Sunset’s Western Garden Book has been the bible of western gardeners for generations. Following the same formula, we’ve created the first comprehensive guide to keeping a garden in the fifteen northeastern states and eastern Canada. Along with Sunset’s highly regarded system of...  more

Sunset’s Western Garden Book has been the bible of western gardeners for generations. Following the same formula, we’ve created the first comprehensive guide to keeping a garden in the fifteen northeastern states and eastern Canada. Along with Sunset’s highly regarded system of climate zone maps, the book includes 1,500 amazing illustrations and a complete plant encyclopedia listing more than 6,000 varieties.

Law school drop-out-turned-flower shop owner Abby Knight has been asked to be a bridesmaid by her cousin. But before the couple says "I do," a groomsman disappears -- and another member of the wedding party is found dead. Abby has to hurry down an aisle of suspects to unveil the truth -- and...  more

Law school drop-out-turned-flower shop owner Abby Knight has been asked to be a bridesmaid by her cousin. But before the couple says "I do," a groomsman disappears -- and another member of the wedding party is found dead. Abby has to hurry down an aisle of suspects to unveil the truth -- and make sure the bride still gets to the church on time.

Rain Country Landscaping is her life, but as Rachel O'Connor sows seeds and creates new surroundings in the town of Blossom, she also unearths dire motives for murder... Rachel has just scored a bid for a city landscape contract -- just the kind of steady income her business needs. But...  more

Rain Country Landscaping is her life, but as Rachel O'Connor sows seeds and creates new surroundings in the town of Blossom, she also unearths dire motives for murder... Rachel has just scored a bid for a city landscape contract -- just the kind of steady income her business needs. But her good fortune turns sour when a city councilman is found dead, and one of her new employees is a suspect. Rachel investigates and finds that the councilman was behind a scheme to annex some of her family's orchard land. Her uncle -- known for his hot temper -- has no alibi for the night of the murder. Soon the tension threatens to tear the town -- and her family -- apart. And if Rachel doesn't track down the killer, it'll be more than people's feelings and reputations that get hurt...

Meet Paula Holliday, a transplanted media exec who trades her stilettos for garden clogs when she makes the move from the big city to the suburbs to start a gardening business. Paula can handle deer, slugs, and the occasional human pest -- but she's not prepared for the mummified body she finds...  more

Meet Paula Holliday, a transplanted media exec who trades her stilettos for garden clogs when she makes the move from the big city to the suburbs to start a gardening business. Paula can handle deer, slugs, and the occasional human pest -- but she's not prepared for the mummified body she finds while restoring the gardens at Halcyon, a local landmark. Casual snooping turns serious when a body is impaled on a garden tool and one of Paula's friends is arrested for the crime. Aided by the still-hot aging rocker who owns the neighborhood greasy spoon, a wise-cracking former colleague, and a sexy Mexican laborer with a few secrets of his own, Paula digs for the truth and unearths more dirty business the town has kept buried for years!

The flower shop in River City, Missouri, is Bretta Solomon's whole life. Widowed more than a year ago when her cop husband died of a heart attack, Bretta has thrown herself into her florist business and her place in this small, rural midwestern community. And her diet--she's lost a lot of weight...  more

The flower shop in River City, Missouri, is Bretta Solomon's whole life. Widowed more than a year ago when her cop husband died of a heart attack, Bretta has thrown herself into her florist business and her place in this small, rural midwestern community. And her diet--she's lost a lot of weight in the intervening year. If only she could shed her grief in the same way. When Bretta reads in the newspaper that Isaac Miller, an Amish farmer who supplied some of her most beautiful flowers, has died under mysterious circumstances, she's shocked and saddened. But her shock turns to curiosity when Isaac's brother, Evan, a friend of hers since his family bought her parents' farm in the neighboring Woodgrove, calls and asks her to help him learn more about his brother's death. Bretta's life becomes a whirlwind of mystery and mistrust. Everybody is a suspect--from the Amish bishop, Eli Detweiler, to the eccentric neighbor, Sam Kramer, to the flower wholesaler Leray Hodges. Bretta must race against the clock to find Isaac's killer and protect his beautiful garden from destruction before she becomes the next victim. Janis Harrison's debut is a charming cozy mystery about a woman with a real talent for digging around.

