The Blooming Detectives
Small-town mysteries. Sharp humour. Women who don’t play by the rules.
Three women with no usable magic solve crimes the magical community can’t—or won’t.
Much to the dismay of Detective Dickhead.
Set in the small Welsh village of Llanrhydwen, where everyone knows everyone, and not all of them are telling the truth. When trouble spreads, the Blooming Detectives follow it.
Each book is a standalone mystery (often involving murder) that’s solved by the end, so you’re never left wondering whodunit. Essie outwits villains—and occasionally the police—with help from her partners in crime… sometimes literally.
Read if you like: cosy mysteries with a twist · sharp British humour · female friendships · chaotic good energy · found family · protagonists with no filter
Coming December 2026
Budding Suspicions
A fun, witty mystery where an amnesiac witch with a penchant for chaos untangles murder in a Welsh village brimming with secrets.
For Essie Hemmings, waking up at the bottom of some stairs in the small Welsh village of Llanrhydwen is just the start of her troubles. With no memory of her past and her grandmother found dead in the garden, Essie finds herself the prime suspect in a crime she can't remember committing.
Racing against time and her own amnesia, she must unravel the truth before she's carted off to jail—or worse, meets the same fate as her grandmother.
But in Llanrhydwen, nothing is as it seems. As supernatural undercurrents ripple through the village, Essie realises that her small world is brimming with more magic and menace than she ever imagined.
Can Essie and her new friends solve the mystery shrouded in her lost memories? Or will the sinister forces at play in Llanrhydwen claim her as their next victim?
Can you weed out the killer before it’s too late?
The Blooming Detectives Series
The titles are terrible gardening puns. The covers are worse—if you look closely, they’ll start giving things away. Got a theory? I’d love to hear it.
Note from Toria
Sometimes the spark of a story comes from the weirdest things—or at least mine do.
I was at college when I fell out of bed one morning, very nearly hitting my head on the bedside table corner. Naturally, my brain went straight to what if I hadn’t been so lucky? What if I’d woken up with no memory at all?
That was where Essie started.
It took years for me to fully figure her out. I carefully made her look nothing like me (except her height because I don’t know how to write tall people) , and then one day, I had the slightly alarming realisation that she was me. Just… without the filter.
Case in point: I once found myself in an overheated office, seriously considering whether sticking sanitary pads to the inside of my sleeves might solve my sweaty problem.
I didn’t do it.
But Essie absolutely would have.
Which, in hindsight, tells you everything you need to know.
If you do pick up a book, I hope you enjoy spending time with her as much as I do. And that you don’t judge me too hard.
And if you think you’ve worked out what’s going on from the covers and titles… I’d love to hear your theory.
FAQs
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No. Each book is a standalone mystery, so you can start anywhere and still get a complete story.
That said, the characters and relationships build across the series, so if you enjoy spotting connections (and the occasional running joke), reading in order will give you more to play with.
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Not in the traditional sense.
The setting is cosy—a small town, familiar faces, and a community that looks after its own.
But the characters don’t always behave the way cosy mysteries expect, and the stories aren’t afraid to get a little sharper, stranger, or more chaotic along the way.
Each book centres on a murder mystery that’s solved by the end—but how it’s solved is rarely straightforward.
If you enjoy cosy mysteries with a bit more bite, you’ll feel at home here.
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Magic exists—but it’s not the point.
The mysteries don’t rely on magic to be solved, and the human world doesn’t know it’s there. It sits underneath everything, shaping events in ways that aren’t always obvious.
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Essie is a witch with no memory and absolutely no interest in behaving the way people expect her to.
She’s observant, stubborn, and not always entirely sensible.
She has strong instincts, questionable impulse control, and a tendency to say exactly what she’s thinking—whether it’s helpful or not.
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A lot—but not in a “setup and punchline” way.
The humour is mostly observational, character-driven, British, and occasionally a bit unhinged.
Think less polished jokes, more “did she really just say that?”
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Each title is a gardening pun—and each one hints at the mystery inside.
Some are more subtle than others. None of them are accidental.
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I’m so glad you asked, because YES! Every cover includes visual elements tied to the story—details that make sense once you’ve read the book (and occasionally before, if you’re paying attention).
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You can try.
Between the title and the cover, there are usually clues to what’s going on—but they don’t always mean what you think they do.
If you have a theory, I’d love to hear it.
→ Share yours on Instagram or Facebook — make sure you tag me! I’m @toriahowellauthor
Didn’t find your answer?
Don’t hesitate to contact me
(or feel free to send me your theories)
Other Series from Toria Howell
Did you know Toria has written several other series of books? From romance to cosy comedy mysteries, there’s something for every reader…
Saltmere Chronicles
