For fans of: Donna Andrews and Madelyn Alt

When florist Abby Knight finds out that her fiancé, former Army Ranger Marco Salvare, is being recalled to active duty, the least of her worries is what will happen to Marco’s bar, Down the Hatch, during his absence. But then she meets Vlad Serban, the former foxhole buddy Marco’s hired to keep an eye on things while he’s gone, and she’s forced to wonder if maybe she should have taken a more active role in the selection of the bar’s caretaker. After all, Vlad may be handsome, charming, and charismatic, but he also looks a bit like – well, a vampire.

Marco quickly dismisses Abby’s concerns, and at first, Vlad’s appearance proves not to be much of a problem; in fact, thanks to the recent vampire craze, having Vlad behind the bar is actually good for business. But then a female patron is found dead in a nearby alley, two puncture wounds in her neck and her body drained of blood, and everything goes to hell. The police like Vlad for the murder and don’t seem all that interested in questioning any other suspects, and mobs of angry townsfolk start picketing the Down the Hatch. Marco knows his friend is innocent, however, and convinces Abby they should launch their own investigation. Can he and Abby exonerate Vlad and hand the police the identity of real killer before it’s time for Marco to report for duty?

Night of the Living Dandelion is the eleventh in Kate Collins’ Flower Shop Mystery series, and I think it’s her best outing to date. Collins’ prose is warm, funny, and engaging, the world her characters inhabit is lush and welcoming, and the story is incredibly well-paced. At 300-plus pages, it’s a bit longer than your typical cozy, but it sure doesn’t feel like it; I had a hard time putting this book down for any substantial length of time and polished the whole thing off in just under a day. The mystery is thrilling, chilling, and marvelously well-constructed; the suspect list is long and cardboard-cutout-free; and the action-packed conclusion is sure to please.

Abby is witty, genuine, and relatable, and makes for both an engaging heroine and a compelling narrator. Her high-maintenance cousin Jillian (who spends half the book convinced she’s turning into a vampire) is riotously funny (I’d read an entire series based on her exploits alone). And suspected vampire Vlad is charming, mysterious, and somehow manages to pull off the whole pseudo-creature-of-the-night thing without seeming ridiculous. The only two characters who come up lacking are Lottie and Grace (the two women who help Abby run her shop), but their roles in this particular story are quite minor, so that’s easily forgiven.

One of the things that really sets this book apart from the pack is the fact that Marco and Abby work together as equals during their investigation. If you ask me, too many authors write heroines with disapproving love interests – men who chastise their girlfriends for finding dead bodies, or scold them for getting involved in murder investigations, or belittle their mystery-solving acumen. That’s not the case here; the relationship Collins has created between Abby and Marco is tender, sweet, and very much of the 21st century. It’s a nice change from the norm, and it’s a trend I sincerely hope will catch on.

I confess, I wasn’t that wild about the other Flower Shop Mysteries I’ve read, but I enjoyed the heck out of Night of the Living Dandelion. Run out and buy yourself a copy today; you won’t be sorry.

Reviewed by: Kat