I enjoyed this book. The story line is interesting with a fairy as a main character. She, Fiona, and Courtney investigate the murder of a fellow shop keeper in her shop. as she's a suspect. They get to know the other shop keepers and suspects and eventually find out the secret that was the motive for killing. I didn't have a clue who the killer was until the reveal. The story is well-paced, and engaging, without any dull parts. #ASprinklingofMurder #NetGalley

I loved A Sprinkling of Murder by Daryl Wood Gerber! It is the first in a new series about a woman named Courtney Kelly who runs a fairy garden building business in Carmel-by-the-Sea, CA. The series has a magical edge as well as Courtney has a fairy named Fiona living in her shop.
I love magic based cozies so I was hooked right away. This was such a rich start to a series with many secondary characters that were well developed and a plot with a variety of suspects, including Courtney!
She gets drawn into the mystery when she finds the body of a local shop owner in her store and takes it upon herself to clear her name and get to the bottom of the drama in shopping complex she's a part off.
I can't wait for the next instalment of this series!

What I Loved:

Carmel and the setting. Daryl Wood Gerber generally sets her books in towns along the coast of California, and she is damn good at it. Carmel is a beautiful place (I have been there), and Gerber does an amazing job of evoking it: The forests on one side, the sea on the other, the cottages lined up with adorable gardens and fun names – it is all there. When reading this, you feel like a fellow villager, just a walk away from your town and neighbors, the salt air and warm sun on your face. Paradise.

The overarching premise. One of my favorite things about the cozy genre is the themes behind each series. In some, the amateur sleuth is a specialty store owner who has a murder committed in her store, in some she is a photographer that stumbles into something, etc. This story was no exception to the rule, but does it extremely well. Our sleuth Courtney owns a shop called Open Your Imagination, where you go to make fairy gardens and other cute landscaping. There is tea parties and book clubs, and the fairy gardens are pure magic. Courtney is a savvy business owner and I would kill to go to this store. Her sleuthing makes sense because she is a suspect in the murder, and she is pushy but doesn’t cross the line like many other cozy sleuths do. I also appreciate that Gerber did not go deep down the rabbit hole of having her date the detective- that trope always felt forced to me.

What Didn’t Work:

The mystery. As ridiculous as it sounds, I didn’t feel any sort of thrill or surprise from this murder, which is to be expected in a cozy when the heroine begins to dig. Courtney is doing quite a bit of digging, but she is never in any danger, and the suspense isn’t really there. The mystery behind the murder was intriguing, but I felt that a lot of cool plotlines ended up being tied up too quickly, leading you to the correct conclusion too quickly.

The fairies. I hate how much i didn’t connect with the fairies, since my first love genre-wise is fantasy and urban fantasy. However, this book didn’t really do well tying in both the mystery and the fairy sub-world. Fiona is a fun character, without a doubt, and I love the concept that seeing fairies is all about believing in them, but the book felt disjointed, like the fairy plot was overlaid onto the murder mystery and then cobbled together with connecting sentences. I would love a book on Fiona and her fairy queen, and a separate book on Courtney and her fairy shop – but for some reason, the two just didn’t sit together well. Magical realism or urban fantasy, this was not.

Bottom Line:
I wanted to love this, and I didn’t. While I am a little disappointed, I feel like this might be a “me” problem, and not a problem that the book suffers from. The writing was great, and Daryl Wood Gerber really engages the reader with her scenery and quirky cast of characters. I would recommend this to diehard cozy mystery fans, who would appreciate less drama (both of the dangerous kind and the romantic kind) in their cozies, and I would recommend fairy lovers out there to give this bad boy a try.

This was a very entertaining read. The first book in the Fairy Garden Mystery series, Courtney Kelly runs and owns a fairy garden shop. The premise of the book hooked me right away. I love the idea of fairy gardens so this was just what I needed. A murder occurs in her store and she becomes the prime suspect. Courtney with the help of her friends and her fairy, Fiona, sets out to investigate. This was a light fun read. The characters were engaging and likable. The mystery had enough twists and turns to keep me guessing right up until the end. Four stars. I received this book from net galley in exchange for review.

