Poppies, Perils, and Poison

March 21, 2024

Poppies, Perils, and Poison

Poppies, Perils, and Poison (Camelot Flowers Mysteries)
by Erica Wynters

About Poppies, Perils, and Poison

Poppies, Perils, and Poison (Camelot Flowers Mysteries)
Cozy Mystery
2nd in Series
Setting – Illinois
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Gemma Halliday Publishing (March 19, 2024)
Number of Pages – ~280 pages
Digital ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0CPKP9N3G

From author Erica Wynters comes another Camelot Flowers Mystery blooming with secrets, suspicions, and danger at every turn…

Things are finally looking up with florist Gwen Stevens’ family business, Camelot Flowers, which means her biggest problem now is making her heart choose between her lifelong crush on the charming Chris Crawford and her budding romance with Finn Butler, the new police detective who makes her want to stop and smell the roses.

But Gwen’s thorny love life takes a backseat when Shannon Wentworth, a newcomer to the small town of Star Junction, drops dead in the local coffee shop the day after she announces her candidacy for garden club president. Unfortunately, Margie Philips, Gwen’s surrogate aunt, has been garden club president for years and had threatened to win again this year at any cost—which suddenly puts her in the role of prime suspect in Wentworth’s untimely demise!

Determined to clear Margie’s name, Gwen digs deep and discovers a bouquet’s worth of secrets, including marital infidelity, a lawsuit threatening to ruin a local business, and even doubts about where Margie was right before the murder. With too many suspects all hiding something, will Gwen uncover the truth before the killer poisons her chances of a happily ever after?

About Erica Wynters

Erica Wynters may have lived most of her life in the frigid Midwest, but now she spends her time in the warmth and sunshine of Arizona. She loves hiking, hunting down waterfalls in the desert, reading (of course), and napping. Can napping be considered a hobby? When not weaving tales of mystery with plenty of quirky characters, laughs, and a dash of romance, Erica works as a Marriage and Family Therapist helping others find their Happily Ever Afters.

Q&A With the Author:

What was your inspiration for writing this book?

I’ve always loved cozy mysteries. They’re the perfect escape for me, because I get the excitement of a mystery and murder investigation wrapped in a cozy, charming package. I started out writing romantic suspense, but years ago, I decided to try my hand at writing a cozy mystery, which eventually became the Camelot Flowers Mystery Series. I grew up in a small town in Wisconsin and knew I wanted to set this series in a fictional rural town that mirrored all the things I loved about growing up in a small town. This includes the fact that everyone knows everyone else in a small town. That kind of interconnection makes a murder investigation really interesting as the main character has to sort out gossip from facts.

What did you enjoy most about writing this book?

It was fun to expand the world of the Star Junction and the characters that readers had already fallen in love with in the first book. The more of these books I write, the richer the relationships and charming small-town setting of the series becomes. In Poppies, Perils, and Poison, I got a chance to continue the relationship development as the main character, Gwen Stevens, tries to decide if she’s going to pursue a relationship with her best friend, Chris, or the new police detective, Finn. I love my cozy mysteries to have a dash of romance and while the investigation definitely takes center stage in this series, the romance subplot is a fun bonus to the story.

Do you have any other books you are working on that you can tell us about?

I just finished writing the third book in this series titled Sunflowers, Scarecrows, and Scandal, which will come out sometime in fall 2024 just in time for Halloween. It was fun to write a Halloween themed mystery and find ways to weave the holiday into the story.

Can you tell us about what you have planned for the future?

I’ll be pitching the fourth book in the Camelot Flowers series to my publisher soon, which would come out in 2025. I also have two romantic suspense series that I’ll be publishing over the next two years. Both have the closed-door romance, exciting but not overly stressful suspense, and the humor of this cozy mystery series, but the romance is a stronger part of the overall plot.

Anything more you would like to say to your readers and fans?

I was sitting with an author friend recently, talking about our author brands. She asked me how I would describe my books and I immediately said, “My books are like a warm, cozy hug with a little bit of murder thrown in.” This friend has read all of my books and agreed that it was the perfect description. I write books that make you feel good, that always have a happy ending, but have plenty of intrigue to keep you turning those pages. That’s how I came up with my tagline – Falling in love has never been so fun…or so dangerous.