A guest list of suspects
Every table has a motive. Every toast hides a grudge nobody has said out loud yet.
Steven T. Duff
An Ivy Hill Flower Shop Mystery, Book One
Something Borrowed, Something Dead
Every bouquet Hazel arranges hides a clue. This one hid a body.
A village wedding. A radiant bride. A guest who will not be making it to the reception. When the centerpiece Hazel arranged with her own hands becomes evidence in a murder, she trades her shears for a magnifying glass and starts asking the questions the constable never thought to.
Book One of the Ivy Hill series
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The Story
A wedding to remember. For all the wrong reasons.
Hazel Thornwood has arranged flowers for half the weddings in Ivy Hill, and she thought she had seen every kind of bridal panic there was. Then the Whitfield wedding gave her a new one. Between the toasts and the tears, a guest slumps face first into the very centerpiece Hazel spent three days building.
The bouquet was borrowed from an old family design. The dress was borrowed too, from a grandmother who never lived to see it worn twice. And the guest who died at table six had borrowed something from nearly everyone at the reception, though none of them will say what.
As the wedding planner insists the show must go on and the constable insists it was simply a bad heart, Hazel starts pulling at the one thread nobody wants loose: the seating chart.
Something old, something new, something borrowed, something dead.
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See the trailer
One minute in Ivy Hill is all it takes to understand why the wedding never made it to dessert.
A garden wedding, a guest list of suspects
This is the book that opens the series: a warm village setting, a sleuth readers keep coming back for, and a mystery built from the small, telling details of a day meant to be perfect.
Hazel's sharpest case yet
No badge, no forensics kit, just a florist who notices what wilts and why.
Weddings and wreaths
The bouquet that made the day beautiful becomes the clue that unravels it.
The first step into Ivy Hill
Meet the village, the shop, and the sleuth right where the series begins.
“In Ivy Hill, every bouquet tells a story, and some of them end in murder.”
From the opening pages
Reader Reviews
A teacup in one hand, a suspect list in the other.
I can hardly wait for the next book. I feel like I am transported to another place. The book is cozy, clever and deeply satisfying. Steven T. Duff has become one of my go to authors.
Marguerite P.
I can say that I am now a mystery book person. I did not think it was possible. This one is a wonderful mix of charm and intrigue. I could not put it down.
Verified Reader
This is truly a cozy mystery, just as the cover promises. I got comfortable and enjoyed it from beginning to end. So refreshing and relaxing, I suggest anyone who wants the same experience try this series.
Leander J.
Meet the Author
Steven T. Duff
Steven T. Duff writes cozy mysteries for readers who love a village worth visiting, an amateur sleuth worth rooting for, and a puzzle they can actually solve. His stories trade shock for suspense and gore for good company.
Something Borrowed, Something Dead is where the Ivy Hill Flower Shop Mysteries begin. No prior reading required, just an open seat at the reception.
Begin with the first two chapters
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Questions
Before you begin
Do I need to read anything else first?
No. Something Borrowed, Something Dead is where the Ivy Hill series begins, so start right here.
Is it a clean, cozy read?
Yes. Expect warmth and clever puzzles rather than graphic violence, mystery with the lights on.
What formats are available?
Ebook and paperback. Choose your preferred retailer in the purchase section above.
What do the free chapters include?
The opening chapters, delivered to your inbox so you can meet Hazel before you decide.
The wedding is over. The mystery is not.
Begin the Ivy Hill series tonight. The first two chapters are on the house.