Having read the authors other series, The Cookbook mysteries, I was excited to see something new. I was not disappointed! I love when cozy mysteries have a bit of the supernatural whimsy, and especially love all things fairy. So I was pleasantly surprised by this story. Well written characters and a good mystery, everything you want in a cozy. Highly recommend!

When a book has a list of characters at the beginning it is usually a sign there will be too many characters to keep track off.
This had an interesting premise but it just didn’t grab me.

A Sprinkling of Murder is a great start to an interesting new cozy mystery series. I really liked the main character, Courtney, and her various friends. The fact that there are fairies that help with solving the murder makes this such a fun read. The murderer was a surprise to me because the author did a really good job of painting various characters as suspects. I read the teaser chapter for the next book in the series and I can't wait until it comes out.

Note: I reviewed a free copy of this book through Netgalley. All opinions are mine alone.

Courtney Kelly owns a fairy garden making store. She even has her very own fairy, Fiona. When the owner of Wizard of Paws is found dead in her shop, she becomes a suspect. Wanting to clear her name, Courtney and Fiona go against the cops wishes and start their own investigation. Will they find out who killed the business owner before the murder’s pinned on Courtney?

This is the first in a new series from Daryl Wood Gerber. I liked it as far as cozy mysteries go. I didn’t know exactly who did it until the reveal, which is nice. I found some things to be kind of pretentious. Like everyone eats only gourmet food, they only use high end appliances (I wonder if the author is getting paid for product placement), every one is a gourmet cook, etc. I wish they’d pop a TV dinner in the microwave once a while like the rest of us. The story moves at a good pace and doesn’t have too many lulls in it. A good book for a rainy or bad weather day for sure.

Other than that, I found the book engaging. It kept my interest until the end. There’s not a huge amount of characters to keep track of, unlike the other book of hers I read. I don’t like having to keep going back and forth trying to figure out who’s who all the time. I wish there was more about her fairy Fiona. Why did she get busted by the head fairy, what does she do when she’s off on her own, how old is she, that type of stuff. I realize there’s only so much space in the book, but squeeze some of these details in once in a while. Maybe a bit less about the fairy gardens and more about the actual fairy!

All in all, I’d recommend this to anyone that likes cozy mysteries and fairies. A nice, easy read.

Lovely first installment in the fairy garden series. I was reading the book and looking up directions on how to make a fairy garden of my own at the same time, it had me so enchanted. Great mystery! Ending was a surprise. I love Fiona! Very excited to see where this series goes!

I wasn’t sure what to expect of this book because of the fairy theme, but I have read almost everything written by Daryl Wood Gerber. I decided to give the book a chance, and I’m glad I did. This is the first book in the Fairy Garden Mystery series. Courtney Kelly has a fairy garden shop in Carmel, California, and builds fairy gardens. Fiona, the fairy she can see and talk to, finds a nearby shop owner dead in the fairy garden shop. Courtney is a major suspect, so she sets out to identify the murderer as well as clear her name. I was a little concerned about the fairy aspect of the book because I’m not a fan of the fairy concept, but fairies are not major players in the story. All the characters are well developed. I am looking forward to reading the next book in the series, but unfortunately not until next year 😢 if you’re a fan of cozy mysteries, you probably would enjoy this book with a little different direction than most others. I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley and Kensington Books. All opinions expressed are my own.

Cute book which falls, I believe, into the cozy mystery genre - not my usual realm. Still, light and cute, albeit a bit scattered. Reading during stay-at-home orders due to CV-19 made it a good, non-demanding read.

Bonus points for dogs and a cat with personalities - feeling interested in seeing where the fairy aspect of it all ends up, leads me to think I'll be reading subsequent books in the series.

