Accidental Florist (Jane Jeffry Series #16) » (Reprint)

Jill Churchill has won the Agatha and Macavity Mystery Readers awards and was nominated for an Anthony Award for her bestselling Jane Jeffry series. She is also the author of the highly acclaimed Grace and Favor mysteries and lives in the Midwest.

Jane Jeffry and longtime beau Detective Mel VanDyne finally decide to marry, but Mel's overbearing mother wants to take charge of not only the rehearsal dinner but the actual wedding. Since Jane half expected Mel's mother to steamroll the entire event, she agrees--but with rules of her own. No bridesmaids, no groomsmen. And she can't tell Jane what to wear.

But during what should have been a blissful interval between the engagement and the bouquet toss, several other occurrences take place. Mel convinces Jane and her best friend, Shelley Nowack, to take a women's safety class. They learn a lot, but the class is cut short when a dead body is discovered. So between Jane's wedding planning, her new writing project, and a battle between both mother-in-laws (which Jane encourages), a murderer must be found before this bride can walk happily down the aisle.

Publishers Weekly

At the start of Agatha-winner Churchill's middling 16th cozy to feature Chicago-area amateur sleuth Jane Jeffry (after 2004's A Midsummer Night's Scream), Jane and her best friend, Shelley, decide to take a class on women's safety at the urging of Jane's long-time beau, Mel. Before the course is concluded, their teacher, Miss Welbourne, is murdered by a blow to the head. Jane's personal life overshadows the search for the killer: she and Mel decide to get married, so there's a wedding to plan, a house addition to design and an annoying almost-mother-in-law to handle. The domestic escapades make for enjoyable reading, and the safety tips Jane and Shelley learn are also helpful to the reader. But the plot is a little thin and much of the dialogue rings a false note. The book's most literary aspect is the wordplay of the title. (Mar.)