Pushing Up Daisies
Rosemary Harris
Dunne, Feb 2008, $23.95
ISBN: 9780312369675
After the buyout of the production company she worked for, Paula Holliday moved from the Big Apple to Springfield, Connecticut where she opened up a landscaping business, PH Factors, Garden Solutions. When Dorothy Peacock died, she left her estate Helepin to the Historical Society, but the grounds desperately need a good landscaper. Paula applies and gets the contract.
Her euphoria turns to horror when she digs up a box containing a mummified baby inside. Unable to forget or ignore her grisly find, Paula asks questions of those locals who lived in the area for decades in an attempt to identify either parent of the unfortunate child. She upsets someone who sends her a threatening email to back off or else, and someone knocks her out when she was in a deserted area. Paula learns that a young female Mexican who worked nearby decades ago mysteriously vanished although most people assumed she went home. The newbie ponders whether the interred baby and this woman are related like a mother and child. When another landscaper is murdered, Paula knows she has to stay involved even though she risks her life by still snooping.
This “Dirt-y Business” mystery by first time writer Rosemary Harris is an exciting well plotted (pun intended) amateur sleuth due to a quirky heroine and an eccentric Connecticut support cast. There are two mysteries that Paula feels must connect and has her theory how, but struggles to affirm her supposition. The novel also contains gardening tips and flora lore that enhance the appeal especially for fans of China Bayles.
Harriet Klausner
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