The Darling Dahlias and the Poinsettia Puzzle

Written by Susan Wittig Albert

Narrated by Peggity Price

Mildred Kilgore and Earlynne Biddle are planning to open a bakery on the square — if they can come up with the right recipes. Charlie Dickens faces two of the biggest puzzles of his career as an investigative reporter, and one of them involves his wife. Cute little Cupcake's talent as a singer and dancer makes her a tempting target for an unscrupulous exploiter. Lizzy must enlist the Dahlias to protect her while she herself is confronted by a romantic puzzle. And Sheriff Norris is forced to reopen a puzzling mystery that the town thought was solved.

Once again, New York Times best-selling author Susan Wittig Albert takes us to a place where real people have courage, respect their neighbors, and dream of doing their best, even when they're not sure what that is. She reminds us that Christmas is a celebration of friendship, community, and what's right with the world. There's nothing puzzling about that.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Dreamscape Media Audio
• Release date: Oct 16, 2018
• ISBN: 9781974917938

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.

Reviews for The Darling Dahlias and the Poinsettia Puzzle

[delphimo_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I have read Susan Wittig Albert's other series and a few of the Darling Dahlias' series. The story line creates excitement for the new bakery, the jigsaw puzzle contest, the dilemma of Cupcake, the love life of Liz, the suicide turned murder, and moonshining, but too many cooks spoil the bread. Too many events and too many characters confuse the reader, and then Albert references other books in the series in order to explain situations. While this evoked an interest, this reader felt that Albert crammed the other books down the throat, at times. I felt that Albert did a good job mentioning the hardships following the Depression, but all these hardships seemed candy-coated. The new technology in ballistics aided the Sheriff, but again, I felt that danger and trouble remained hidden. Albert needed to limit her topics and develop her settings and characters, but still the book exposed me to a world that I did not understand.

[lindapanzo · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This eighth, and most recent, installment in the delightful Darling Dahlias series, set in Darling, Alabama, a small town in southern Alabama, during the Great Depression, is just as charming as ever. The Dahlias are competing in a Christmas-time puzzle contest. Two of their members are opening a bakery but don't know how to bake bread. A ne'er-do-well father is aiming to snatch back his Shirley Temple-esque little girl. There's moonshining, and yes, not surprisingly for a mystery, an effort to solve a murder. This terrific series brings to life the 1930's and I absolutely love these books. Now that I've read the two most recent books, I want to go back and read the first six books in the series. Definitely a series to recommend to my friends who like cozies.(I received a copy of this book from the publisher, via Net Galley, in exchange for a fair and honest review.)

[ladyofthelodge · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

“The Darling Dahlias and the Poinsettia Puzzle” is the first one I read in this series, although I read many other books by this author. It was well worth the time to read it! I was drawn in to the characters from the beginning of the book. The historical setting from the past brought the 1930’s to life. I enjoyed getting to know each of the characters, and learning more about police procedures in the time period. Many of the characters reminded me of ladies I knew when I was growing up in the 1950’s! The plot moved along to maintain my interest and reveal new bits of information at every turn. The seasonal aspects of the story added to the spice of the novel, but did not overpower the main plot. This novel served as an “appetizing” introduction for me, and I intend to read more in this series.I received this book from the publisher and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The opinions expressed here are entirely my own.

[lhaines56 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Very cute cozy mystery that keep you turning every page. Who says things don't happen in small towns in the South??? Yes they do!!!

[newsieq · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

It’s the Christmas season 1934 in the little town of Darling, Alabama, and things are popping. The Dahlias are participating in the jigsaw puzzle tournament. Two ladies are opening a bakery but discover neither of them can make a decent loaf of bread. Cupcake, a talented little girl (think Shirley Temple) who’s being raised by the two ladies who own the local telephone company, is in peril. And Liz Lacy, our heroine, needs to find part-time work when the local attorney cuts her hours in half.I love this series! It’s a glimpse into small-town life in the Depressioni-era south and it’s pretty much guaranteed that the endings of all the subplots will be happy.

[romonko · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

It's awesome to be back in Darling again. I have missed Liz, Verna, Myra Mae, Violet, Aunt Hetty and many more. They are like old friends to me, and I look forward to each new book in this wonderful series. It's Christmas time in Darling when this book begins and it's a cold one. They may even go down to 5 degrees Fahrenheit! Oh Lordy me! If that was only as cold as we get up here in the snowy north. But anyway, for a couple of days I can bask in the Alabama warmth and enjoy my Dahlias. There really is no real mystery in this book and it is a continuation of the story line from the previous book "The Darling Dahlias and the Unlucky Clover.", but that does not make it unenjoyable. You will discover as you read that "nothing ever happens in Darling" as the locals believe is far from the truth. We have numerous nefarious deeds occurring throughout the County. It is the Depression, and money is tight, and since people still need to eat, there is crime aplenty, a lot of it committed in order to keep the wolf from the door. But I encourage you to come and sit at Liz's table, have a cup of coffee and some pecan tassies,, and read the tale that Susan Albert has created. I love this delightful series, and i think it would make a wonderful television series too. Can't wait for the next one where I'm thinking Liz will have to be making some very difficult decisions.

[eurohackie · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The ending, oh the ending!! My ship has unexpectedly set sail again, and for that lovely ending, I had to bump my rating up another star ♥After the disappointment of Unlucky Clover, I was a little hesitant to pick this book up. I didn't like that Clover more or less ended only halfway through the story, and I was wary of that happening again. Luckily, it didn't - the storylines from the last book were all wrapped up, albeit somewhat disappointingly. It seems like this series is shifting away from mysteries and more towards small town/slice of life stuff. I like the characters, but I also liked the mystery aspect of this series.It was really nice to see (most of) the Dahlias again, after their collective non-appearance in the previous book. I thought the subplot with Mildred and Earlynne's bakery was hilarious. I did find the whole Cupcake storyline a bit tedious and unbelievable - I can't image the entire town taking that child to heart in any serious sort of way. The big mystery surrounding Fannie Champaign was a huge disappointment. The prison farm subplot turned out better than I anticipated - I'm glad there was more to that story than was revealed in Unlucky Clover, or else it would've felt like a disappointment, too.The other bit I could've done without was all the asides that seemed wedged into the narrative. Did we really need to hear the history of the brassiere just because Liz was putting one on one random morning? Or the secrets of the titular poinsettia? Or about the wonder of Wonder Bread not once, but several times?! I don't know if Ms. Albert has an editor for these stories now that she's publishing independently, but I think it would help. I know research is fascinating, but everything in its place, eh?