The Darkest Flower by Kristin Wright is a 2021 Thomas & Mercer publication.

When Kira Grant, a PTA president, is accused of trying to poison one of the other mothers, she hires Allison Barton to defend her.

Kira has always lived a life of privilege and has no earthly idea what it is like to struggle. Be that as it may, she’s convinced her husband is having an affair, is in denial about her daughter’s dyslexia, and truly believes she is right about everything.

Then Kira is accused of murder- and faces some true adversity in her life for a change- but she’s so sure of herself and so convinced she knows better than Allison, she tries to micro- manage, manipulate and control the entire investigation. She gives Allison fits – but Allison is far more formidable than she’s been credited with.

The problem is, the deeper Allison digs the more suspects she turns up- and the possible motives are beyond twisted!! But the fact remains:
Someone tried to commit murder-right there in front of a bunch of school children, any of whom could have been an accidental casualty in the plot, and Allison will stop at nothing to discover the truth…

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I love legal thrillers, but I seldom find one anymore that combines much courtroom action with the investigation angles. This book not only balanced the two, but gave the genre a big quirky breath of fresh air.

This book was pure entertainment. It’s easy to read, fast-paced, though some of the characterizations are nearly cartoonish at times- except for Allison- who plays a more stereotypical role-but is our true protagonist- despite Kira’s flamboyant personality nearly drowning her out much of the time.

While the book has a few mixed reviews, I thought it was unique, perhaps a bit satirical- or darkly humorous, though I wasn’t quite sure that was what the author intended.

If you don’t take it too seriously, you might be able to enjoy it just for the pure fun of it. There’s a nice little twist at the end, too. Others have claimed to have seen it coming a mile off- but as jaded as I am- I didn’t figure it all the way out. Then, once the truth was revealed, I realized the story was maybe a bit darker than I’d give it credit for.

This is yet another book I’ve read this past month that was a little out the box- and it is another book that might not be suited for everyone- but I enjoyed it well enough.

3.5 stars ( )

I received a copy of this novel from the publisher via NetGalley.

This was very enjoyable; a mixture of a mystery, courtroom drama, and romance. It centres on the committee of an elementary school PTA where one committee member is charged with the poisoning of another by means of a smoothie served at the Grade 5 'graduation'. There are chapters from the perspective of Kira, the accused mother, and Allison her lawyer. Kira was initially very amusing, although she became less so as the plot developed, and I really liked Allison, so I am glad this looks as if it is only the first in a series. ( )

This was my Amazon First Reads pick for May 2021. In the end, I found it a bit disturbing. I can understand a parent being willing to die for their child, maybe even to kill for their child if it was a true life or death matter, but to kill over an 11 year old's grades? No. To even consider killing over grades or a future college. No! ( )

Mommy Law
Review of the Thomas & Mercer Kindle ARC eBook edition (to be released June 1, 2021)

The courtroom tainted everything and everyone who entered. We’d all go straight to hell together. There’d be a line for entry longer than the ones at Disney for Space Mountain. Despair at the awfulness of everyone overwhelmed me.

I had originally expected The Darkest Flower to be something along a cozier line than it turned out to be. Dueling mommies at a junior school PTA don't usually conjure up visions of noir and back-stabbing. Still, there is an overabundance about children and parents and their nefarious goings on in junior school that you might want to step back if those themes don't attract you. Cynicism about the law also might be turnoff as in the quoted example from the text above. The defendant is especially repellant as you are allowed to dip into her thoughts in the back and forth chapters that toggle between her and the lawyer.

Still, the ending revelation was quite diabolical and the lawyer's method of obtaining justice was well handled (I'm being intentionally vague here to avoid spoilers) so this was an impressive start for first time novelist Kristin Wright. Her lawyer, Allison Barton, will return in The Darkest Web (expected April 2022).

The Darkest Flower. was one of the 9 possible selections in the 5th month of the Amazon First Reads program which offered 1 free Advance Reading Copy (ARC) selection to Prime members in Canada (2 copies in the USA). ( )