She can’t keep a plant alive.
Now she’s supposed to solve a murder.
Meg Trammell didn’t plan on moving to small-town North Carolina—and she definitely didn’t plan on inheriting her late aunt’s cottage, a spot in Bellford’s most cutthroat gardening club… or a front-row seat to a dead body in the rose garden.
When the Garden Society’s reigning champion turns up dead among her prize-winning blooms, Meg becomes the last person to see her alive—and the first person the police side-eye.
The Garden Tour must go on (according to the terrifying club president).
The suspects are all armed with pruning shears and grudges.
And the only deputy willing to help keeps telling Meg to stay out of it… while handing her just enough information to do the exact opposite.
With zero gardening skills, a talent for asking inconvenient questions, and a town where gossip spreads faster than kudzu, Meg is about to dig up more than weeds.
Because in Bellford, the real danger isn’t the thorns…
It’s the neighbors.
Pushing Up Daisies is a laugh-out-loud cozy mystery featuring:
🌼 A plant-killing amateur sleuth
🌼 A meddling (and mildly terrifying) garden club
🌼 A slow-burn, small-town romance
🌼 Southern charm, sharp humor, and buried secrets
🌼 A murder that refuses to stay buried
Perfect for fans of cozy mysteries with heart, humor, and just enough bite to keep you turning pages.
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Welcome to Bellford, North Carolina—where the flowers are thriving, the gossip spreads fast, and someone always seems to end up dead.
Meg Trammell never meant to become Bellford’s unofficial detective. She just inherited a cottage, joined a gardening club she has no business being in… and accidentally solved a murder.
Now it keeps happening.
From flower shows to harvest suppers, community gardens to town expos, Meg and the Bellford Garden Society are constantly one bad day away from another crime scene.
With a cast of strong-willed gardeners, a deputy who wishes she’d stop getting involved (she won’t), and a town full of secrets hiding beneath perfectly tended soil, Meg is learning that solving murders might be the one thing she’s actually good at.
Even if she still can’t keep a plant alive.
The Bellford Garden Society Mysteries is perfect for readers who love:
🌿 Small-town cozy mysteries with humor
🌿 Amateur sleuths who stumble into trouble
🌿 Found family and community-driven stories
🌿 Slow-burn romance woven through each book
🌿 Fast, bite-sized reads
A prestigious flower show.
A judge with a talent for making enemies.
And a murder that turns Bellford into a crime scene overnight.
Meg Trammell agreed to help organize the Piedmont Flower Show. Logistics? Easy.
Managing a room full of competitive gardeners with sharp tools and sharper grudges? Less easy.
Then the judge ends up dead in the greenhouse.
Now the Garden Society is under suspicion.
Donna Faye has motive.
Half the exhibitors have alibis that feel… flexible.
And Meg is once again standing way too close to a body.
With reputations on the line and the entire event unraveling, Meg has to dig through secrets, rivalries, and a whole lot of very polite hostility to find the truth.
Because in Bellford, competition isn’t just fierce—
it’s fatal.
A Trowel Affair is perfect for readers who love:
🌼 Murder at a high-stakes event
🌼 Amateur sleuth with a talent for trouble
🌼 Small-town secrets and sharp humor
🌼 Slow-burn romance simmering under the surface
A dead landowner.
A developer circling the property like a vulture.
And the sweetest man in town accused of murder.
The Bellford Community Garden isn't just dirt and tomatoes—it's home.
So when the landowner turns up dead and a developer circles the property, the future of the garden is suddenly up for grabs.
Worse?
Burt Kessler—the last person who would hurt anyone—is the prime suspect. Meg Trammell isn't about to let that stand.
To clear Burt's name and save the garden, Meg will have to untangle decades-old grudges, buried deals, and motives that go deeper than anyone expected.
Because in Bellford, nothing stays buried forever. Not secrets. Not resentment. And definitely not murder.
Weed 'Em and Reap is perfect for readers who love:
🌱 Protect-the-community stakes
🌱 Clearing an innocent suspect
🌱 Found family + small-town loyalty
🌱 Multiple suspects and a twist you won't see coming
A perfect harvest supper.
A controversial guest.
And one poisoned drink that turns celebration into chaos.
Meg Trammell planned the event down to the last detail—lighting, seating, cider.
Then a city councilman collapses mid-party.
Poison.
Now the Garden Society is under investigation, the mayor is circling, and someone deliberately targeted a single cup in a crowd of hundreds.
Which means this wasn’t random.
