Murder Beneath Blackthorn Glass: A Houseplant Shop Cozy Mystery: 2

A forty-year-old orchid mystery brings Clare Rowan to a private exhibition. Before the afternoon ends, the society's archivist is dead beneath the glass. An anonymous 1987 program arrives at Willowwick with a warning written beneath a near-black orchid: Not the original specimen. Days later, Clare enters Blackthorn House, where collectors, trustees, and experts have spent decades protecting a celebrated history. Archivist Sebastian Vale promises to show Clare the record everyone else denies exists. He never reaches their meeting. The scene suggests a fall down iron steps. Clare sees water moving in the wrong order, broken pots arranged around a body, and an orchid fitting that has quietly vanished. With Detective Jonah Hale following the official evidence and the Blackthorn society closing ranks, Clare traces two numbered seedlings through altered labels, missing annotations, private refunds, and a woman whose work disappeared from the record. The truth is still alive. So is the person prepared to destroy it. Return to Willowwick and follow the evidence into the glasshouse.