3 Partners in Shopping; Nana, Mommy, &; Sissy too!: Killing Weeds by Joyce and Jim Lavene Virtual Book Tour, Guest Poat and Giveaway

Monday, May 11, 2015

Killing Weeds by Joyce and Jim Lavene Virtual Book Tour, Guest Poat and Giveaway

Killing Weeds
by Joyce and Jim Lavene

The cast of characters and the story line will keep you on the edge of your seat.
~Shelley’s Book Case

The mystery was interesting and full of twists and turns, the characters were likable without being too perfect, and I’m not sure there’s a more perfect time to read a book that centers around gardening!
~I Wish I Lived In a Library

I love this series by Joyce and Jim Lavene… I love flowers and gardening so this series is perfect for me. I loved all of the floral descriptions as well as the gardening info.
~MysteriesEtc

Fun, colorful characters, a furry friend, and, or course, a murder. One that wasn’t easy to solve. I had an idea, then I didn’t, then I did.
~FUONLYKNEW

The Peggy Lee series is the series that started me loving Joyce and Jim’s books…The novel is fast paced and fun, and just when you think that everything is wrapping up, there’s more.
~A Chick Who Reads
Killing Weeds (A Peggy Lee Garden Mystery Book 8)
File Size: 348 KB
Print Length: 235 pages
Publisher: J. Lavene (May 5, 2015)
ASIN: B00UG9SBBK

Synopsis:

It’s spring in Charlotte, North Carolina, home of forensic botanist and garden shop owner, Peggy Lee. This spring has been beautiful, as always, with flowering trees and blue skies.

But a killer is on the loose, and seems determined to destroy everyone and everything she cares about.

When her garden shop, the Potting Shed, is brutally vandalized, Peggy doesn’t realize that it is only the beginning. Her son, Paul, who has been moonlighting as a private detective to investigate the death of his father, John Lee, is suspected of murder when a mink coat lined with poison kills the woman who is wearing it.

Peggy identifies the particularly virile blend of botanical poisons in the coat. Unfortunately, her work as a specialist with plant poisons makes Paul even more interesting to the police. When attacks against her and her family continue, Peggy must go back through her years of sleuthing to finger the person responsible . . . before it’s too late.

About The Authors
Joyce and Jim Lavene write award-winning, bestselling mystery fiction as themselves, J.J. Cook, and Ellie Grant. They have written and published more than 70 novels for Harlequin, Berkley, Amazon, and Gallery Books along with hundreds of non-fiction articles for national and regional publications. They live in rural North Carolina with their family.

Author Links
www.joyceandjimlavene.com
www.peggyleegardenmysteries.com
www.facebook.com/joyceandjimlavene
http://amazon.com/author/jlavene
https://twitter.com/AuthorJLavene
Purchase Link
Amazon

Killing Weeds
by Joyce and Jim Lavene

The cast of characters and the story line will keep you on the edge of your seat.
~Shelley’s Book Case

Fun, colorful characters, a furry friend, and, or course, a murder. One that wasn’t easy to solve. I had an idea, then I didn’t, then I did.
~FUONLYKNEW

It’s spring in Charlotte, North Carolina, home of forensic botanist and garden shop owner, Peggy Lee. This spring has been beautiful, as always, with flowering trees and blue skies.

But a killer is on the loose, and seems determined to destroy everyone and everything she cares about.

Guest Post;

A Few Notes about the Language of Flowers

From Killing Weeds

By Joyce and Jim Lavene

We love to write about botanist and garden shop owner Peggy Lee. This is the tenth anniversary of our first book with her, Pretty Poison. We work with a botanist to help get things right and the rest of the information about plants, we dig up ourselves. Forgive the pun!

When we first wrote about Peggy Lee, we didn’t know about the language of flowers. We found it in our research and thought how appropriate that Peggy would know about this and use it when solving her mysteries. We consulted several books on the lore of using flowers to say what you want in secret ways. It was such fun!

Despite the heavy use of the language by Queen Victoria and her court in the 1800s, using flowers to describe one’s inner feelings was first used in China. Lovers who dare not speak of their romance were able to make open declarations with a single gesture.

Coded messages were decided by plant and color as well as how they were presented. Sometimes the meaning of a flower might be very different than the way it looked. For instance, aloe represents grief and sorrow. A yellow tulip meant hopeless love. An azalea meant temperance.

As you can see, it wasn’t only roses and carnations used for these meanings. Almond meant indiscretion. Wormwood meant absence. A hollyhock meant ambition.

Of course, people around the lovers would know what these meanings were too. The feelings they were trying to hide didn’t stay hidden long! As with writing them into the Peggy Lee garden mysteries, it was probably just fun and exciting. A wonderful game of fragrance, color, and lore.

There are several books about the language of flowers and many more websites. Some florists know about the language too, and can help you choose appropriate plants for their meanings.

Book: A Victorian Flower Dictionary: The Language of Flowers Companion Hardcover – September 20, 2011 by Mandy Kirkby

Website: http://www.aboutflowers.com/flower-a-plant-information-and-photos/meanings-of-flowers.html

This is the 10th year writing Peggy Lee so the authors would like to do a big anniversary prize with a book and a goody basket of seeds, gardening supplies, gloves, etc. for the gardeners out there who love Peggy Lee. Also a $20 Amazon gift card. Here is the Rafflecopter Code:

a Rafflecopter giveaway