Kate Collins - Shoots to Kill

Kate Collins plants all the right seeds to grow a fertile garden of mystery.... Abby Knight is an Indiana florist who cannot keep her nose out of other peoples business. Shes rash, brash, and audacious. Move over, Stephanie Plum. Abby Knight has come to town. Denise Swanson, author of the Scumble River Mysteries

An engaging debut planted with a spirited sleuth, quirky sidekicks, and page-turning action... delightfully addictive ...a charming addition to the cozy subgenre. Heres hoping we see more of intrepid florist Abby Knight and sexy restaurateur Marco Salvare.

Nancy J. Cohen, author of the Bad Hair Day Mysteries A bountiful bouquet of clues, colorful characters, and tantalizing twists... Kate Collins carefully cultivates clues, plants surprising suspects, and harvests a killer in this fresh and frolicsome new Flower Shop Mystery. Ellen Byerrum, author of A Crime of Fashion Mystery series

As fresh as a daisy, with a bouquet of irresistible characters. Elaine Viets, author of the Dead-End Job Mysteries

This engaging read has a list of crazy characters that step off the pages to the delight of the reader. Dont miss this wannabe sleuths adventures. Rendezvous

This story was cute and funny, had a good plotline [that] entwined a lot of interesting threads...an enjoyable read and a fine debut for this new mystery series.

Dangerously Curvy Novels

A charming debut. The Best Reviews

This amusing new author has devised an excellent cast of characters and thrown them into a cleverly tumultuous plot...a terrific debut! Romantic Times

Other Flower Shop Mysteries

Mums the Word
Slay It with Flowers
Dearly Depotted
Snipped in the Bud
Acts of Violets
A Rose from the Dead

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Kate Collins

AN OBSIDIAN MYSTERY

OBSIDIAN
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First published by Obsidian, an imprint of New American Library,
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ISBN: 1-4362-3488-3

Copyright Linda Tsoutsouris, 2008
All rights reserved

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publishers note

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the authors imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

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To my great big, wonderful, extended and cojoined
family, and dear friends, without whom my life
would have little meaning.

acknowledgments

The idea for this book originated in the creative mind of one of my offspring, who thought a story on identity theft to the max would be a horrible situation for Abby to be in, but a terrific mystery for her to solve. You were right, Jason. Thank you so much for inspiring the story and helping me come up with its unusual twists.

The accuracy of the procedural and legal matters can be attributed to (or blamed on) my husband, Jim, who has amazingly vast quantities of information, advice, and wisdom to share, and who never complained about having to read the same scene over until I got it right.

The critiquing fell to my sister, Nancy, who was willing to brainstorm with me whenever I needed her, and who spent hours poring over my chapters, offering her perspective on the unusual situations in which Abby finds herself.

The integrity of the characters and plot stayed on course under the guidance of my editor, Ellen Edwards, whose opinion I trust and value.

The encouragement and support came from my family and dear friends, near and far, as always. You are the true jewels in my life.

The grunt work I did all by myself.

A big thanks to Pam and Emaly Leak, of Autumn Hill Llamas (www.autumnhillllamas.com), the actual owners of Catastrophe. Pam and Emaly were kind enough to give me a lesson on the care and feeding of these sweet, gentle animals. It didnt take long for me to understand why the Leaks are so fond of them.

P ROLOGUE

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