I would like to thank NetGalley, and Thomas& Mercer for an ARC of "The Roses of May" by Dot Hutchison for my honest review.
The genres of this novel are Mystery and Thriller, and General Fiction (Adult). This is the second book following "The Butterfly Garden" by Dot Hutchison.
This takes place approximately four months after the explosion of the Garden where young girls known as "Butterflies" were captive. Some have survived and have to heal.
The characters are described as complicated and complex. Three of the FBI agents from the first book are in this book, Brandon, Eddison, Victor Hanoverian and Mercedes Ramirez.
In "The Roses of May", the author describes Priya, the sister of a victim that had been killed five years before. Priya is suspicious of her surroundings, and tries to be tough. She has conflicted feelings, and at times is depressed and angry at what happened to her sister. Priya and her mother move several times in order to be safe. Priya's mother is described as dominant, and protective of her daughter. Priya and her mother have been in touch with the three FBI agents.
Someone has been stalking Priya and is leaving a variety of flowers that are significant on Priya's doorstep.
Who is the stalker? Who has killed Priya's sister and other people? What is their motivation?
I found this a tense. suspenseful, action packed thriller with twists and turns. I would recommend this book as an intriguing mystery and thriller.

Loved the Butterfly Garden and when I saw the author had a second book out I squealed with delight! Now while this book doesn't have the creep factor like the first book it for sure has its own wins! Also although there are cameos of characters from the first book, you do not need to read the first one to understand the second one - however it might ruin the first book if you decide to go back and read the first one.

I didn't guess the ending and I was wrong (by a long shot) on who the bad guy was!!!
Great book and I hope there is a third. - I would continue to read books by this author and this is an easy recommend.

What a bummer. I really loved The Butterfly Garden last year and when I saw this, I was super excited to give it a read, but no. I read 100 pages of this book, which is a whole third of the story and nothing grabbed me. Nothing. Did anything even happen in those first 100 pages?

Warning, that you'll see on lots of others reviews... this isn't a sequel. This is a totally new book, with a new crime, it just has some of the same characters. This could be the second in a series of Inara & Bliss & Eddison, or whatever, but don't call it a sequel when that's not what it is.

This felt really YA to me, but I'm not seeing anywhere that anyone else is classing it like that. For me, this read really immaturely and the constant use of random swear words only added to that. It felt as though Hutchison added them in as a way to make the book feel more adult, but for me, it did the opposite of that.#

Eddisons relationship with Priya??? One, felt totally inappropriate, even though there was nothing like that going on. They thought and spoke about each other really fondly, but not in a family kind of way, in a different way, and it made me feel icky to read. And two, was totally unbelievable. As if an FBI agent (and his team) would have time to send cards and texts to a girl from one of their cases... over years and years. ALSO, why did Priya get special treatment? I'm sure the serial killer went round and killed other girls with sisters, what made Priya so special as to garner all this attention from a grown-ass FBI agent? It was weird and it made me feel uncomfortable the entire way through.

Plus, I find it really hard to believe that if a 17 year old went missing for 3 hours and you called the police, they would bring out patrol cars and lots of officers... that's not how it works at all. At that age, it's 24 hours they wait, normally, sometimes shorter if it's a strange circumstance, but never 3 hours. That's reserved for babies and toddlers.

Also, the need to make this book as open and accepting as possible got a little bit frustrating. I love that this book had diverse main characters, but there was something about the emphasis on this diversity that just screamed "look, I'm a diverse book!!!!!" Plus, the bit where the mum sits down to play a Lego game on the Xbox made me wince in secondhand embarrassment.

Now, I don't want to sound like a total downer and hater of this book, because I'm not. Hutchison is amazing at writing, her descriptive skills are out of this world and she really knows how to capture feelings with words but for me, the story sucked and I couldn't get on with it at all.

Thanks to Netgalley and Thomas & Mercer for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review. Sorry I wasn't a fan!

Great follow up to The Butterfly Garden which I purchased and read first. A must for thriller fans.

Has Dot gone soft I wonder? One of the many things I loved about The Butterfly Garden was how raw it was. It left people feeling somewhat uneasy because the subject matter was disturbing. This time around however I felt that we see the softer side of Dot Hutchinson's writing. Dot does a very good job with character development and it allows you to really connect.

You have to leave the garden behind; in The Roses of May we learn more about the FBI agents that interviewed Inara after her years of captivity. We begin to understand what has shaped them to become the agents they are today. This novel centers around a teenager by the name of Priya who loses her sister at the at of twelve by a serial killer. The relationship that the "Quantico three" have with Priya is rather unorthodox for the FBI, but if you look at Eddison's past, and Vic's fatherhood, I suppose you can see it. Still, it's unlikely.

