This is book 3 in the Enchanted Garden Mystery series and it's easily read as a stand alone. Ellie and her dog Dash run her perfume shop and are members of the Greenstockings, a group that is helping open a gold mining museum. When they discover a time capsule while cleaning out an old cabin , someone doesn't want the contents put on display. This series has a hint of the paranormal and is a good read. I received a copy of this ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review.

I just love this series. Don't you just wish you could spend the day in Ellie's enchanted garden? The author just paints such a vivid picture of it. Plus the mystery was a good one! I love the little supernatural aspect these books have to offer.
4 stars
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of this book, which I voluntarily chose to review.

Bailey Cattrell continues the Enchanted Garden mysteries with Malice for Marigolds. Elliana Allbright runs her shop Scents and Nonsense and welcomes customers to her enchanted garden of flowers.Along with boyfriend troubles Elliana keeps finding dead bodies. While sorting out a time capsule for Poppyville, she falls over a portrait of a lady from the past who looks like her. Elliana senses something is wrong with the material from the time capsule and then she finds her friend beside some of the evidence bashed to death. Whodunit?

Cattrell blends murder and the mystical in her latest enchanted garden mystery. Ellie is helping sort through donations for a new town museum when her senses are piqued by what appears to be a time capsule. Before she gets a chance to look at a mysterious manuscript from within it, its contents are stolen and a friend is murdered. I enjoyed how Cattrell incorporates the language of flowers and herb lore into the mystery in a unique way, and also how she develops Ellie's relationships while still keeping the plot moving. A fun and enjoyable cozy mystery!

Marigolds for Malice: An Enchanted Garden Mystery
By Bailey Cattrell
Berkley Prime Crime
September 2018

Review by Cynthia Chow

Largely due to the efforts of retired history professor Eureka Sanford, the town of Poppyville is moving and renovating an Old West log cabin into a California Gold Rush museum. As one of the members of the women’s business group the Greenstockings, Elliana Allbright is thrilled that one of their projects is coming to fruition, although the discovery of a butter churn amongst the furnishings comes with mixed reactions. Seals indicate that the butter churn had been made into a time capsule from 1850, and Eureka jumps at opportunity to promote its opening as a tourist-attracting event. Gifted with an extraordinary sense of smell and the ability to soothe clients at her Scents & Nonsense aromatherapy store, Ellie can’t ignore the odd scent or ominous feelings she last felt just before encountering death.

While everyone’s highest expectations are met when the churn is revealed to contain an actual gold nugget, Eureka and Ellie are far more interested in the historical documents inside. A picture of a woman could be Ellie’s twin, while a diary has Eureka eager to study it as a subject for her next book. Unfortunately, Ellie’s “superpowered” nose proves correct once again when her corgi Dash leads them to them to Eureka’s body, bludgeoned to death by a shovel inside the Heritage House cabin. Unable to resist following the botanical clues that only she could detect, Ellie and her similarly gifted friends use their talents to track down the killer of their genial historian. A magically transforming journal left by Ellie’s grandmother provides further guidance, but it will be her resilience and that of her ebullient friends that will allow them to sift through the growing suspect pool of culprits.

This is a novel that vividly comes alive through the detailed, elaborate descriptions of Poppyville and Ellie’s beloved Enchanted Garden. The adorable cover only hints at the floral bounty described within the pages, but even more ingenious is the use of botanical clues that lead to the reveal of a murderer. Ellie may use her senses – both olfactory and psychic – to help her solve the puzzles, but the final puzzle pieces come together through practical snooping and investigation. Ellie’s adventures are never reckless or too intrusive, making her both relatable and sensible. Just as refreshing is how a possible romantic triangle is resolved by mature communication and acknowledgment of feelings. In this third enchanting entry of the series, the author delivers the perfect combination of romance, intrigue, an adorable corgi, and magical gardening sure to delight any mystery reader.

I really enjoy this cozy mystery series set in small town California that focuses on some of my favorite things, gardening, perfume and s little magic. The murders are never gory and the bad guy (or girl) always gets caught in the end.