BOOKS I HAVE READ

SNIPPED IN THE BUD

PLANT OF ATTACK - Someone orders a black rose for Abby's old law school nemesis, Professor "Snapdragon" Puffer.  But her plans for a speedy delivery are foiled when he catches her putting the bloom on his desk and sends it straight into the trash.  Abby flees in terror, only to run smack into Carson Reed, the professor who recently had her arrested at an animal rights protest.  After a biting exchange, Abby storms out of the building.  But if there's anything she can't stand, it's injustice and bullies.  So, even though she knows bad luck comes in threes, she ignores the advice of her sometimes boyfriend, hunk-a-licious Marco Salvare, and heads back in to retrieve her dignity and her flower - only to find the rose now decorating a dead professor, and herself the prime suspect...



ACTS OF VIOLETS

SWEET OR SOUR? -Abby has been dating Marco - ex-cop, bartender, and all-around hunk - for several months when the Pickle Fest starts.  But he's still a mystery to her.  And after he disappears for a day, she's stunned to read in the paper:  EX-COP QUESTIONED IN MAN'S DEATH.  It seems the authorities have found Snuggles the Clown pushing up water-spurting daisies - Marco was the last person seen leaving Snuggle's house.  Abby knows in her bones that he's innocent.  But why, when his life is on the line, is Marco being so secretive with her?  And who is the attractive woman he escorted to the Pickle Fest?  To do the legwork, she'll have to delve into the eerie clown underworld, where the smiles are fake and everyone has a trick up his sleeve.



A ROSE FROM THE DEAD

Who knew death could be so much fun?
Abby is amused by the black humor of the usually somber "death professionals" who are attending the Midwestern Funeral Directors Association's regional convention.  Even organizer Sybil Blount - known for her cutthroat business practices and the signature rose she wears in her wig - isn't what Abby expects...especially when her corpse ils found in a casket.  When Abby's friend Delilah Dove becomes a suspect, Abby shifts into full investigation mode and learns that Sybil's enemies included the prankster sons of a big-time funeral director, an eco-friendly purveyor of "green burials," and a strange Goth girl who captures the "music" of departing souls on her tape recorder.  It's up to Abby and her boyfriend, Marco, to look beyond the trappings of death and find out who really loved Sybil - and who loved her not.