I loved the first line and the interesting first paragraph which usually are great signs that a book is going to be excellent. 5 Star Reading!

Kinsley Clark, the 29 year old protagonist owns Seascapes, a thriving landscaping design company in gorgeous Harborside, Maine. (New England is always a favorite setting of mine). Kinsley’s Aunt Tilly, owns and runs a seaside estate, the Salty Breeze Inn. One of the enticing things about this story are all the beautiful flowers and descriptions which are so vivid I could picture the colors in my mind. The ocean view is wonderful, too. An annual event, the Walk Inns, is coming up soon, and Seascapes does much of the local landscaping for Harborside businesses and homes. Re-planting a hydrangea bush at her Aunt’s, Kinsley is shocked to dig up a pink high-heeled shoe in the flower bed! Could it be connected to the death of a woman whose body was recently found just a few miles away? Who would bury it on Tilly’s property? With those basic questions, the Cinderella Killer hunt is on for amateur sleuths, Kinsley and her best friend, Becca, a realtor.

Filled with action, the two best friends escapades as they search for clues, humorous scenes, a rival landscaper who’s jealous and destructive, a nosy newscaster, lots of support from friend and local Detective Rachel Hayes, and a plethora of suspects to dig through; this cozy is a dazzling debut that quickly became a favorite. The mystery is edgy and engaging. Once the truth was unearthed and motive, means, and opportunity established, this reader was satisfied that no stones were left unturned. The author provides gardening tips and recipes for readers’ enjoyment.

I honestly reviewed an unedited digital arc provided by NetGalley and Berkley Publishing. All opinions are my own.

I am a huge fan of cozy mysteries and am very familiar with the genre. I was super excited to read this book as a favor to one of my favorite authors. She wrote this book under a pen name....and I might know why.
Warning: Spoilers ahead.

Let me first say that I love the idea of this book. The main character is a landscaper named Kinsley and she designs the flower arrangements for the entire town. The story takes place on the seashore of Maine. There's a murder that occurs and the victim is from out of town and found with only one shoe on. The press dubs it the Cinderella Murder, but her real name is Daisy....(Hence Digging Up Daisy). Kinsley finds the shoe buried in the yard of her aunt's inn while doing yard work. Now she's involved in the mystery of her death. I must say that I thought that was a cute concept. As she gets more involved in the case she finds a Barbie shoe buried in some flower pots as a warning. Once again...very cute. But there's some problems with this story.

The characters talk to each other strangely. No one acts normal. They come up with ideas and develop feelings that to me just came out of the blue. Like the one friend who always feels everything is about them and they take everything the wrong way....all the characters are like that. Even when they try to explain everything at the end its just thrown together and not fully explained, or when it is explained the reason is lame.

So.....spoiler alert..............



The newscaster did it. He wanted to make a name for himself so he killed this girl and named it the Cinderella Murder so it would get lots of coverage. He tried to relate it to the fact that the local theater was doing the play Cinderella and he thought somehow that might lead everyone to investigate them and lead them away from him?????? Like I said, not everything makes senses in this book. Kinsley realizes it's him when he just shows up at her house and tucks his hair behind his ear and shows where an earring was pulled out from his ear. OK, first off they have talked about this man like he was straight lace and conservative, but yet he wears earrings and has long hair??? They never mentioned that in his description. Kinsley also almost kills him at the end. In fact they let you think for awhile that she did. Kinda harsh for a cozy.

Also there are mistakes. Commas are doubled up in some spots....some commas are missing...and one character named Denny is sometimes referred to as Danny. We're led to believe there's a big ADHD crime ring in town, yet one of the characters just takes the meds right in front of Kinsley and tells her what she's doing. It's all so strange. I wanted to like this book. I love other books by this author. Maybe it will get better in the next one....but to me this was just a thrown together mess by someone I've seen do so much better. Not the worst, not the best. Read if you must.