Death in the Orchid Garden

I find escape in well-written cozy mysteries from time to time. I've had to sift through several authors of this genre to discover writing that I truly enjoy. Ann Ripley is one of the best in style and substance. Pardon me, however some cozy authors seem to "dumb down" their writing, which rapidly becomes a bore. I like this site for exploring cozies. A search at http://goodreads.com can help to sift through the authors and topics in search of ones that suit you.

Here is a teaser from Death in the Orchid Garden by Ann Ripley:

"Around her arose an imported jungle of palms and lacy casuarina trees, Norfolk pines as tall as a five-story building, giant armed monkeypods, blazing philosophy trees, and snakelike cactus growing on random walls. Ringing the lagoon itself were splotches of croton, ginger, plumeria, guava, ficus, and hibiscus...It was her business, since she was host of the PBS garden show, Gardening With Nature, in Washington, D. C."