Reading order
| # | Title | Published | Author | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Darling Dahlias and the Cucumber Tree | 2010 | Susan Wittig Albert | Buy |
| 2 | The Darling Dahlias and the Naked Ladies | 2011 | Susan Wittig Albert | Buy |
| 3 | The Darling Dahlias and the Confederate Rose | 2012 | Susan Wittig Albert | Buy |
| 4 | The Darling Dahlias and the Texas Star | 2013 | Susan Wittig Albert | Buy |
| 5 | The Darling Dahlias and the Silver Dollar Bush | 2014 | Susan Wittig Albert | Buy |
| 6 | The Darling Dahlias and the Eleven O’Clock Lady | 2015 | Susan Wittig Albert | Buy |
| 7 | The Darling Dahlias and the Unlucky Clover | 2018 | Susan Wittig Albert | Buy |
| 8 | The Darling Dahlias and the Poinsettia Puzzle | 2018 | Susan Wittig Albert | Buy |
| 9 | The Darling Dahlias And The Voodoo Lily | 2020 | Susan Wittig Albert | Buy |
| 10 | The Darling Dahlias and the Red Hot Poker | 2022 | Susan Wittig Albert | Buy |
The Darling Dahlias are the members of a garden club in the fictional small town of Darling, Alabama, during the 1930s. The series begins in 1930, just after the stock market crash, and follows these women as they tend their gardens, look after their neighbors, and get tangled up in local crimes. The first book, The Darling Dahlias and the Cucumber Tree, introduces the club and the town, and each subsequent novel advances the timeline through the Depression years.
Albert brings the period to life with careful attention to historical detail. The books deal with bootleggers, bank failures, traveling shows, and the everyday struggles of getting by during hard times. Segregation, gender roles, and small-town gossip all factor into the stories. Each title includes a plant name, echoing the garden club theme, and the mysteries tend to grow out of the social fabric of the town rather than from random acts of violence.