Cuttings [Mass Market Paperback]

Anne Underwood Grant (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 13, 1999

At a convention of floral designers, someone has made the perfect arrangement--for murder...

The card was unfinished. The flowers were perfect. And both were found near a dead man in the crowded Charlotte Convention Center. The occasion was a world-class gathering of floral designers. The deceased was a leading practitioner of his art, felled by an apparent heart attack. For Sydney Teague, whose small advertising agency was working the convention, the death was alarming. But then another person dies--this time brutally stabbed.

Now Sydney's balmy city is being smothered by a freak spring snowstorm, the convention is in danger of collapsing, and a madman's rage is in full bloom. Suddenly Sydney realizes how little she knows about some people around her, including her policeman beau. And for Sydney, time is running out. Because the next floral arrangement has just come to her with the greeting When words are not enough...

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Sydney is a tenacious believer in the power of justice."
--Ft. Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel

"Anne Underwood Grant isn't afraid to take on the big boys. Mystery lovers will want to add Sydney Teague to their list of favorite female sleuths and Grant to their list of authors to anticipate."
--Spartanburg Herald-Journal

From the Inside Flap

At a convention of floral designers, someone has made the perfect arrangement--for murder...

The card was unfinished. The flowers were perfect. And both were found near a dead man in the crowded Charlotte Convention Center. The occasion was a world-class gathering of floral designers. The deceased was a leading practitioner of his art, felled by an apparent heart attack. For Sydney Teague, whose small advertising agency was working the convention, the death was alarming. But then another person dies--this time brutally stabbed.

Now Sydney's balmy city is being smothered by a freak spring snowstorm, the convention is in danger of collapsing, and a madman's rage is in full bloom. Suddenly Sydney realizes how little she knows about some people around her, including her policeman beau. And for Sydney, time is running out. Because the next floral arrangement has just come to her with the greeting When words are not enough...

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Dell (July 13, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0440225531
• ISBN-13: 978-0440225539
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,811,109 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Plan on taking the afternoon off, August 11, 1999

By 

E. Arthur (USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Cuttings (Mass Market Paperback)

I read Cuttings by Anne Grant in one huge gulp. Sidney Teague is back! I started reading the series because Multiple Listings concerned Realtors. I thought she nailed us. :) My interest in her character has grown with each book. Cuttings concerns the floral industry (which I found to be surprisingly fascinating), and I was grabbed from the first page. The plot had a very unexpected turn, at least for me, and I loved it. It was one of those slap your forehead and say DUH times. The clues were there, but Grant had me so caught up in the story I missed them. It is a wonderful mystery that gives us a glimpse into the new urban south of Charlotte. I love Sydney and highly recommend this book and the first two Multiple Listing and Smoke Screen. You might as well buy them all while you are here, because you'll come back for them. Cuttings is a must read for mystery lovers.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Grant continues to challenge readers with series, August 31, 2000

By 

Author Bill Peschel "Writers Gone Wild" (Hershey, PA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Cuttings (Mass Market Paperback)

"Cuttings" comes in a paperback and is a mystery series, but Anne Underwood Grant does more with her amateur sleuth Sidney Teague than most authors do with their hardcover heroes.

In no way would one want to step into Teague's shoes. Sidney is a single mother of two who runs her public relations agency with the help of two staffers and a revolving door of salespeople. And instead of a house by the Atlantic or some other attractive location, Teague works out of Charlotte, N.C. Those who know the area will recognize the locations, the people and Grant's cutting knowledge of the city's foibles, from its inability to distinguish itself nationally to its overweening pride in being a "big city." The only bow to convention -- her boyfriend is a homicide detective -- is undercut by her uncertainty that they have a future together.

So Teague lives a life that's closer to the everyday hurly-burly that her readers will find familiar. Her time is not her own, even when there's a murder to be solved. During a long weekend servicing a convention of florists, their wholesalers and suppliers, she has to cope with her demanding client, her employees and her children. On top of that, she is shaken when a floral designer she had known for decades suddenly drops dead at a seminar he was conducting. Then a convention executive is found stabbed, and Teague finds herself targeted as well. She soldiers on, but she's clearly shaken, and her subsequent discoveries carries with them an air of tragedy far graver and more satisfying than one would expect to find in a paperback. If Anne Underwood Grant doesn't take care, she may find herself compared with Patricia Cornwell and James Lee Burke. And who would want that?

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Read!, June 7, 2000

By A Customer

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Cuttings (Mass Market Paperback)

Cuttings was a great continuation on the series. Sydney and the kids are advancing through their lives and I can hardly wait for the next one. Couldn't put it down.