Actual rating 3.5, rounded up to 4.

When Courtney Kelly arrives at work at her fairy garden shop, Open Your Imagination, she finds that murder has intruded on her lovely garden oasis and she's the prime suspect!

Courtney has recently started to believe in fairies again (as she did as a child) and her friend Fiona, the junior fairy who is adorable, is ready to help Courtney solve her first mystery. Along with her friend and employee, Joss, the trio make an entertaining team of sleuths! I enjoy cozies with a "fantasy" story, so I was on board for the addition of Fiona. The story is believable and touched on how if we don't "believe" we often can't "see" what is around us. I liked meeting all of the townspeople of Carmel, California and each was interesting and suspicious in their own way. Red herrings were everywhere!

I enjoyed the book and will be looking forward to the next stop in Carmel!

I received an ARC from NetGalley & the opinions expressed are my own.

This is the first in the Fairy Garden mystery series. Courtney Kelly has left her Father’s landscaping business to start a fairy garden business. The business is called Open Your Imagination and comes with its very own fairy named Fiona. She has warned Courtney that trouble is brewing but is not sure what will happen. That night Courtney is home alone and begins working on a video series she wants to put together and goes to bed late. Early the next day she is awoken by Fiona and that she needs to go down to the store. Courtney finds her neighbor Mick in business on her patio at the store dead. The police arrive and Courtney soon becomes a suspect. Courtney and Fiona feel compelled to find out the truth since she was alone, she has no alibi. I really enjoyed the mystery and she was not a character who took outrageous chances and she has a good heart. She has good friends and employees who support her and help her. She cares about a nasty neighbor who does not like her and wants her business to close. She meets up with an old high school friend who is running a café so there is a possible future romance involved. I was hooked since page 1 until the last page. I cannot wait for the next installment.

I loved suspending my disbelief and jumping right in to this charming new offering by Daryl Wood Gerber in her A Fairy Garden Series. Courtney Kelly (and her Fairy) is trying to solve a murder in order to no longer be the chief suspect. There is a delightful cast of characters, and apparently there is a lot more to learn about the inhabitants of Carmel-by-the-Sea. There were enough twists and turns that I was surprised at the ending. I keep returning to the story in my mind, which to me is a hallmark of a great book. I sincerely look forward to more.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. The opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.

First of all, I love the cover of this book! So pretty! This is a fun concept for a cozy mystery. I enjoyed the author’s writing style. I also thought this was an imaginative twist using fairies in the cozy mystery genre. I ended up having a hard time connecting with the fairy aspect, but I think that will resonate well with many people.

As I’m familiar with Ms. Gerber’s work, I was delighted to see another new series from her. This is a light and engaging whodunit with a tightly woven multi-plot storyline that immediately grabbed my attention. The writing style leads to a comfortable tone and is easy to follow along with what the author has intended. We meet a bevy of characters starting with Courtney, Joss, Fiona and the others who some become suspects in the murder investigation. Little by little, the author paints the story and it was fun to watch it all play out with clues that were drizzled throughout. The author also set the stage giving us enough of the character’s backstory, that was easy to narrow the field of suspects the closer we got to the end. I love how everyone had a pivotal role in that led to the revelation of the killer’s motive and identity. This is another fantastic entre in the cozy mystery genre and I look forward to more exciting and enchanted adventures with Courtney and her friends.

Talented and established cozy author, debuts a new series set in Carmel, California. As I have enjoyed her books in the past, I looked forward to this new one with an unusual paranormal twist. Courtney Kelly has opened a store offering supplies and classes for creating fairy gardens. Of course, her charming shop has a resident fairy named Fiona. Unfortunately, her neighbor across the courtyard is found murdered in her store, and she becomes the prime suspect. The mystery is strong and well-paced .with plenty of viable suspects. While I usually enjoy a paranormal touch, I really just wasn't buying into fairies and that caused a major disconnect with the book for me. Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book is one that I wanted to try as I am trying to branch out in Cozies. I love the author and read a lot of her books. If you are interested in fairies, this is a good read. This was not a subject that I could really get into.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher through Netgalley and voluntarily reviewed it.

