Mystery, romance, adventure, and more are in store for the youngest of five sisters, lawyers all, when she signs up to work at a lavender farm in Provence in Lost in Lavender, a Bennett Sisters Mystery.

Facing a crossroads-- both career and personal-- the youngest of the five Bennett Sisters, Elise, does what she does best: she runs away to think. This time she runs to a farm in Provence that produces heaven-scented lavender for oils. The area is famous for the beautiful purple flower, the symbol of this southern region of France. Her sisters are stumped. Elise never seemed like the farming type, or even gardening, for that matter. But she's signed up for a farm stay vacation, an idea she got from an unlikely source, the trophy wife of one of her law partners.

When she arrives, courtesy her older sister Merle who drives her to the Luberon from the Dordogne, she discovers she is the only guest at the picturesque family farm who is not a college student. The rest are all doing a French language exchange program and are 20 years younger than Elise, leaving her feeling like an outsider and wondering about her life choices. Not only is her judgment in men and careers awful, but she can't even plan a decent vacation.

Meanwhile in the Dordogne, Merle's niece, Willow, arrives for some R&R before she starts law school. But she brings a few surprises with her, a boyfriend plus Elise's fiancé. Or is it ex-fiancé? It will take several sisters-- and of course Pascal-- to unravel the facts as all descend on southern France for July in the heat and lavender.

Suspense, romance, intrigue, and humor-- another delicious adventure in international travel and cozy mystery as the Bennett Sisters fight their way to truth, justice, and a perhaps a summer fling, deep in the French countryside. A summer fling in France never hurt anyone, now did it?

Denice Stradling

Sprecher