A Bouquet of Thorns

Sherwood's white-haired, widowed Celia Grant is back in the sixth addition to the series that typifies the cream of British mysteries. Managing her flourishing nurseries in the village of Melbury, Celia has few problems beyond coping with the flashpoint temper of her indispensable head gardener, young Bill Wilkins. But the two are inevitably drawn into an uproar when somebody murders alcoholic, violent Simon Berridge and Bill is arrested, his conviction all but assured by lying witnesses. Celia, no less scheming than the crime's perpetrators, uses information about the village's leading citizens to put the blame where it belongs, though not without suffering damage to her own self-esteem. As always, readers are treated to gleanings from horticultural lore and to the beguiling messages in The Language of Flowers neatly integrated into Celia's investigation. (Aug.)