I really liked the concept for this cozy mystery. The main character builds fairy gardens and also sees fairies. The unique concept is what convinced me to give this one a try. This was such a fun read and I really liked the whole fairy concept, the fairies had a fun role in the story without overtaking the plot and the fairy garden store was great to read about.

The mystery is the one thing that didn't fully work for me actually. When the owner of the dog grooming business is found dead in Courtney's store she gets involved in the mystery. For some reason that I still don't understand she becomes a suspect. And she is determined to clear her name. I liked the fact that not only did she try to find the real murderer, but she also tried to prove her innocence, although it did bother me that the police didn't look into that as it was an easy way for them to cross off a suspect, but instead with the help of her friends she had to try and find the proof that she was at home during the murder.

The mystery seemed to go in multiple directions. There were plenty of suspects, but no motive or suspect seemed quite right somehow. The dead guy wasn't always liked, but none of the suspects really seemed to have enough of a motive for murder. It continued that way for most of the book and I thought the reveal was a bit anti climactic. It was a bit sad and not as intriguing. It does explain the course of the mystery when you know what actually happened. I do like that there were plenty of red herrings and that Courtney actually manages to cross some suspects off her list. I also liked how her investigating was pretty subtle for the most part and it made sense how she handled things.

I liked main character Courtney, with how she believes in fairies and has her own store. She is curious, but not too nosy. She seemed like a kind person who cared about others and I liked how she gave some people the benefit of the doubt. I liked reading about her and learning more about fairy gardens and her her store.

The book has quite a lot of side characters, it could be a tad difficult to keep them all straight at times. But it got easier once the book progressed, even so I think it could've benefited from a few less characters as now the ones with a small role could be hard to remember as there are already plenty of side characters with bigger roles, like Courtney's friends, customers and suspects. I liked Courtney's fairy and her friends Joss and Megan. Although the focus is mostly on Courtney and the mystery and I hope we get to know the side characters more in future books.

There is a little hint of possible future romance, but it really is nothing more than a hint at this point. The love interest seemed nice enough and I liked how they had a bit of history and already knew each other from school. I was happy that the police officer wasn't the love interest in this case as that's so common in cozies. The police officer could be a bit gruff and they did seem a bit incompetent at times, but mostly they seemed to want to do their job well, so I was happy with that as far as police characters go in cozies.

To summarize: This was a fun cozy mystery with a sprinkle of magic. I liked the fairy and fairy garden theme of this book. I liked how the fairy theme was sprinkled throughout the book and was a solid part of it, but didn't overtake the plot. It was fun and interesting to read about Courtney's store and how she made fairy gardens. The mystery didn't fully work for me, I didn't really like the reveal of who was the murderer and the mystery seemed a bit directionless at times with how no suspect or motive seemed quite right or believable. I do like how some suspects were crossed of the suspect list throughout the book and the way Courtney got involved was well done and I liked how most of her investigating was done. I thought Courtney was a likable character and there were some fun side characters as well. I did think the amount of side characters was a bit much as I had trouble keeping them all straight at times. All in all I enjoyed this book and look forward to more books in this series.

A Sprinkling of Murder by Daryl Wood Gerber is the first in a new magical cozy series that was an absolute delight to read.

Ms. Gerber has set this mystery in Carmel-by-the-Sea, CA in a courtyard of small businesses. Courtney Kelly has opened her own business, Open Your Imagination, a fairy garden and teashop. Courtney believes in fairies and has one in her own garden, Fiona. This well crafted mystery has well developed characters, a little humor, provided by Fiona, several suspects, red herrings and twists which kept me reading until the end. I had only a small inkling who was behind the murder but wasn't ever sure if I had guessed right. I am already looking forward to the next one in this series which will be out in the summer of 2021.