Gethsemane Brown, orchestra conductor and amateur sleuth, is back and ready to solve more mysteries in this fourth book in the series. This time, it’s to track down what’s going on surrounding mysterious rose bouquets being left in connection to a cold case murder from years ago—coinciding with a huge garden show in town where her orchestra is performing. But when someone turns up dead and a friend of Gethsemane’s is a prime suspect, she has to work with her ghost friends to figure out the connection between the two, and find the real killer.

I love finding cozy mystery series that are quirky and different, and this one with its Irish setting, and Gethsemane who is a musician and orchestral conductor, is a great addition to the other series I read. The writing is wonderfully detailed and I like that each book takes us in a slightly different direction.

Please excuse typos/name misspellings. Entered on screen reader.
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literally my only complaint about this series is if you're gunna swear, commit to it. no one says "effing." there are other alternatives that you can go with but hats just a pet peeve ( )

Gethsemane is a smart, complex woman – a fast-talking, bourbon-drinking, level-headed classical violinist/music teacher/sometime conductor who quotes Negro League baseball statistics in her head to calm herself when she gets herself into a pickle. Which is often, much to the chagrin of the local garda, as well has how frequently she seems to simply be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

In most cozy mysteries, certain things are expected, one being quirky community characters. Gordon’s books are littered with smart, likable characters who lean more towards “interesting” than “quirky” – including her resident ghost, Eamon. Gethsemane and her friends (living and spectral) exchange barbs and jabs, snarky comments, and conversations that reflect intelligence – and how well the village characters are getting to know Gethsemane’s quite determined personality.

The plot moves along at a steady clip, with each new detail pointing the story in a different direction until the only thing I was sure of is that I did not know whodunnit! There are betrayals aplenty amid the involved players, with a surprisingly complicated plot that involves competition amidst rose growers and some possible nefarious behavior, a pharmaceutical company that makes drugs using rare plants, and a secret admirer that may or may not be taking a number from a decades old unsolved murder. There also may be a moody, protective ghost throwing energy balls aplenty.

While part of a series, there is enough detail to allow Fatality in F to stand on its own without having read previous stories – although I would highly recommend taking in the previous books, the first, in particular, to glean all the details on how Gethsemane came to live in this small Irish town in a haunted cottage.

Fatality in F is a fun books for readers who like their mysteries with a bit of humor and a dash of the paranormal. It was a fun, easy read that did not disappoint.

I was provided an advance copy of the book for review. All opinions are my own (ditto for any typos) ( )