist, Alexis will choose to believe the sender means well, even if her sheriff boyfriend tells her to be careful walking down dark alleys!
The challenge for me was finding those flower symbols that fit solving a mystery, rather than those with a romantic theme. Surprise! I discovered loads in my search online and thought, let the fun begin! For instance, if I sent you a bouquet of purple monkshood, you might be a little worried because that flower means beware of danger. If you read Blooming with Murder, you’ll discover Alexis has plenty of danger threatening her life because you just know the killer is following every move and waiting for her to get too close to the truth. Still, we have to include some danger in our mystery novels, don’t we? Cryptic messages too! I love all that secret code stuff. In fact, you’ll think I’m an obsessed secret code fan when I tell you my research about this subject has ventured into music symbolism. Did you know that music cyphers or cryptograms were used centuries ago to send secret messages? Yes, musicians and even wizards loved being mysterious, especially when discovering their secrets could get them in serious trouble. No surprise that during WWII, the military employed this type of coding to send messages to the troops. Using this technique in my writing, I discovered that it’s actually a very complex creation placing many notes on the staff to represent all the letters of the alphabet. (I added this in another book I’ve written that hasn’t been published yet. TBA.)
Now, back to floriography. In history, it’s known that artists such as Van Gogh and authors like Emily Dickinson and Jane Austen used flower symbols in their work. Bet you never thought that as Jane Ayre gazed upon all those snowdrops, crocuses, purple auriculas, and golden-eyed pansies in the garden, the author meant to convey Jane was feeling hopeful, cheerful, modest, and preoccupied with the connection between money and happiness. What a “bouquet” of symbolism Charlotte Bronte included in her writing! More recently, when Kate Middleton married Prince William in 2011, she used Victorian flower language for her bridal bouquet, choosing flowers for their meanings rather than looks. She chose lily of the valley to symbolize the return of happiness, beautiful hyacinths for eternal love, and ivy for true marriage, friendship and affection. How romantic in carrying on that tradition!
Symbolism is something all authors use in one form or another. Sometimes it’s simply in the choice of words written, and in others the symbolism can go a little further with floriography or music cryptograms to provide clues. Here’s to celebrating mysteries of all kinds.
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Blooming with Murder (A Sierra Pines B&B Mystery) by Kathryn Long
About Blooming With Murder
Cozy Mystery 3rd in Series
Setting - California
Camel Press (March 14, 2023)
Paperback: 220 pages
Spring is blooming in Sierra Pines, and everyone’s busy preparing for the annual Spring Fling Festival. Ali Winston takes her B&B guests for a tour, and their first stop is the face painting booth. Local school board president, Melvin Renville, is there to honor a bet he lost to the student body by having his face painted. However, things turn tragic when he has an allergic reaction and ends up dead. No one is more surprised than Ali’s best friend and art teacher, Lyla Lane, when it’s discovered her face paint contains peanut oil, an ingredient Renville was highly allergic to. Lyla insists she’d never use store bought paint, only homemade, because in teaching elementary school, she’s aware many kids have food allergies.
Ali suspects someone wanted Renville dead and cleverly framed Lyla for the crime. The question is who had motive and the opportunity to pull off such a daring deed? Of course, rumors spread and fingers point at Lyla when word gets out that Renville had notified her, merely hours before his death, that the art program and her job would be cut next year. Talk about a motive to kill. With Sheriff Sterling painting Lyla as his prime suspect, Ali is determined to help her friend by discovering the true killer and to keep spring blooming in Sierra Pines.
About Kathryn Long
Kathryn Long is a native Ohioan who spends her days plotting murder and writing mysteries. She's a member of Sisters in Crime as well as of International Thriller Writers. She’s actively involved in the writing and publishing worlds and stays up to date on her social media platforms. Kathryn lives with her husband and furry friend Max in the quiet suburbs of Green, Ohio. The B&B series also includes Boarding with Murder and Snowed Under Murder. Inspiration for the storyline comes from her classic movie obsession, particularly Arsenic and Old Lace, and her love for Cary Grant. Kathryn also writes the PAINT BY MURDER mystery series under the name Bailee Abbott.
Author Links:
Website - https://www.kathrynlongauthor.com
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/authorkathryn.long
Twitter - https://mobile.twitter.com/BaileeAbbott1
Purchase Links: Amazon Barnes&Noble Kobo Apple