It's another busy fall day for Peggy. A quick cafe lecture on African violets is followed by a minor bike accident involving a good-looking Saturn driver. Upon returning to her shop, Peggy discovers one of the wealthiest men in town--and one of the biggest philanderers--sprawled face down...  more

It's another busy fall day for Peggy. A quick cafe lecture on African violets is followed by a minor bike accident involving a good-looking Saturn driver. Upon returning to her shop, Peggy discovers one of the wealthiest men in town--and one of the biggest philanderers--sprawled face down across one of her seasonal displays, apparently beaten to death with a garden shovel. When the cops pin the murder on a local homeless man, Peggy must rake through evidence and dig up secrets to root out the real killer. And then there's the enormous Great Dane who seems determined to adopt her -- and Peggy doesn't even like dogs. Good thing that Saturn driver is also a veterinarian...

Martha's Vineyard has been home to Victoria Trumbull for most of her 92 years. Its magic, history, and picture-perfect calm are part of her very being. But one evening, Victoria hears something that doesn't quite belong -- a scream followed by a splash and the sound of a car speeding...  more

Martha's Vineyard has been home to Victoria Trumbull for most of her 92 years. Its magic, history, and picture-perfect calm are part of her very being. But one evening, Victoria hears something that doesn't quite belong -- a scream followed by a splash and the sound of a car speeding away. That night, a mutilated body is discovered on the outgoing tide. With her granddaughter Elizabeth, Domingo the harbormaster, a swarm of Island locals, and a few mysterious visitors, Victoria manages to get in a good bit of detective work -- while still finding time to cook her traditional Saturday night supper of Boston baked beans. She even concocts a scheme to trap the killer, but she'll need to act quickly -- victim number two has just been found.

Rooting out a killer can dig you a grave... Amateur gardener and housewife Louise Eldridge has big plans for her family's new Sylvan Valley home, situated among the flower of suburban Washington, D.C., society. Some Japanese iris here, some skunk cabbage there...and her own cozy cabin...  more

Rooting out a killer can dig you a grave... Amateur gardener and housewife Louise Eldridge has big plans for her family's new Sylvan Valley home, situated among the flower of suburban Washington, D.C., society. Some Japanese iris here, some skunk cabbage there...and her own cozy cabin for her horticultural writings. But barely has she turned the topsoil when her organic mulching unearths the unidentifiable remains of a murder victim. Suddenly her elegant garden is a crime scene blighted by garish yellow police tape. And Louise--cultivating the rich and restless wives of the neighborhood and their hothouse secrets--must find out who has gone missing. For only then can she root out a rare species of killer who could soon be digging her grave.

Celia Grant, an attractive widow, operates a small nursery and gardening service in the village of Westfield, England. The people of Westfield--quiet, proper, and addicted to gossip--are shocked by the recent murder of the Emersons, who were found hacked to death in their garden with their...  more

Celia Grant, an attractive widow, operates a small nursery and gardening service in the village of Westfield, England. The people of Westfield--quiet, proper, and addicted to gossip--are shocked by the recent murder of the Emersons, who were found hacked to death in their garden with their own axe. Then Celia makes an unscheduled visit to the Towers, a once-grand Victorian estate. Her sharp eye can't help but notice that the short May-blooming irises and the taller June-flowering ones she dug up and separated last fall are all together again, in mixed clumps! There's also a bare patch of freshly dug soil where the Alstromeria used to be. Under that soil--several feet under, Celia discovers as she digs--is another dead body. Gardeners are naturally curious. So it's not too surprising that Celia Grant, professional horticulturalist, becomes Celia Grant, amateur sleuth. What is surprising is how much danger she finds herself in--as she tries to discover who in quaint old Westfield has gone way beyond a green thumb...

There's a serpent loose in Nina's garden ... Nina Colette Ceceri Quinn's business, Taken by Surprise -- a landscaping firm specializing in surprise garden makeovers -- is the only thing in her life that seems to be thriving. Her marriage to adulterous police detective Kevin Quinn has wilted. Her...  more

There's a serpent loose in Nina's garden ... Nina Colette Ceceri Quinn's business, Taken by Surprise -- a landscaping firm specializing in surprise garden makeovers -- is the only thing in her life that seems to be thriving. Her marriage to adulterous police detective Kevin Quinn has wilted. Her antisocial stepson Riley is spreading trouble around like pungent manure. Even her gardening tools are disappearing, including a rather valuable set of hoes. Worst of all, the delightful old man who first introduced her to the joys of horticulture is dead -- and not by natural causes. Something evil has taken root in Nina's Ohio small town, and the local police -- including dearly unbeloved Kev -- are baffled. But it's amazing what a resourceful gardener can dig up when she puts her mind to it -- though, by sticking her hands too deeply into this fetid, fertile soil, Nina might well end up planted beneath her own petunias.