Tangled Roots

When the heir to a California flower-growing dynasty is shot to death in his greenhouse, attorney-investigator Nan Robinson must juggle her job, her sister's high-risk pregnancy, and her well-intentioned but aggravating mother to learn the truth

California trial attorney Nan Robinson, introduced to acclaim in A Pocketful of Karma, shines somewhat less brightly in this follow up, which takes her out of L.A. and into San Diego County to try to clear her brother-in-law of murder charges. Nan's pregnant sister Julie calls for help when her husband, Adam, is arrested for the murder of his childhood friend and fellow commercial flower grower, Shane Pettigrew. The evidence against Adam is strong: found at the crime scene are his gun and a wrapper from his favorite, and unusual, chewing gum. Nan learns Adam had received an anonymous note the week before, telling him about Julie's affair with Shane during the previous year. Although Nan unearths other suspects in the victim's ex-wife and her brother, the motive for the cleverly executed crime is stubbornly rooted deeper in the past. Worrying also about complications in Julie's pregnancy, Nan almost becomes the murderer's fifth victim before Cannon ties up the loose ends of a tale mainly brightened by descriptions of the Southern California flower industry.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

In quite traditional fashion, this title begins with the murder victim's last moments, then turns to an unjustly accused suspect. By the time series heroine Nan Robinson (see A Pocketful of Karma, LJ 2/1/93) appears, the lines of battle are clearly drawn: her brother-in-law Adam, framed and jailed, finds himself ostracized by the victim's powerful father (who also raised Adam's lawyer) and by the townspeople of Floritas, California, where Adam and his wife raise and sell flowers. Cannon heightens suspense by side-stepping into discussions of the flower business, by describing characters, and by alternating groups of players. Tense, entertaining, and satisfyingly thorough.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

For California state bar investigator Nan Robinson, murder is a family affair. Nan races off to Floritas, a San Diego County flower-growing center, when her brother-in-law is charged with murder. Adam Chandler and his pregnant wife, Julie (Nan's sister), are small fish in the Floritas flower biz; the local big fish is outspoken, irascible Angus Pettigrew. But the characters driving the plot are men who grew up together: Shane Pettigrew, divorced, noted womanizer, and Angus'son, is the victim; Adam is the accused; and Ram{¢}on Garza, raised by Angus Pettigrew after the toddler's mother died, is Adam's attorney. Nan seeks out alternative suspects (there are plenty!) and tries to convince herself that the brooding, sometimes violent Adam is innocent. Cannon leavens the tense suspicion surrounding the murder with flower industry background and the mundane details of Nan's life in L.A., including a daunting visit from Nan and Julie's widowed suburbanite mom and Nan's adoption by a kitten. Tangled Roots is likely to turn more readers into Nan Robinson (and Taffy Cannon) fans. Mary Carroll