The Ambleside Alibi: A Lake District Mystery by Rebecca Tope

All Simmy wants to do is run her little flower shop and live a simple life.  It's what she needs at this point in her life.  So when she got a phone order with an odd note for an older lady, she delivers it as requested.  Who would have guessed that a mystery message could cause so much trouble?

Witness Impulse and Edelweiss gave me the opportunity to read this book for review (thank you).  It has been published, so check with your local bookstore for a copy now.

When the old woman visits and wants to know the name of the sender, Simmy refuses to give it to her.  Being confidential is part of the flower business.  When the woman's daughters approach her, she gives them the same answer.  But by then, she's wondering who the person is that sent them, too.

This is very small community.  Everyone knows everyone else.  Most everyone is related in some way.  And some secrets have been buried a long time.

I enjoyed watching Simmy try to be discrete but still questioning people.  She's not an aggressive detective, but she does find things out.  Her young friends help her and I like that.  Even the cop worries about her.  When she almost dies from a fall that was not an accident, she's ready to back off.  Instead the girl who sent the flowers and her mother come to visit her at the hospital.  She suddenly knows more than she wanted to.  And the killer isn't done yet...