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Flower Shop Mysteries Books in Order

Part ofKate Collins Books in Order

See the Flower Shop Mysteries by Kate Collins in order, with quick summaries, series background, and tips on where to start with Abby Knight.

Last updated: June 11, 2026

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Publication Order

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27 books

1

Mum's the Word

by Kate Collins

2004

Back in New Chapel and running Bloomers, Abby Knight just wants her flower shop to succeed. Then a hit and run, a price war, and a handsome ex-cop named Marco Salvare pull her into a dangerous murder case.

2

Dearly Depotted

by Kate Collins

2005

Jillian is headed to the altar again, and Abby is stuck doing flowers, bridesmaid duty, and grandma control. Then a guest is found dead behind the gazebo, and Abby starts digging through wedding day secrets.

3

Slay It with Flowers

by Kate Collins

2005

Abby is florist, bridesmaid, and family crisis manager for cousin Jillian's latest wedding. When a groomsman disappears and a wedding party member turns up dead, she has to keep the big day from becoming a crime scene.

4

Snipped in the Bud

by Kate Collins

2006

A black rose delivery drags Abby back to the law school she hates. When a professor turns up dead with the rose nearby, Abby becomes the prime suspect and has to clear her name fast.

5

A Rose from the Dead

by Kate Collins

2007

Hoping to drum up business, Abby sets up at a funeral directors' convention and finds herself staring at murder instead. When a friend becomes a suspect, she and Marco start digging through the convention's strange rivalries.

6

Acts of Violets

by Kate Collins

2007

Pickle Fest turns grim when the hired clown is found dead and Marco is the last person seen leaving his house. Abby dives into circus secrets and half truths to prove her boyfriend is innocent.

7

Shoots to Kill

by Kate Collins

2008

A troubled girl Abby once babysat returns to New Chapel with a new name and an unhealthy fixation on copying her life. When imitation turns dangerous and Abby is accused of murder, the game stops being funny.

8

Evil in Carnations

by Kate Collins

2009

Abby nudges her roommate Nikki into speed dating, only to have Nikki's date end up dead. With evidence piling up against her friend and Marco's family crowding in, Abby has another messy case on her hands.

9

Sleeping with Anemone

by Kate Collins

2009

Abby's protest against a food corporation's treatment of dairy animals quickly turns personal. After threats, broken windows, and repeated kidnapping attempts, the fight escalates into murder and Abby has to push back.

10

Dirty Rotten Tendrils

by Kate Collins

2010

When high powered lawyer Ken Lipinski dies of a suspicious overdose, Abby refuses to believe her old boss is the killer. With Marco beside her, she starts pruning a suspect list full of grudges and ambition.

11

Night of the Living Dandelion

by Kate Collins

2011

Rumors say Vlad Serban is a vampire. Abby is skeptical, until a woman is found drained of blood and Marco's old army friend becomes the obvious target. This case mixes small town gossip with a very real killer.

12

To Catch a Leaf

by Kate Collins

2011

Abby should be focused on wedding plans, not homicide. But when wealthy Constance Newport is killed and Abby's assistant Grace inherits a fortune, Abby and Marco uncover stolen art, missing pets, and a family full of motives.

13

Nightshade on Elm Street

by Kate Collins

2012

Wedding plans are already stressful when Jillian asks Abby and Marco to find a missing woman at the Osbourne beach house. Then a drowned body surfaces, and Abby's old ex Pryce lands squarely in the spotlight.

14

Seed No Evil

by Kate Collins

2013

With her wedding just days away, Abby's life is already unraveling. Then an animal rights director is murdered and Abby's mother becomes the chief suspect, sending Abby and Marco after the truth before the ceremony.

15

Throw in the Trowel

by Kate Collins

2014

Fresh off their honeymoon, Abby and Marco discover a skeleton buried in the basement of his bar. Solving a decades old disappearance sounds romantic in theory, until the cold case starts putting their lives at risk.

16

A Root Awakening

by Kate Collins

2015

House hunting turns deadly when Abby and Marco watch a construction worker fall from a run down Victorian. Marco takes the case, Abby starts snooping on the odd family inside, and their investigations soon collide.

17

Florist Grump

by Kate Collins

2015

Living with her parents while a new house is built has Abby in a foul mood before the body even drops. When a well liked window washer is blamed for a local murder, Abby and Marco start asking questions.

18

Moss Hysteria

by Kate Collins

2016

Abby and Marco are finally moving into their new home in Brandywine, a neat subdivision with polished lawns and friendly neighbors. Then a body turns up in the pond, and the whole development starts looking less peaceful.

19

Yews with Caution

by Kate Collins

2017

A missing landscaping owner, suspicious coworkers, and Nikki's bad luck pull Abby into another case. As she tries to clear her friend, Marco falls dangerously ill, leaving Abby to handle the investigation on her own.

