ABSTRACT FLOWER PAINTING

A Rose From the Dead: A Flower Shop Mystery

In New Chapel, Indiana, flower shop owner Abby Knight worries about her business failing. She needs new customers and knows that flowers and funerals go together like bacon and eggs. Thus she decides to open up a "tasteful" floral booth at the Funeral Director Society's annual convention.On the down side, Abby will deal with some creepy souls who appreciate the DEARLY DEPOTTED as no one else can dig them. For instance, the Colonel who is president of the FDS is the self-anointed Master Mortician who insists he knows everything there is in converting a corpse into a living tribute and is willing to tell anyone who is not afraid to ask him for a consultation. Then there is the environmental ground-hugger Eli "Green Guy" Cotton who believes Kermit is right that grieving relatives should send their loved ones off in green.The lively gala turns morbid when cosmetician to the dead Sybil "the Diva of Death Masks" Blount is killed. Unable to resist, Abby investigates who was drumming up business.

In New Chapel, Indiana, flower shop owner Abby Knight worries about her business failing. She needs new customers and knows that flowers and funerals go together like bacon and eggs. Thus she decides to open up a "tasteful" floral booth at the Funeral Director Society's annual convention.On the down side, Abby will deal with some creepy souls who appreciate the DEARLY DEPOTTED as no one else can dig them. For instance, the Colonel who is president of the FDS is the self-anointed Master Mortician who insists he knows everything there is in converting a corpse into a living tribute and is willing to tell anyone who is not afraid to ask him for a consultation. Then there is the environmental ground-hugger Eli "Green Guy" Cotton who believes Kermit is right that grieving relatives should send their loved ones off in green.The lively gala turns morbid when cosmetician to the dead Sybil "the Diva of Death Masks" Blount is killed. Unable to resist, Abby investigates who was drumming up business.

Members of Phi Theta Kappa were honored at Lewis and Clark Community College's 34th Annual Honors Ceremony April 29, 2011 in The Commons. Pictured from left to right: Kate Collins, secretary, Dana Bennett, vice president, Dennis Delfert, advisor, Jamie White,president, and Shawn Avery, member.

Pat Jarrett/The News Leader
David Reed, 11, plays teacher Chris Macey in a game of Connect Four at the "Are you smarter than a 6th grade math teacher" table on Thursday. Students participated in the Academic Fair at Kate Collins Middle School on Thursday, November 19 2009.

Rachel Myers receives a letter and a packet of information from a man she has only met twice and who has recently died under questionable, if not suspicious circumstances.

Grant Taylor, a teacher at a private prep school, had become curious about the mysterious disappearance thirty years before of a young female teacher at another exclusive private academy and he pleads for Rachel's help.

After Myers decides to continue Taylor's search, she finds the young teacher's remains in a lonely grave off the Blue Ridge Parkway.

The "reluctant" detective probes her list of suspects and unveils their motives. Then comes the task of deciding which one is the murderer. Myers has never been more challenged or more perplexed as she confronts a steadily dwindling list of suspects.

The real murderer is as much a shock to Myers as it will be to the reader.

Rachel Myers receives a letter and a packet of information from a man she has only met twice and who has recently died under questionable, if not suspicious circumstances.

Grant Taylor, a teacher at a private prep school, had become curious about the mysterious disappearance thirty years before of a young female teacher at another exclusive private academy and he pleads for Rachel's help.

After Myers decides to continue Taylor's search, she finds the young teacher's remains in a lonely grave off the Blue Ridge Parkway.

The "reluctant" detective probes her list of suspects and unveils their motives. Then comes the task of deciding which one is the murderer. Myers has never been more challenged or more perplexed as she confronts a steadily dwindling list of suspects.

The real murderer is as much a shock to Myers as it will be to the reader.