What I did find to be rather interesting in the storyline is the journals that Priya and her sister Chavi kept. Rather than write the old "Dear Diary", they always wrote to each other. While neither had ever intended for the other to read their days entry initially, the thought that some day they would reflect upon it was an interesting concept. I recently lost my grandmother, and it was unexpected and devastating to our family. Her younger sister took it the worst, within 2 months she passed also. She spent every day of her life with her sister for 80 years, she didn't know how to go on without her. I think... what would it have been like if they had wrote journals to one another?

All in all, I did enjoy this novel, but it did lack that wow factor for me. I can appreciate the writing style, and the strong connection to the characters, but, in the end I have to admit I expected it to be darker.

It was interesting how some of the main characters of The Butterfly Garden reacted after what happened in the first book, but Roses Of May can in fact also be read as a stand-alone since it's mainly about a completely different case and serial killer. Dot Hutchison has without doubt created another creeper with this one and the case is intriguing, although I do have to say I was slightly disappointed by the fact I figured out his identity really early on in the story. The writing style is just as enjoyable as book one and I liked the main character Priya, her kick-ass attitude and relation with the feds. I think I still prefer the first book, just because it made a little more impact for being such a dark, twisted and shocking story, but Roses Of May has its share of horror as well. I liked that the POV switches between the present and the voice of the killer... It really adds to his character. As with the first book, it has a rather closed ending, so no painful cliffhangers (thankfully). I'll be wondering what the third and final book will be about though!

Wow... Dot Hutchison has done it again!!! Her imagination is scary, creepy and absolutely brilliant!

Roses of May is the 2nd book in “The Collector" trilogy series, but it isn’t a direct sequel to The Butterfly Garden. You will see the “Butterflies” throughout, but the main focus of this book is on a teenage girl, Priya Sravasti, who lost her sister to a diabolical serial killer that surrounds his victims with different types of flowers. Hanoverian, Eddison, and Ramirez, “The Quantico 3”, are back again with more developed characters. They have been on the case since Priya’s sister was murdered 5 years ago, since then they have formed a special bond with Priya and her very strong mother, Deshani. Also, to make it even creepier Dot Hutchison takes us into the mind of the serial killer allowing the reader the chance to see how he justifies killing each victim.

Roses of May isn’t dark and twisted like The Butterfly Garden was, but it’s still a very well-written, suspenseful, riveting, and creepy novel that will keep you wanting more. If you enjoy a mystery with suspense, brilliant writing, and a very strong plot, then you will absolutely love this book! I’m definitely looking forward to the 3rd book in this remarkable trilogy!

I want to thank NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Fabulous book - a great follow on from The Butterfly Garden. Can't wait to read the final one in the trilogy.

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I DNF'd this book. I felt it dragged and even though I kept trying to go back to it, it just couldn't hold my interest. I thought that this would be a true sequel to The Butterfly Garden, but there wasn't much mention of the girls. That was disappointing. I wanted to know how they did after they were freed, how they coped, where their lives went.

This book takes place after "The Butterfly Garden." While we get some chapters with Inara, Bliss, and the other Butterflies, our main focus this time is on Priya, a seventeen old whose older sister was murdered five years ago. Despite the FBI's efforts, the serial killer is still at large, killing one girl every spring in a church, surrounded by flowers. Priya starts finding clues that the killer might be targeting her next.

This sounds like a run-of-the-mill detective thriller, but it's really not. Priya and her mother, Deshani, are survivors. They're smart, resourceful, and the detectives Eddison, Vic, and Ramirez have formed a relationship with them over the years that feel more familial than that of FBI/victim's family. While there are some questionable choices at the end of the book (no spoilers) that made me wonder how so many smart people would make this choice, the characters were well-drawn out. My one, minor complaint about "The Butterfly Garden" was that I wanted to know more about the detectives questioning Inara, and here we see them in sharp focus. There are even teasers that the detectives' pasts will be revealed even further in a future book (yes, please!).

I did guess who the killer was halfway through the book, which I rarely do, but "Roses of May" is more than a whodunit. It's a character study of people who have been through traumatic situations, and how they do and don't heal. More than that, it's about how family extends far beyond the borders of blood relations.

I look forward to reading the third book in this series.

Butterfly garden is by far one of my favorite books. I even re-read it which I do with NO books. Finding out there was another made my heart super happy.

While this wasn't quite as twisty and dark as Butterfly Garden, it was still good and definitely worth the read if you enjoyed Butterfly Garden. I loved that a few characters from Butterfly garden made an appearance and how they made their appearance. A lot of people had been commenting "haven't those poor butterflies been through enough"? This story ISN'T about them, but it does have Inara and Bliss but more with progress leading up to their trial date for the garden.

Priya lost her sister Chavi to a horrific murder. This story follows the twisted tale of how a murderer has been killing girls based on <spoiler>his perceived purity of each girl</spoiler>? Not really sure if that is a spoiler or not, but just in case. You can't help but love Priya and her snarky attitude. I loved her mom, she was relatable to the extent of her protectiveness and unwavering love for Priya and her ability to make anyone who wants to mess with them piss their pants.

