Too Soon for Flowers [Mass Market Paperback]

Margaret Miles (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 6, 1999

Lust, deceit, and murder bloom in old New England....

Spring, 1764. While the specter of smallpox stalks colonial Boston, much of the city seeks refuge in the burgeoning countryside. Restful, bucolic Bracebridge is one such haven, and young widow Charlotte Willett and her neighbor Richard Longfellow, scientist and gentleman farmer, host a handful of guests undergoing the generally accepted procedure of inoculation.

Yet shortly after the quarantine begins, one of the patients is found dead and Charlotte and Richard are thrust into a whirl of rumor, conjecture, and fear. What, if not smallpox, caused the patient's untimely demise? Has the distraught physician in charge something to conceal? And who might have risked contagion to commit murder? Before these questions can be answered, another shocking death occurs.

Now, as some superstitious townsfolk blame both the Pox and the Devil, Charlotte and Richard are determined to follow logic and reason to the all too human source of the problem. But can they arrive at the truth before another victim is claimed?

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

A raging smallpox epidemic in spring 1764 prompts a mass exodus from Boston to more pastoral New England settings in Miles's (A Wicked Way to Burn) latest mystery. Retreating to the deceptive tranquillity of Bracebridge, Mass., three patientsADiana Longfellow, Phoebe Morris and Lem SloanAwillingly take the controversial smallpox inoculation (administered by alcoholic Dr. Tucker), expecting only mild symptoms and a short recuperation. But the abrupt death of MorrisAwho, along with the others, has been hosted by widow Charlotte Willett and Diana's brother Richard LongfellowAleads to conjecture about the true cause of her death. Before long, another death, ruled suicide, adds to the abundant speculation, prompting Charlotte and Richard to investigate the disturbing and tarnished pasts of the Bostonian refugees. Miles's clever dialogue satisfyingly contrasts superstition and religious fanaticism with a steadfast Enlightenment belief in reason and science. (July)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From the Inside Flap

Lust, deceit, and murder bloom in old New England....

Spring, 1764. While the specter of smallpox stalks colonial Boston, much of the city seeks refuge in the burgeoning countryside. Restful, bucolic Bracebridge is one such haven, and young widow Charlotte Willett and her neighbor Richard Longfellow, scientist and gentleman farmer, host a handful of guests undergoing the generally accepted procedure of inoculation.

Yet shortly after the quarantine begins, one of the patients is found dead and Charlotte and Richard are thrust into a whirl of rumor, conjecture, and fear. What, if not smallpox, caused the patient's untimely demise? Has the distraught physician in charge something to conceal? And who might have risked contagion to commit murder? Before these questions can be answered, another shocking death occurs.

Now, as some superstitious townsfolk blame both the Pox and the Devil, Charlotte and Richard are determined to follow logic and reason to the all too human source of the problem. But can they arrive at the truth before another victim is claimed?

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Bantam; First Edition edition (July 6, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0553578634
• ISBN-13: 978-0553578638
• Product Dimensions: 4.2 x 0.8 x 6.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,772,753 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Smallpox, murder plague 18th-century New England village!, June 18, 1999

By 

Karen S. Lyon (Washington, DC United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Too Soon for Flowers (Mass Market Paperback)

In this second of Margaret Miles' mysteries set in the New England village of Bracebridge, the characters gather "Decameron"-style to escape an outbreak of smallpox in Boston. In addition to the sensible Charlotte Willett and her neighbor Richard Longfellow, who were featured in "A Wicked Way to Burn," readers are treated to increased exposure to Richard's sister Diana. A shrewdly flirtatious vixen worthy of Jane Austen, she has agreed, after much cajoling, to travel to Bracebridge to receive and recuperate from a state-of-the-art smallpox inoculation. Her letters home to her Boston friends about the privations of such a dreary backwater sparkle with hilarious and revealing observations.

Not so humorous are the suicide and murder that arise from the confluence of these and other characters, including a down-at-the-heels doctor, a young woman from Concord affianced to a local lad, and a flamboyant adventurer with a secretive past. The stalwart English Captain Edmund Montague makes a return appearance, as do the Reverend Christian Rowe and a number of other colorful villagers. As if getting to know these characters were not pleasure enough, Ms. Miles provides a sterlingly-plotted mystery and rich historical context on the state of medicine, marriage, and the mores of 18th-century New England. This delightful combination of entertainment and erudition is sure to put Bracebridge on every mystery-lover's map.

Karen Lyon

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent historical mystery, May 11, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Too Soon for Flowers (Mass Market Paperback)

In 1764, a smallpox epidemic spreads throughout the Massachusetts Bay Colony, especially in Boston. In the village of Bracebridge, Richard Longfellow arranges for two females (his sisters Diana and Phoebe Morris) and a male (Lem Wainwright) to be inoculated by Dr. Benjamin Tucker. When he was in Europe, Richard was inoculated for the disease.

Like many Bostonians of wealth, David Pelham flees the city for a nearby village. In his case, he comes to Bracebridge where he obviously knows Benjamin and the two female patients. While the trio recovers from a milder form of the illness, someone murders Phoebe. Richard's neighbor Charlotte begins to investigate the killing. She quickly links Phoebe to David, but has no concrete evidence that he killed the victim. However, her suspicions of David rise further when Benjamin commits suicide. Still, proof is needed and David appears too clever to leave any shred of it around for Charlotte and Richard to find.

TOO SOON FOR FLOWERS, the second novel in the Bracebridge historical mystery series, is a superb Colonial who-done-it. The wealth of detail that makes the decade before the revolution seem so vivid to the reader. Like the previous novel, A WICKED WAY TO BURN, the murder mystery is entertaining, but the illumination on 1760's America makes the novel shine. The lead characters are fun to peruse as their relationship slowly forms. Sub-genre fans will go the extra mile to read the two novels of this series as Margaret Miles will become a household name.

Harriet Klausner

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Better and better..., September 22, 2000

By 

Christopher (Leawood, KS, United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Too Soon for Flowers (Mass Market Paperback)

Ms. Miles' second Bracebridge Mystery is that rarest of items, a follow up that meets or exceeds the quality of the original novel. As before, her research is impeccable, and the depiction of Colonial Massachusetts rings absolutely true. I was fascinated by the descriptions of early practices of inoculation that are central to this story. Additionally, I believe Ms. Miles' prose to be among the best in the genre. It flows with an elegance and balance that is joy to read - and which contributes significantly to the experience of the language and conversation of the period. As before, the characters are well drawn and engaging. This author deserves to be far more widely read. Pick up this series, you will be glad that you did.