The Accidental Florist (Jane Jeffry Mysteries, No. 16) [Hardcover]

Jill Churchill (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 27, 2007

Here comes the bride!

Suburban supersleuth Jane Jeffry and her detective beau Mel VanDyne have finally decided to tie the knot. While Jane's planning the wedding of her dreams—with no overbearing mother-in-law to steamroll the entire event and tell her what to wear—Mel convinces her and her best friend Shelley to take a women's self-defense class. But before Jane and Shelley can learn the karate kicks and mean moves to fight off even the perfect purse-snatcher, their class is cut brutally short . . . when two participants are murdered.

Between her new writing project, an addition to the house, and battling mothers-in-law, she's got her hands full. But she'll have to make time to help Mel find the killer if she wants to walk happily—and safely—down the aisle.

--This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

From 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.)
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About the Author

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.

--This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow; First Edition first Printing edition (February 27, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060528451
• ISBN-13: 978-0060528454
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.7 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.9 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 1.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (112 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #446,586 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

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.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Pitiful Excuse for a Mystery, April 18, 2007

By 

Lateia E. Sandifer (South Carolina, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Accidental Florist (Jane Jeffry Mysteries, No. 16) (Hardcover)

I love Jane and Shelley. I wanted to love this book. Really I did. For the past ten years, I have waited for each new book to come out so I could savor every page. I have read every book in this series over the years and I have to admit, the last few have been a little disappointing, but this one should be an embarrasment to the author.

This "mystery" doesn't seem to be a mystery at all, but rather a mindless list of how to add a room to your house, pick the right fabric swatch for a wedding and change cat litter pans. Even worse than this boring grocery list of pointless actions, there are glaring contradictions in the story. First Jane is glad she changed the litter pans when the architect comes over and then, five pages later, she's buying litter pans becasue the cats have been "outside " cats that have forgotten how to use them.

I sincerely hope this is the last installment of the series because it was terrible. It makes me very sad to see what once was a delightful series slide into such junk. It makes me sad also to see an author, with an established name and publishing career, submit a book like this to the marketplace and actually take people's money for it. I would rather imagine Jane and Shelly somewhere actually solving a mystery than to see the characters turned into boring ninnies. If the author can do no better than this, I hope she will do the ethical thing, put down the pen and stop preying on those of us who have been faithful readers over the years.

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Don't bother, April 18, 2007

By 

Ted Mullin "Ted" (Massachusetts, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Accidental Florist (Jane Jeffry Mysteries, No. 16) (Hardcover)

Well, this will be my last Jane Jeffry mystery. I forced myself to finish the book because I was waiting for the mystery to appear but unfortunately it didn't. This book was a complete waste of my time. Don't even bother borrowing it from a library.

43 of 49 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars skip this one, March 13, 2007

By 

tregatt (Portland, Oregon) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Accidental Florist (Jane Jeffry Mysteries, No. 16) (Hardcover)

Given that I had resolved never to write another review for one of Jill Churchill's Jane Jeffrey mystery series ever again, especially if the book failed to meet expectations, need I add my voice to the chorus of disappointed readers? I think that I need to, given that both author and publishers expect us (the reading public) to shell out hardcover prices for book that had very little to offer at all.

This latest Jane Jeffrey mystery reads like the last installment in the series, and I, for one, rather hope that it is. As other reviewers have already mentioned there isn't any mystery to speak off. Mel convinces Jane and Shelly to attend some safety causes (which actually has some useful info but came across more as an exercise in scaring the living daylights out of women). Their instructor is found dead, but neither Jane nor Shelley ever get involved in figuring out why the woman was murdered and by whom. That whole mystery gets solved "off-stage" by Mel (Jane's fiancee and a police detective) and his assistant. Jane and Shelley, in "The Accidental Florist" never really get involved in the case at all. No, Jane and Shelley spend most of the book consulting over fabric swatches, and discussing how awful Mel's mother is. Why exactly are we expected to pay $23.95 for this?

The Jane Jeffrey series used to be something I really looked forward to reading; unfortunately, the last few installments have been sad disappointments, and "The Accidental Florist" really takes the cake. I couldn't even figure out why this book was entitled so. All in all, this was a sad, sorry read, and I'd advise anyone who hasn't already bought or borrowed the book to believe all of us reviewers so far and steer clear of this book!