I loved that it involved the infamous FBI agents from the original.

I'd definitely recommend this book to all my mystery loving friends.

Roses of May is more of a companion novel, rather than a sequel, to Hutchinson’s The Butterfly Garden. We sort of pick up where we left off, chronologically, but then we follow a different thread. FBI Agent Brandon Eddison features more heavily in this novel, and we see a fair bit of Inara and Bliss, but the meat of the story is about a new character altogether. Priya Svrasti’s sister Chavi was murdered by a serial killer five years ago; every May he seeks out a new victim, always a young girl, and murders her in a church and covers her with flowers. As springtime approaches, the FBI agents involved in the case – and Priya – want to make sure this man is found before he kills again.
What I found interesting about this novel is that Hutchinson didn’t play to what everyone agrees are the strengths that she exhibited in The Butterfly Garden. The power of that book was all in the atmosphere. The contrast between the stunning setting and the horrors that occurred in those pages made it both terrifying and unforgettable… but there’s none of that here. This is a rather run of the mill thriller that has none of The Butterfly Garden‘s magic.

That’s not to say that it’s boring. It isn’t. It’s a quick and engaging read. I wanted to know what happened, and I was immediately invested in Priya, who’s both strong and vulnerable, in a way that’s reminiscent of Inara (whom I loved), but not so similar that it feels like Hutchinson is rehashing the same character again.

However, there’s a lot that I was frustrated with. (1) To me, Priya’s relationship with her mother was completely unbelievable, and the extent of what her mother allowed was absolutely ridiculous (you’ll know what I’m talking about by the end). (2) I thought the FBI agents facilitating the connection between Priya and Inara was beyond unprofessional, and the interest they took in Priya fell somewhere in the realm of unprofessional and unbelievable – maybe both, I’m not entirely sure. (3) I was able to guess the killer the second he was introduced to the story, and anyone else who’s ever read a thriller will be able to do the same.

And finally, it’s up to you to decide if this is a good thing or a bad thing (I think it’s clear where I stand on the matter), but just a general observation: this novel read a lot more like YA than The Butterfly Garden did. Priya is younger than Inara was, so that may have something to do with it, but honestly, there was just a general preachiness to it that I hadn’t really been expecting from an adult thriller. Two recurring themes in Roses of May are ‘it’s okay to not be okay,’ and ‘you choose your family,’ both of which Hutchinson bashes us over the head with, over. and over. and over. and over. I’m not kidding – toward the end, we literally have someone ask Priya if she’s okay, and she says something like “Aren’t I always?” and he replies “No. And that’s okay.” I lost track of the amount of times I rolled my eyes reading this book. Characters are also constantly making comments about how badass Priya and her mom are, which started to feel rather self-congratulatory by the end. There’s also a majorly corny excess of ‘this character knows EXACTLY what this other character needs, EXACTLY when they need it’… for such a dark subject matter, this book shows a rather idealized picture of humanity.

I mean, Hutchinson is a good writer. She knows how to craft a compelling story. She kept me flipping pages, both here and in The Butterfly Garden. But Roses of May just… wasn’t entirely what I wanted. It may have been stronger on its own than as a follow up to The Butterfly Garden, but Hutchinson set the bar high for herself with that one, and I can’t help but to feel like Roses of May suffered for it.

Trigger warnings for rape (nothing graphic, but it’s mentioned fairly frequently), suicide, eating disorders, and emetophobia.

I could not get into this book hence the one star. Perhaps it was because I had not read the first book in the series.

The novel is set a few months after the conclusion of The Butterfly Garden, but in common the two novels have the FBI agents that deal with the investigations.

Here the focus is on a serial killer that each spring kills a girl in a church and covers her body with flowers, different each time. Priya's sister was one of the victims, and Priya has not recovered from this loss, moreover some hints brings her and the FBI in thinking that the killer is interested in her.

The novel interchanges feedback from the killer with the present time: on one side Priya and on the other the three agents dealing also with the girls who survived the Garden.

I liked the previous novel of the series, and for this reason I had expectations from this one, but I think The Roses of May is not thrilling enough for the kind of book this is.

Thanks to the publisher for providing me the copy necessary to write this review.

My thanks to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for an ARC of “Roses of May” by Dot Hutchison, in exchange for an honest review.

This is the second installment in the series, but it is not a continuation of the first. While there are cameo appearances by a few of the girls held captive in the garden who are now preparing for their case to go to trial, this book largely focuses on the FBI agents involved in their case, who are working a different case.

