Daisies Never Die

Judy Lawn
Zumaya Publications (2005)
ISBN 1554102987
Reviewed by Joanne Benham for Reader Views (5/06)

Averil Matthews feels beaten by life. An only child born to aging parents, her mother overprotected her to the point that Averil makes an acrimonious break with her only months before she dies. Upset that she had not been able to reconcile with her mother before her death and struggling to recover from a relationship with a domineering man, the last thing Averil needs is the perceived hostility from fellow teachers as she takes over the position held by a much-beloved teacher whom the rest of the staff thought was fired without due cause. Averil was wandering in a fog, unable to get her life back on track. One day, after almost passing out in the teacher's lounge, the school principal suggests that Averil take a short leave of absence and try to pull herself together.

Then Averil and her father receive the news that Aunt Edith, her father's older sister, has died and left all of her possessions, with the exception of a few small bequests, to them. Averil's father suggests she use her leave time to go to Aunt Edith's cottage and sort and clean everything out, getting the cottage ready for sale.

When Averil arrives at the cottage, she expects to sort through a few legal papers and just generally clean and decide what, if any, of her Aunt Edith's possessions she might like to keep.

What she walks into is a mystery, beginning with an old letter Aunt Edith had been reading when she died. Was it possible Aunt Edith had a whole other life than the one her family knew about? And what was Aunt Edith's connection to the strangers named in her will?

Realizing she needs help, Averil approaches Rose Rountree, a local mystery book author. Together, Averil and Rose, with help from their extended family, untangle the knots tying up Aunt Edith's past and in the process, untangle Averil's knotty problems, leaving her ready to face the world and able to recognize and accept true love when it enters her life.

This book was a light, entertaining read on a quiet Saturday afternoon, a 'Cozy Cottage' mystery.

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