Customer Reviews

The Darling Dahlias and the Cucumber Tree (Darling Dahlias Mysteries)

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

What a lovely series this is going to be! I can hardly wait for the next installment. Lovely ladies and I am excited to get to know them as the series progresses. I love the tips and recipes at the end. For us middle agers who remember the grandparents of those times it will bring back great memories.
Thank you Susan!

This is the first book of a new series by Susan Wittig Albert. It's set in the 1930s.

The 'Darling Dahlias' are members of a club consisting of a group of friends who love to garden. (Darling after the name of the town, and Dahlia after the name of the founder of the club.) They have inherited Dahlia's now rundown house and what had been a beautiful garden. As they begin to work on the place, now their clubhouse, they become involved with a ghost who haunts the gardens of the house, with an accident that turns out to be a murder, a friend who is accused of embezzling from the bank, and an escaped convict!

The people are fun to know, (even the grumps), and gossip about a possible bank failure, possible illicit affairs, and a stolen car runs rampant in the town.

Following the various women as they set about to solve the mysteries and pin down the gossip is intriguing and entertaining.

Different from the China Bayles stories, but just as good a read. I very much enjoyed it.

An above average novel set in 1930 in a little town in Alabama. The Darling Dahlias are a group of women who like friendships and flowers. They are of various ages and occupations. There are three mysteries in this book and various Dahlias set out to find the answers. A very good introduction to the characters of this new series.

As a fan of the China Bayles books by this author I was alreay predisposed to liking this book, but it was really a treat. Not only are there great characters and good storylines, the references to clothes, home appliances, movies and prices of goods at the time really enrich the story. It's an uplifting story about friendship, "making do" in tough times and knowing what's important, and it's a well-plotted mystery.

In May 1930 in Alabama, the ladies of Dahlia try to stay optimist during the Great Depression at a time when the local Darling Savings and Trust may go bust. Twelve of the women form the Darling Garden Club, use an estate inherited from the late Mrs. Dahlia Blackstone as their prime meeting locale. The club president Miss Elizabeth "Lizzy" Lacy writes a gardening column for The Darling Dispatch while the group welcomes anyone to join them; unlike their enemy the Sisters of Spade snobs.

As they search for allegedly hidden booty under an apparent haunted cucumber tree on the estate, drugstore clerk Eva Louise "Bunny" Scott vanishes; at the same time a prison break occurs. When Bunny is found dead, most of the townsfolk assume the floozy picked the wrong hunk; probably one of the escaped convicts. Led by their three officers (Lizzy, probate clerk secretary widow Verna Tidwell and mayor's wife, Ophelia Snow), the Dahlia Darlings investigate Bunny's death even as they squabble amongst themselves over who owns the cache found under the cucumber tree.

The Darling Dahlias and the Cucumber Tree is an excellent timely regional Depression Era amateur sleuth that brings to life the atmosphere of a period in which people are concerned over the economy that has left no chicken in almost any pot. The investigation cleverly interweaves within 1930 Alabama though the Dahlia Darlings as each in their way struggles with the surviving the Depression. Susan Wittig Albert, author of the modern day China Bayles and early twentieth century Beatrix Potter mysteries shows her talent as she writes a great period piece somewhat in between the settings of her two strong long-running series.

Harriet Klausner

What an absolutely entertaining and charming read this one was. I have great liking for cozy mysteries; gentle ones preferably, and this one fit my need perfectly. I also like books that are reasonably detailed, informative and personal. Again, this one fit the bill. The writing is excellent.

This story takes place in a very small town in Alabama in the early 1930s as the country is crashing headlong into the Great Depression. Times are hard and they are getting harder. A group of women in this town, Darling, Ala., has inherited an old house which is surrounded by an old garden, the last vestiges of the old Great House which was the center of an old plantation. This group of women makes up the Darling Dahlias, which is the gardening club of the town.

We meet these ladies, ordinary ladies at first glance, in their own environment. The author takes us inside their lives, both at home and in the community. This for me is the most important aspect of this work. But it is after all a cozy mystery so a mystery we must have. In this case the author has given us several running parallel throughout the entire novel. We have ever thing from a visiting ghost, to bank embezzlement, escaped convicts, to low keyed possible affairs, to actual murder!

Of course the garden club women are embellished with their fair share of curiosity and latent investigative skills, and the author takes us through the mysteries as the ladies investigate.

For those looking for a "fast paced story," or a horrendous murder description, pass this one by. This work is pure mellow from cover to cover. No dead bodies dripping off each page, no shoot, shoot bang, bang stuff (although the ghost does get shot at by one of the ladies with her daddies' duck gun), and no lustful and descriptive love scenes here. No, just a good bit of story telling to help you relax for an evening or two.

There is also some very good food for thought in this book as we encounter situations these women have to face that many Americans are having to live through today. It is quite possible that the reader may pick up some very good advice as to how they, their families and their friends should get through hard times.

This is the first book of a new series. Many readers are familiar with this author's previous works. If you like her style, you will like this one. No, it is not China Bayles, but that is a good thing. As good as the Bayles series is, it is time the author spread her wings even further. She is an excellent story teller.

Don Blankenship
The Ozarks

The is what I would call a "cozy" mystery that takes place in a small southern Alabama town in the 1930's. There are a number of mysteries going on in Darling, Alabama, not the least of which is a ghost that haunts the remains of an old southern garden and the murder of a young woman who works in Darling.

The title of the book refers to the Darling Dahlia's which is the town's local garden club. The Darling Dahlia's have just acquired a local home for their garden club since one of the club members has passed away and bequeathed the home to her gardening friends.

Various plot lines are pursued as the Darling Dahlia's become involved in the ghost that haunts their garden and several members investigate the death of a young woman from the neighborhood.

Although the author tries to evoke a small southern town in 1930, something just did not click for me for the time period and the place. The town did not seem all that southern and the time period needed more period details to be evocative of 1930 Alabama.

However, the mystery was fun and I think this could evolve into a fun series. There are some recipes at the end of the book that the garden club members serve in their homes. An enjoyable read but could be better.

I am a big fan of the author's China Bayles books and had high hopes for this one. But I gave up only a quarter-way through (didn't even get to the mystery.) I know a new series requires introduction of the main characters, but there were too many, too confusing and quite frankly, I got bored. Took it back to the library after just a few days. I'm waiting for next appearance of China, et al.

I have a cucumber tree in my yard, but it is a baby compared to the trees in Susan Wittig Albert's THE DARLING DAHLIAS AND THE CUCUMBER TREE. This is a charming cozy mystery for anyone who's tried of noir or thriller mystery titles that feature battered corpses and degenerate murderers.
The way the garden club of Darling, Alabama pull together to endure the trials of widowhood and the Great Depression is a wonderful lesson for our present circumstances.
The characters are vivid personages you will find in any small community. Murder is murder; the guilty must be discovered and the innocent must be vindicated.
A great summer after treat.
Nash Black, author of Indie finalists WRITING AS A SMALL BUSINESS and HAINTS.

I've read all the China Bayles books. I live in Texas and I think that and the fact that the mysteries are always well-constructed is what draws me to them. I am not overly fond of the character of China, herself, though.In the case of the Darling Dahlias, it was the opposite.

I enjoyed the characters. Many of them were hard to keep straight, but I'm sure that will get easier with time. They seemed well-drawn out and to have distinct personalities.

The mystery itself was a little blah in this book. A lot of red herrings and the resolution was not satisfying. I wonder if the author spent most of her time on character development and less on the mystery itself.

At any rate, it was a very enjoyable read and I have already requested the next book in the series from the library.