Peony Bellefleur runs Betwitching Blooms, the charming flower shop in a picture-perfect Cotswold village in England. Her flowers seem to make the sick improve, wedding days happier, and birthdays more special because she infuses her bouquets with a little magic.

Peony’s a witch in a village that seems too perfect to be true. Probably because it is. She’s got her hands full between running her flower shop, managing her mother—who’s a medium with a habit of conversing with the dead wherever she happens to be—and helping her protégé to embrace her newfound powers.

When someone dies, Peony suspects foul play. But can she solve the mystery before she’s the one pushing up daisies?

‘Peony Dreadful‘ is the first book in the Village Flower Shop series of cosy mysteries. Peony is a thirty-something American widow running the flower shop in a Cotswolds village that she and her recently deceased British husband opened together. She’s also a witch with magic at her fingertips.

The audiobook kept my wife and me entertained during the drive down to Cornwall and back. It was fun, in a calm, I’m fairly sure I know what’s going to happen next way. 

The characters were from Central Casting. The pace was so unhurried, and Peony was so slow on the uptake, that we found ourselves shouting at her to “Work it out already! Duh! How many more clues do you need?” Yet, there was enough there to keep us listening and engaged. 

It was a book to relax to rather than to get excited about. Think Green Tea as opposed to a Double Espresso. 

Fortunately, it was also a charming book, with a good narrator. I’ll be looking for more of Nancy Warren’s books to keep me entertained on long drives.

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Nancy Warren is best known for her cozy paranormal series:
Great Witches Baking Show (10 books),
The Vampire Book Club (6 books),
The Vampire Knitting Club (17 books),
The Village Flower Shop (5 books).

Here’s the bio from her website:

Nancy Warren is the USA Today Bestselling author of mystery and romance. She’s originally from Vancouver, Canada, though she tends to wander and has lived in England, Italy and California at various times.

Favorite moments include being the answer to a crossword puzzle clue in Canada’s National Post newspaper, being featured on the front page of the New York Times when her book Speed Dating launched Harlequin’s NASCAR series, and being nominated three times for Romance Writers of America’s RITA award.

She has an MA in Creative Writing from Bath Spa University.