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    The Darling Dahlias and the Cucumber Tree
    The Darling Dahlias and the Cucumber Tree
    The Darling Dahlias and the Cucumber Tree
    Audiobook8 hours

    The Darling Dahlias and the Cucumber Tree

    Written by Susan Wittig Albert

    Narrated by Peggity Price

    4.5/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    Nominated for both the Agatha and Anthony awards, national best-selling author Susan Wittig Albert introduces a garden club of lady sleuths in Depression-era Alabama. The Darling Dahlias have just inherited a new clubhouse and garden, complete with two beautiful cucumber trees. But before long, these genteel ladies must unravel the mystery about what's buried beneath one of these trees and the enigma of the dead body that soon turns up.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRecorded Books, Inc.
    Release dateApr 8, 2011
    ISBN9781449867003
    The Darling Dahlias and the Cucumber Tree
    Author

    Susan Wittig Albert

    Susan Wittig Albert is the New York Times bestselling author of over one hundred books. Her work includes four mystery series: China Bayles, the Darling Dahlias, the Cottage Tales of Beatrix Potter, and the Robin Paige Victorian Mysteries. She has also published three award-winning historical novels as well as YA fiction, memoirs, and nonfiction. She and her husband live in Texas Hill Country, where she writes, gardens, and raises an assortment of barnyard creatures.

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    Reviews for The Darling Dahlias and the Cucumber Tree

    4.5/5

    23 ratings12 reviews

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    • 3/5
      cute start to a new series
    • 5/5
      I love this series about the Darling Dahlias. I think I love it for 2 reasons -- it is set in southern Alabama and it takes place in the 1930s. The characters are likable and the story draws you into its web of mystery, but with a light perspective without too much blood and gore. Looking forward to reading more in the series.
    • 4/5
      I feared that this was going to be a sappy or cutsey story about southern ladies and their garden club, and in a way, it does satarize them, but mostly Albert shows respect for these courageous, kind ladies who only want to spread friendship and beautiful flowers---and maybe the rights of women. This is a clever mystery, and the end isn't obvious until almost at the end. The characters are likeable, lively, and decent .
    • 5/5
      Absolutely loved this book! I am a big Susan Wittig Albert Fan....China Bayles is simply the best series ever! However, I am anxiously awaiting the next book in Susan's newest series about the Darling Dahlias...The Darling Dahlias and the Naked Ladies coming out July 2011.
    • 4/5
      Fun new series to read and I think there are one or two more also. Love the characters and time period, just a nice get away book to read on a lazy day.
    • 5/5
      This is the first in a great new series of life in a small town in the 1930's with a little mystery besides.
    • 3/5
      A cucumber tree or a magnolia acuminata? Only one of the mysteries in this first book of a new series. The Dahlias as a gardening club who have been left a clubhouse. Complete with lovely gardens they have a task ahead of them in getting it into shape.Meanwhile, a young lady is murdered outside of town and the ladies of the club decided to investigate. While the young lady was quite attractive, little did the Dahlias know all of her activities. Several men in Darling were involved as well as Mortonville down the road.Taking place in the 1930's the story following historical events of the depression. It shows the cultural roles of the women and men of the period. A pleasant read and one I recommend.
    • 4/5
      It’s May 1930 in Darling, Alabama. The ladies of the Darling Dahlias Garden Club are enjoying the new club house Mrs. Blackstone, their organization’s founder, willed to them – much to the chagrin of her late husband’s greedy nephew Beatty, who had coveted it. But that’s not the main story in The Darling Dahlias and the Cucumber Tree. The main story is about Bunny Scott, a flirtatious young woman in Darling, not a member of the Dahlias, who seems to be missing. The very proper landlady at Bunny’s boarding house reluctantly lets Verna Tidwell, treasurer of the Dahlias, look through Bunny’s room. What Verna finds there convinces her that Bunny has not run away. When Bunny turns up dead in a crashed stolen car – and the sheriff thinks Bunny was the thief -- the Dahlias are on the case, using their sources and resources to figure out what really happened to poor Bunny. In the meanwhile, there are other things for the Dahlias to attend to: an escaped convict on the loose, a possible ghost, and a bank examiner. Susan Wittig Albert is a wonderful writer and she has outdone herself with The Darling Dahlias and the Cucumber Tree, the first in a new series. Ms. Albert has written other historical series, both set in England, but this is her first foray into an historical mystery set in the US. As usual, her characters are terrific, and she manages to bring the spirit of the depression-era south to life without laying the historical details on too thickly. Two special sections in the book’s last pages give tips of “makin’ do” with whatever we have – and five recipes from the Dahlias. This is a top notch mystery. Readers of cozy mysteries will love The Darling Dahlias and the Cucumber Tree.
    • 5/5
      I love the Dahlias! I mistakenly read the second book in the series before this one which was the first. I'm glad I came back to read book number 1. These characters are truly wonderful and the time and setting are authentic. The books are set in Alabama in the 1930's, and the Dahlias are a group of women in a garden club in the town of Darling Alabama. That is all you need to know to get going on this series and if you like cozies, I think you'll like this series. Come meet Lizzie, Verna and Myra May as well as the rest of the club. They are an absolute southern delight.
    • 4/5
      Here begins what I assume is a new series for Susan Wittig Albert. This one was kind of fun because it takes place in the early 1930's in the deep South. This is not a time period one encounters very often in mystery series. The Dahlias are a garden club in Darling, Alabama. They have inherited a house from a newly-deceased member and need to put a new roof on it. Meanwhile, a ghost is digging in the garden, and a drug store worker is killed in a car accident that is suspicious in nature. My only complaint was that it took a very long time for the crime action to start, and then it wound up extremely quickly. Perhaps the pacing might be a bit more smooth in the next novel.
    • 4/5
      Well, I have to say I found this book perfectly charming. At first it is a bit hard to get used to all the characters but there is a helpful list at the front of the book. And there are several things going on at the same time, an escaped prisoner, a murder, money missing from the bank, rumors of infidelity. It is all quite fun though. Some might find the style of the book a bit too precious, but i truly enjoyed it. Granted I am from the South, so, even though it is set before my time, I know these people. If you like a really cozy read, this might be just up your street. I am interested to see where these spunky ladies are going next.
    • 4/5
      A new series from the excellent Susan Wittig Albert of China Bayles fame. I enjoyed the period, setting, and characters and hope there are few more in this series.