Daisies for Innocence Book Review

I read a lot of books. One of my favorite ways to find books is to just go to my local public library and browse. When this happens, I’m a sucker for a great book cover. One that draws me in. This is how I found Daisies for Innocence by Bailey Cattrell.

This book was perfect for me. It combined my current love for gardening (main character Ellie has created an “Enchanted Garden” behind her custom perfume shop), with my love for essential oils (Ellie uses various oils and fragrances in her creations).

This is the first book in the Enchanted Garden Mystery Series. Ellie is enjoying life in her hometown of Poppyville, California. True to cozy mystery form, just as things are going well for Ellie, murder has a way of showing up on her doorstep. Her shop assistant, Josie is found murdered outside Ellie’s shop, and to make matters worse, Josie recently began dating Ellie’s ex-husband and Ellie is looked upon as a suspect.

I love the way this book very subtly sets up a more complex back story to Ellie. Her mother and grandmother are deceased. Ellie was especially close with her grandmother. Ellie still feels her grandmother’s presence in the form of the enchanted garden and her grandmother’s gardening journal. A dirt stained large volume where her grandmother made notes about her gardening adventures. The book gives Ellie hidden insights, not only into the plants in her garden, but into her past as well.

This was a quick, fun, and lighthearted read. The author leaves lots of room for the story to grow and bloom in future books and I can’t wait to see what wonderful shape Ellie’s future takes!