Pushing Up Purple Daisies

Teddy Books #1

by Amanda Glenn

Teddy Stanley is a sixty something, retired waitress. Three times married, twice widowed, once divorced, she lives beach side on the Oregon coast. The purchase of a bargain lid for her septic tank occasions the discovery of the body of a local real estate developer/good old boy. The local sheriff, a poker playing buddy of the deceased, could be the killer The sheriff likes her friend Rob, the business partner of the dead man for the deed.

Genres: Mystery

200 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 14, 2011

Reviews

[Cozybooklady · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good Book

This was a good cozy mystery. I liked Teddy, who is the main character.
After finding a dead body in her septic tank, Teddy can't find a minute of peace and quiet. Neighbors and strangers are lurking about and trying to get a sneak peek of where the body was.
When a dear friend of Teddy is accused of the crime, she decides to investigate on her own.

This was a good story and I would definitely read more in this series.

[Joan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Many spelling and punctuation errors.

[Betsy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just the name "Purple Daisies" makes me happy as they are a flower I really enjoy in my own garden. This book was easy-to-read quickly, which is just what I needed after reading some books on serious topics this summer. This is an easy-to-solve mystery set on a beautiful coastline. The scenery described can just put you on the beach on an early-spring day. Something subtle that I noticed halfway through the book, the heroine provides recipes for what she is cooking that are quick and easy. I have noted a few. Though not the healthiest of food options, they would work great if a friend stopped in unannounced for dinner. What I liked most about this story was the friendship between the male leading character and the female leading character. It was quite refreshing to have this friendship described.

[Kimda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book very much. Teddy is an adorable character and I completely loved her conversations with herself and her spunk. That lady seems to be a tough turd! (pun completely intended heehee) I couldn't believe the hard work that woman puts in!

Rob and Teddy's relationshop is awesome - I absolutely love they are best friends and laugh at everybody thinking they have something going on. Tiny bits of humor interlaced with the mystery was refreshing versus those two falling in to bed like every other mystery novel.

I was a bit bothered by whomever proofread this and let so many misspellings and sentence structure errors.

I do plan on reading another book by this author. Thank you to Amazon First Reads!

Yep, my reviews still suck. :)

[D. Starr · Rating 5 out of 5]

Entertaining Mystery

Rating PG
Limited strong language including a few unnecessary F-bombs in the last 20%
No sex

Good plot with a rather amusing premise: Teddy, the main character, discovers a fresh corpse in her freshly pumped septic tank. Who hides a body that way? And so, the mystery and its ultimate resolution begins.
Likable characters
Light reading
I will probably read the sequel.

[Bette · Rating 3 out of 5]

Teddy is a retired waitress living on a limited income by the ocean. Her garden is her passion. A body is found in her septic tank, and all the retirees have a lot to say about who is involved and who did the murder. Teddy and Rob, her friend, find themselves in the unenviable position of being suspects. Then Rob discovers disturbing info about his friend, Ben the victim. Teddy puts together the clues but until they feel right she needs to keep looking for the murderer.

[Roseann Ilstrup · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good story and humor.

I really liked the characters. A good story too. I was disappointed when Sonny started talking like someone very uneducated. He's supposedly educated because it takes some to get the job. I liked Rob and Franky characters and the humor and caring feelings between them. Just good friends.

[Mary Barrett]

4 stars

This was a perfect book to curl up with on a dark, dreary, rainy day. Being a senior citizen, I appreciate books with a lot of humor and no foul language. This fit the bill. It had me laughing throughout and solved the "who done it " mystery at the end satisfactory. The main character, Teddy, was a real hoot and as feisty as they come. Well done, Ms. Glenn.

[Meri · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enjoyed it

Story about good ol boys in the south and a “retired” waitress and her dear friend scuttling their plans for murder. Characters well-drawn

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable cozy mystery.

[Erribella · Rating 2 out of 5]

story was real good but the cursing was not!!also Pete needs stay in jail he's a stalker.i wonder if teddy and rob ever become romantic

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you love small town murder mysteries, you'll love this book.
Taking place on the coast of Oregon, Teddy Stanley, a retired waitress, divorced and a widow, she owns a house along the beach, where she retires and just wants to enjoy her home and garden.
Having septic problems, she ends up having her septic tank pumped and has to have a new lid ordered. After re-opening the septic tank, to replace the lid with the new one, they find a a local's body inside the septic tank.
The book has all your usual small-town cops and locals, to keep you interested and the investigation becomes quite exciting.
Amanda Glenn threw in enough twists and turns to keep you wondering who the killer was.
I enjoyed this book very much and would like to follow Teddy Stanley's character in future books.

[Angel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book and it's characters. Most readers would probably hate the step-by-step descriptions of mundane things like cleaning and cooking, but I really enjoyed them. The descriptions of the Oregon Coast were very good and the mystery was a good one. I do see this is the first in a series, but I would not pay full Kindle prices for the books, due to the spelling, grammar, and punctuation issues that were rampant. However, if Teddy was a real character I would eat a grilled cheese with her any day.

[Patricia Gulley · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like older protagonists in stories and picked this one because she lived on the Oregon coast, however I really only knew that because of the blurb and a few mentions of Portland, Eugene and Sea Lion Caves. The mystery was interesting but dragged out because of the length descriptions of long walks on the beach, gardening design, septic tank and drainage canal issues. So many places for high drama and danger were left flat, and I don't think one chapter ended with a design to keep reading.
But, I did and Teddy is quite a likable character.

[Tom · Rating 3 out of 5]

Should be a four star review but alas, just a three from me this time. All the tedious food cooking and recipe excesses interspersed throughout the entire novel is somewhat distracting unless you are a foodie. Foodies will give it five stars. Many will say the cooking references are part of the charm but in my case, they detracted from what is a really good mystery tale. Grammar and spelling Nazis will give it two stars. How about 3.5 overall?

[Sharon · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was enjoying this book until I got about halfway through and the story really slowed down to a point where I was so bored trying to get to the end. So many useless details about what she was cooking and how she was cooking it. It had no use in the story at all!! I don't know how this book has an average four-star rating???

[Diana Driver · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this cozy mystery! Well done - congratulations to the author for a Good Read!