It was personal.
With time running out and suspicion landing squarely on the people she cares about, Meg has to figure out who planned the perfect crime… using her perfectly planned event.
Because in Bellford, even the sweetest cider can turn deadly.
The Last Mulch Run is perfect for readers who love:
🍂 Poisoned drink mystery
🍂 Locked-circle style clues
🍂 High stakes for the entire community
🍂 Fast-paced, bingeable cozy suspense
The garden expo is back. So is the body count.
Meg Trammell should have known better than to say nothing could go wrong.
The second Bellford Garden Expo has everything the first one didn’t: a professional consultant, a master schedule, regional press, labeled credentials, and enough contingency planning to make Donna Faye Hargrove proud. After five murders in five events, Bellford is determined to prove it can host one lovely, corpse-free weekend.
Then Doug Renner turns up dead in the antique-ornament booth, struck down with a bronze sundial and half-covered by a table skirt.
Renner was the money behind Hadley–Renner Properties, the development firm circling Bellford’s beloved fairgrounds. He was supposed to help turn the land into someone else’s profit. Instead, he’s left behind shell companies, hidden settlement money, a furious business partner, and a county full of suspects with excellent gardening tools and terrible alibis.
At first, all signs point to Frank Hadley, who threatened Renner in front of half the town. But Meg knows an over-planted suspect bed when she sees one. The evidence has been arranged too neatly, and the killer knew exactly how to slip out through a security blind spot only a handful of people knew existed.
The worst part? One of those people is Joan Maddox, the polished consultant Meg personally recommended.
Now Meg has to untangle land deals, buried bankruptcies, old grudges, and one dangerously perfect schedule before Bellford loses its fairgrounds, Cal’s case gets tangled in relationship optics, and the killer proves some weeds don’t just grow back.
They graft themselves in.
Graft and Corruption is Book 7 in The Bellford Garden Society Mysteries, a funny, twisty small-town cozy mystery full of Southern charm, found family, amateur sleuthing, garden club chaos, slow-burn romance, and enough pie to make the evidence table nervous. Perfect for fans of character-rich cozies, nosy neighbors, small-town scandals, and murder with mulch on its shoes.
Amazon
A famous influencer.
A town pushed to its limits.
And a body in the compost pile.
The Bellford Garden Expo is supposed to put the town on the map.
Instead, it puts them in the headlines.
When celebrity gardener Kendall Briggs is found dead during the biggest event Bellford has ever hosted, it looks like a tragic accident—until the details stop adding up.
Turns out, Kendall made enemies everywhere she went.
And in a town like Bellford? That’s a dangerous mistake.
Now Meg Trammell is once again at the center of it all—sorting through egos, grudges, and secrets that have been quietly growing beneath the surface.
Because in Bellford, even something beautiful can rot… if you dig deep enough.
Bloom and Doom is perfect for readers who love:
🌸 Influencer drama meets murder
🌸 Big event gone wrong
🌸 Twisty suspects and layered motives
A prized tomato. A fake lawsuit. A dead man behind the potting shed.
Meg Trammell already has enough on her clipboard. Belle Day is supposed to be the Bellford Garden Society’s sweetest event yet: a June potluck, a seedling sale, and the official launch of Burt Kessler’s long-awaited Bellford Belle tomato. The town is ready for deviled eggs, bourbon lemonade, and one very dramatic first-fruit tasting.
Then a certified letter arrives claiming the Bellford Belle infringes on a patented seed line. Suddenly, Bellford’s beloved tomato is at the center of a legal threat, Burt’s life’s work is in jeopardy, and Jackie Pham’s Hardware & Feed could be on the hook for selling the seedlings.
When the man behind the claim turns up dead behind Thelma Bunch’s potting shed, the murder weapon points straight at Jackie. Meg knows her best friend didn’t kill anyone. Probably. Almost certainly. But Jackie has a motive, a public threat on the record, and one inconvenient lie she refuses to explain. Now Meg has to untangle old grudges, quiet payoffs, stolen letterhead, and a trail of ruined growers before Bellford’s phone tree convicts Jackie before the sheriff can.
Because in Bellford, secrets grow fast. And some of them have very deep roots.
Vine and Punishment is Book 6 in The Bellford Garden Society Mysteries, a funny, twisty small-town cozy mystery full of Southern charm, found family, garden club chaos, amateur sleuthing, and enough pie to qualify as evidence. Perfect for fans of character-rich cozies, nosy neighbors, and murder with a side of mulch.