20

Missing Under The Mistletoe

by Kate Collins

2018

On Christmas Eve, a simple poinsettia delivery lands Abby in the middle of a townwide crisis when beloved store owner Mr. Churchill disappears. Abby and Marco race to save both the man and New Chapel's holiday tradition.

21

Tulips Too Late

by Kate Collins

2018

After arriving late for a tulip delivery, Abby walks straight into a killing in progress. With Sean Reilly forced off the case, Team Salvare follows overlooked clues while Abby juggles diets, family pressure, and a coming cruise.

22

A Frond in Need

by Kate Collins

2020

Summer in New Chapel is busy enough without murder. When Nikki's charming surgeon boyfriend becomes a suspect, Abby juggles parade plans, Bloomers, and Marco's PI work while trying to learn whether Nikki is dating a killer.

23

The Jillian Knight Osborne Fashionista Diaries

by Kate Collins

2020

This playful short story follows Jillian through a week of fashion tips, fitness advice, and self confidence that may be a bit overblown. Somewhere in the diary pages, a small mystery gives Abby a chance to step in.

24

Till Death Do Us Pot

by Kate Collins

2020

A missing person's case lands Abby and Marco on opposite sides of a stressful investigation just as fall settles over New Chapel. When Abby's niece Tara starts poking around on her own, the stakes jump even higher.

25

Kick The Bouquet

by Kate Collins

2022

Thanksgiving plans are the least of Abby's worries when Marco's landlord and local realtor Arthur McMahon is found stabbed to death. With Marco suddenly a prime suspect, the Salvares face a long list of angry tenants and relatives.

26

Roses Are Dead, Violets Are Blue

by Kate Collins

2024

Valentine's Day keeps Bloomers busy until Abby attends a play and the director turns up dead. Rumors of a theater curse swirl, but Abby sees human secrets, not ghosts, behind the killing.

27

A Vase in the Window

by Kate Collins

2025

Memorial Day fireworks mask a gunshot, and Abby soon learns Lottie's difficult neighbor has been killed. When suspicion falls on one of Lottie's boys, Abby and Marco dig into blockwide grudges and buried neighborhood secrets.

Series background & context

The Flower Shop Mysteries begin with a simple, solid cozy setup. Abby Knight has left law school behind and comes home to New Chapel, Indiana, where she runs Bloomers flower shop. She wants a calmer life, but calm is not what she gets. In Mum's the Word, a hit and run and a price war pull her into her first case, and from there murder has a habit of finding its way to the shop door.

Abby is the kind of sleuth who notices details, takes things personally, and has a hard time leaving injustice alone. She is impulsive, funny, and sometimes a little too sure she can handle things herself. That gives the series much of its energy. Even when she is arranging wedding flowers or arguing with family, she is usually one bad decision away from stumbling into another investigation.

Marco Salvare is the other big reason the books work. He starts as the handsome ex-cop and bar owner who helps Abby with her early cases, then becomes her steady partner in both life and sleuthing. Their relationship changes over the course of the series, so these books reward readers who go in order. Friends, relatives, coworkers, and Abby's gloriously exasperating cousin Jillian keep the town lively and often make Abby's life harder in the most entertaining way possible.

New Chapel matters, too. This is a square, small-business kind of town where gossip travels fast and everyone seems to know who is feuding with whom. Collins uses florists, funeral directors, landscapers, wedding planners, neighborhood associations, and local festivals as natural entry points into each mystery. A title like A Rose from the Dead leans into convention humor, while To Catch a Leaf and Moss Hysteria show how domestic life, home projects, and local grudges can turn deadly.

It is a very Midwestern cozy world.

The tone stays light without becoming empty. There is romance, family comedy, and plenty of flower puns, but the crimes usually grow out of jealousy, money, old resentments, or plain selfishness. Later books such as Seed No Evil, Throw in the Trowel, and A Root Awakening let readers watch Abby and Marco build a married life while still running straight at danger. The newer entries, including Roses Are Dead, Violets Are Blue and A Vase in the Window, keep that same mix of familiar faces and fresh trouble.

If you like amateur sleuth series that feel rooted in work, place, and relationships, this one is easy to settle into. Start with Mum's the Word and keep going in order if you can. Abby and Marco's relationship is part of the story, and so is the slow accumulation of town history. These books were also adapted into a trio of television movies in 2016, which helped bring Abby Knight to an even wider audience, but the novels have a broader cast and a longer, more satisfying arc.

Edited by

Richard Reis

Software engineer whose passion for tracking book recommendations from podcasts inspired the creation of MRB.

Anurag Ramdasan

Lead investor at 3one4 Capital whose startup expertise and love for books helped shaped MRB and its growth.

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