A Bouquet of Thorns Hardcover – August 23, 1989 by John Sherwood 
 
When Celia Grant, botanical expert and amateur sleuth, innocently agrees to judge the flower show in her little village, she unearths some dark secrets that could get her killed
 
From Publishers Weekly
Sherwood's white-haired, widowed Celia Grant is back in the sixth addition to the series that typifies the cream of British mysteries. Managing her flourishing nurseries in the village of Melbury, Celia has few problems beyond coping with the flashpoint temper of her indispensable head gardener, young Bill Wilkins. But the two are inevitably drawn into an uproar when somebody murders alcoholic, violent Simon Berridge and Bill is arrested, his conviction all but assured by lying witnesses. Celia, no less scheming than the crime's perpetrators, uses information about the village's leading citizens to put the blame where it belongs, though not without suffering damage to her own self-esteem. As always, readers are treated to gleanings from horticultural lore and to the beguiling messages in The Language of Flowers neatly integrated into Celia's investigation.Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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