Dirty Business Series by Rosemary Harris
Dirty Business #1
Pushing Up Daisies db-1
Rosemary Harris
Welcome to Springfield, Connecticut, where gardening just got a whole lot deadlier…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.“[A] funny and entertaining first installment. May there be many more.”—Kingston ObserverCasual 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…
“Quirky, original, and captivating…sure to please.”—Carolyn Hart, Agatha, Anthony, and Macavity Award-winning author of the Death on Demand series
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Dirty Business #2
The Big Dirt Nap db-2
Rosemary Harris
Welcome back to Springfield, Connecticut, where weary suburbanites can rest in peace...New York media exec-turned-gardener Paula Holliday is thrilled when her friend Lucy asks her to tag along on an all-expenses-paid junket to the Titans Hotel. On display is the rare "titan arum," a notoriously pungent plant known as the "corpse flower." Unfortunately, the flower isn't blooming--and the only thing Paula smells is a real corpse...
"A heroine who isn't afraid to get down in the dirt."--"Seattle"" Post-Intelligencer"
Lucy's would-be suitor has been found dead--with a hole in his head--and Lucy has mysteriously disappeared. Now Paula has to start digging up clues before the police's worst suspicions take root. Even if the odious flower finally blooms, Paula has more important things to tend to. Because murder, by any other name, really stinks...
"An absolute must-read for cozy lovers. Readers of Susan Wittig Albert and Earlene Fowler will relish Rosemary Harris's exceptionally engaging new voice." --Julia Spencer Fleming, Edgar finalist and author of "I Shall Not Want"
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Dirty Business #3
Dead Head db-3
Rosemary Harris
Fugitive Mom. That’s the tabloid headline that has unearthed a whole world of trouble for Paula Holliday. Someone she thought she knew has been revealed to be an escaped convict. Hiding in plain sight—in her own New England town! Wanted criminals and secret identities have always seemed like the stuff of novels or television dramas to Paula. But ever since she somewhat accidentally solved a murder in casino country, Paula has cemented her reputation as a part-time detective. All she really wants to do is get back to her simple, everyday life—keeping her small business afloat and hanging out at the Paradise Diner, owned by her friend and former rock and roller Babe Chinnery. But before she knows it, Paula is wrapped up in yet another case. And as she digs deeper into the investigation, she finds that no one is really who she says she is—including herself…
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Dirty Business #4
Slugfest db-4
Rosemary Harris
Anthony and Agatha Award-nominated Rosemary Harris is back with her fourth Dirty Business mystery featuring amateur sleuth/master gardener Paula Holliday! Welcome to The Big Apple Flower Show where more than just the plants are dying. Paula Holliday reluctantly agrees to man the exhibit booth for a reclusive garden sculptor at a legendary northeast flower show and she expects a quiet weekend sharing garden tips. She doesn't expect to be knee-deep in jealousy, rivalry, horticultural sabotage, beheaded gnomes and something the loose communityof gardeners has started referring to as the Javits Curse! The mishaps start out small but the uneasiness intensifies when an overeager attendee is found floating in the river and Paula realizes she accidentally holds the clue to his identity and the reason for his murder. And so does the killer. That's when the garden gloves come off and this flower show turns into a real Slugfest! This time out Paula is joined in the sometimes crazy (and neurotic) subculture of conventions and the "show" circuit by a colorful cast that includes Rolanda "Fort" Knox, a no-nonsense security guard, Guy Anzalone, Brooklyn's Tumbled Stone King and his wife Connie whose fake nails and high heels don't keep her out of the garden, J.C. Kaufman, a feisty senior who never leaves home without her weapon of choice, some snooty garden club ladies who never get dirty and a slick marketing guy hawking the hottest new product at the flower show - Slugfest, a foolproof pest repellant that people and companies are dying to get their hands on. Making cameo appearances are Paula's friends from the first three books in the series, former rock and roller and owner of The Paradise Diner, Babe Chinnery, and best pal, Lucy Cavanaugh, who lends Paula a memorable red dress that keeps getting her in and out of trouble!
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