Every Spring for well over a decade, a serial killer murders a teenage girl and leaves her body in a church, surrounded by flowers—a different variety chosen specifically for each girl. Priya was only 12 years old when her older sister became one of his victims, and now, she is receiving flowers, in the same pattern as those left for the murdered girls. Convinced the killer is behind the flower deliveries, the agents work to catch him before he can kill again.

There are a few red herrings, but I figured out the correct culprit pretty early on. Even still, that did not detract from the rest of the story. I liked that Priya and her mother were both very strong women, and their relationship with each other, and the FBI agents is sweet and entertaining, but this book did not possess the other-worldly atmosphere created so beautifully by the author in The Butterfly Garden, which was a large part of what was so compelling about the first book. But, trying hard not to compare it to the first book, it is still a worthy read, and I look forward to the next installment. 3.5 stars

I fell in love with Butterfly Garden. I got a ARC copy and missed my trax stop while reading it. I bought it in paperback and have re read it several times, so I had pretty high hopes for Roses of May.

I was not disappointed! I bought the physical copy of this novel and can't wait to re read it. I loved finding out what happened to the Butterflies especially Inara and Bliss. The author didn't try to give them happily ever afters and I enjoyed how real it felt.You could tell when it came to the victims and survivors mentality the author did her research.

The story of Priya and her family was very intriguing. This new serial killer murders girls in churches during spring and leaves different flowers on them. He is fascinated with Priya after killing her sister several years earlier. Priya is not a white character either, she's Indian (family is Hindi though not Muslim) and she is a hard ass. She struggles with an eating disorder- binge eating until she pukes- to help cope with her emotions and the stress. I could relate to her because I struggle with a very similar anxiety and stress induced disorder.

Her mother was wonderful and scary and the vets Priya plays chess with are quite a handful of lovable characters.

I was absolutely captivated by the characters, the plot and the writing, I didn't want to put it down and cannot wait for the third installment.

It was also nice to see inside the Quantico 3, as Priya calls them. In the first novel we only see them in the interrogation room with Maya/Inara and this gave a more inside look at the FBI agents.

So much emotion swarmed me while reading this book, the author does a great job of making her disgusting and horrible serial killers seem sympathetic and understandable, like you almost don't want them to get caught...then stop yourself, shudder and say, "yuck, no he needs to die." Kind of the same feeling I got when reading Lolita.

I can't criticize much in this book, there are a few issues, like I guessed the killer pretty early on, but any problem I had didn't distract from my enjoyment.

If you like serial killers- the weirder and more fucked up the better- pick this up and support this author.

Bright Blessings.

I honestly believe this is a series that drags you in so quickly that you have no choice but to continue. That being said, I loved this! It was different than The Butterfly Garden but just as intense. I hope that there will be another book in this series! (And I kinda hope Eddison and Inara begin a different kind of relationship)

The thing with this book is that you have to leave The Butterfly Garden behind, don’t do the mistake I did and expect a sequel with the same spirit as the original, this is not what you’re going to get. What you will get is a book that builds upon The Butterfly Garden but that is its own thing.

The first book haunted me, it was a twisted and beautiful thriller and while the sequels keeps the beauty, it loses the constant sense of creepiness that kept you enthralled and made the book hard to put down. Not to say that The Roses of May wasn’t compelling, but I felt like it was longer than it needed to be, the plot took way too long to get going and even when it did, it had too many moments of downtime when not much happened. In hindsight, those moments are easier to forgive because they lead to a beautiful ending that has me excited for the last book in this trilogy.

Apart from some small cameos from the butterflies and the return of the same FBI team behind the Butterfly case, this books focuses on a new assemble of characters of which Pryia is the main star. Pryia’s sister was brutally murdered years ago by a serial murder and ever since that she and her mother have been moving to new places every few months hoping for a new beginning that seems impossible while the murderer is still on the run. Pyria’s story mirrors the story of the butterflies in many ways.

Ever since her sister got murdered, Pryia has formed a sort of family with the FBI agents involved in that case, the same agents involved with the butterflies. Of the three, the one that gets his own chapters is Eddison. If you liked Eddison before, you’re going to love him here. He is just as grumpy as before but his relationship with Pryia will reveal sides of him that were hinted upon before but never shown. Vic and Ramirez are just as present, but as far as characters go, Eddison is much more interesting in part because of the dynamic he and Pryia have. Pryia’s mother is also a character that stood out for me, she is at times the antithesis of what a mother should be, but not in an abusing way. She’s her own person and quite independent and you can see a lot of her personality in Pryia. Their relationship help alleviate some of the darker parts of the book, insufflating the story with much needed humor.

To call The Roses of May disappointing would be unfair, but it does suffer for being the sequel of a book that was almost perfect. It does pick up in the second part and it delivers an amazing ending that had me beg for more. Seeing as this will be a trilogy, I am excited to see more of these characters and where this journey will lead them.

Excellent book. Great main characters and plot. I would recommend this book.