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Tough Fluff: Fluff and Flowers #1
For fans of clean mysteries that take place during the holiday season. Get ready for a fun mystery that highlights the unique job of being a tree fluffer - which is a real thing - and enter a world filled with ornaments, animals, and enough family secrets to decorate three evergreen trees!
After booking the biggest job for their business, Fluff and Flowers, Holly and Fern hop in the car and travel to the historic town of Carlisle, PA. Though it’s early November, the ladies feel the heat to finish the large undertaking in just one week! With a hundred artificial trees to fluff, a family Christmas tree to decorate, and a large room to spruce up for the Warblers’ fiftieth anniversary…what could go wrong?
But when trees keep falling, and a family member is found dead in the locked workshop, the friends wonder if anything will go right. Since the two women each have a key, and Mrs. Warbler has the third, the newcomers are pinned at the top of the suspect list. To make matters worse, Detectives Davenport and Tirico know that Holly had the means, the opportunity, and a motive they’re determined to unwrap before the first snowfall.
Up against Father Time, Holly and Fern set their eyes on the family as they try solving the murder for themselves. Why was the victim killed? And were the ornaments found near the body actual dying clues, or will the cookie crumbs lead the ladies on a wild goose chase? With limited help from their own family and friends, the two women dive into the Warblers’ tense issues to find surprising revelations, and death threats. As the clock chimes tick away the hours, will their young company survive and grow, or will it be permanently clipped before the Christmas season has even begun?
After booking the biggest job for their business, Fluff and Flowers, Holly and Fern hop in the car and travel to the historic town of Carlisle, PA. Though it’s early November, the ladies feel the heat to finish the large undertaking in just one week! With a hundred artificial trees to fluff, a family Christmas tree to decorate, and a large room to spruce up for the Warblers’ fiftieth anniversary…what could go wrong?
But when trees keep falling, and a family member is found dead in the locked workshop, the friends wonder if anything will go right. Since the two women each have a key, and Mrs. Warbler has the third, the newcomers are pinned at the top of the suspect list. To make matters worse, Detectives Davenport and Tirico know that Holly had the means, the opportunity, and a motive they’re determined to unwrap before the first snowfall.
Up against Father Time, Holly and Fern set their eyes on the family as they try solving the murder for themselves. Why was the victim killed? And were the ornaments found near the body actual dying clues, or will the cookie crumbs lead the ladies on a wild goose chase? With limited help from their own family and friends, the two women dive into the Warblers’ tense issues to find surprising revelations, and death threats. As the clock chimes tick away the hours, will their young company survive and grow, or will it be permanently clipped before the Christmas season has even begun?
- GenresCozy Mystery
394 pages, Paperback
Published September 13, 2025
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
May 2, 2026
Have you ever seen a large display of artificial Christmas trees and wondered how they all look so fluffy and full? Yeah, me neither. I have never once thought about the person(s) who worked a long time to make them look that way. Turns out, ‘tree fluffers’ are those people, and Tough Fluff by Sheryl C.D. Ickes features two friends – Holly and Fern (appropriate names, no?) – who are hired by a wealthy widow to fluff 100 artificial trees, decorate a family tree and fancy up a room for the family to celebrate a milestone anniversary together. That may be the most unusual occupation I’ve seen in a cozy mystery, and I kinda wish we had more background information on how they got into it and what else they do when it’s not ‘artificial tree fluffing’ season.
While the gals know that this will be a big job, they aren’t counting on all the challenges they encounter. Trees falling over in a locked room, family drama, flat tires, and of course the murder. There’s a whole household full of suspects, including Holly & Fern as far as the police are concerned. So, naturally these two friends decide they need to figure out for themselves who did do it. I enjoyed watching their minds work together to piece together the clues even as they work on the job they were hired to do. It’s clear their friendship is a fun one and that they make a good team. I basically suspected everyone of being the murderer(s), even two characters that I really hoped it wasn’t, and while I shouldn’t have been surprised by whodunit (since everyone was on my suspect list), I was anyway – and especially by the motive.
Bottom Line: Every cozy mystery series needs a likable main character to keep readers invested for the long haul, and Tough Fluff kicks off the Fluff and Flowers Mysteries with two! Sheryl C.D. Ickes has written an engaging pair of friends & business partners in Holly and Fern, and half the fun of reading this book was watching the two of them work & investigate together. They make a great team with an easy dynamic. The mystery itself is cleverly-plotted and intriguing too. It could have been a bit more tightly edited, but overall this was an enjoyable mystery and a good next read for fans of Heather Weidner, Iris March, and Ruth J. Hartman.
(I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book)
first reviewed at Reading is My SuperPower
While the gals know that this will be a big job, they aren’t counting on all the challenges they encounter. Trees falling over in a locked room, family drama, flat tires, and of course the murder. There’s a whole household full of suspects, including Holly & Fern as far as the police are concerned. So, naturally these two friends decide they need to figure out for themselves who did do it. I enjoyed watching their minds work together to piece together the clues even as they work on the job they were hired to do. It’s clear their friendship is a fun one and that they make a good team. I basically suspected everyone of being the murderer(s), even two characters that I really hoped it wasn’t, and while I shouldn’t have been surprised by whodunit (since everyone was on my suspect list), I was anyway – and especially by the motive.
Bottom Line: Every cozy mystery series needs a likable main character to keep readers invested for the long haul, and Tough Fluff kicks off the Fluff and Flowers Mysteries with two! Sheryl C.D. Ickes has written an engaging pair of friends & business partners in Holly and Fern, and half the fun of reading this book was watching the two of them work & investigate together. They make a great team with an easy dynamic. The mystery itself is cleverly-plotted and intriguing too. It could have been a bit more tightly edited, but overall this was an enjoyable mystery and a good next read for fans of Heather Weidner, Iris March, and Ruth J. Hartman.
(I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book)
first reviewed at Reading is My SuperPower
January 14, 2026
The characters were a lot of fun and the mystery was nicely done. Didn't know that tree fluffing was a real job until I picked this book up! I think any cozy mystery fan would enjoy this book.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews