We finally learn who killed Jasmine Hawthorn. But what happens next with her three daughters, trained since youth in combat and survival? Find out in The Deadliest Bouquet #5 from Image Comics!

THE DEADLIEST BOUQUET #5

Writer: Erica Schultz
Artist: Carola Borelli
Colorist: Tom Chu
Letterer: Erica Schultz
Editor: James Emmett
Publisher: Image Comics
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: December 21, 2022

Previously in The Deadliest Bouquet: Violet goes out with Detective Bayani and learns that the biker gang she beat up does not operate in this area. It is unlikely that they were involved in Jasmine’s murder. While Holly and Aster are playing, they find a set of bloody wrist wraps or bandages. Bayani wonders about the antique gun Jasmine was shot with and whether it could have been hers. Rose admits to her sisters that she has taken the gun and disposed of it. She does not want Asmus’ murder connected to their mother. A flashback to the past reminds us of the troubled upbringing of the three sisters.

BLOOD AND TEARS

The Deadliest Bouquet #5 puts me in a dilemma as a reviewer. It opens with the night of Jasmine’s death and shows us exactly what happened. To be fair, it was obscured from us pretty well, and in retrospect, there were enough clues that the real event is foreshadowed fairly.

The sisters learn what happened and it catches them off guard. It is not the solution they were expecting, and it brings out some introspection. Beyond the murder mystery, this is a story of three women who were brought up by a woman with a deadly and secret past. Because of Jasmine’s own past, she was so mistrusting that she was essentially paranoid. Survival was so important to her that she focused more on teaching her own daughters how to be brutally self-sufficient and assuming that was also a way to show them affection. Instead, they have all grown up in a world where anything out of the ordinary is seen as a potential threat.

One thing leads to another, and there is one more death to deal with. What is interesting is to see the reactions that the sisters have this time.

While I think the set up ultimately works for the ending, the main problem that I have with is that all the red herrings in this story are so intensely interesting. Jasmine’s past was dangerous and mysterious, and even her daughters did not know the half of it. Was she involved in espionage, or was she a serial killer? Is Violet really an assassin? It would make sense with her upbringing, but she is too flamboyant for that as a job. Did any of the daughters escape their upbringing? In the end, most of this is not that important, but at times the hints of a bigger story were somewhat distracting.

FACING THE CONSEQUENCES

The art of The Deadliest Bouquet #5 is good. As always, the characters are depicted well. There are a lot of emotional upheavals to reflect on. From what we have learned previously, characters’ actions and reactions do make sense. It is the first time we get to see a glimpse of Jasmine while she was alive, even if it is only for a brief time. We do see a woman who is frustrated by her ability to manage her finances, yet whose instincts have never left her.

Something that felt odd to me was how unlived in Jasmine’s house looked on the night of her death. This was the family house, a house that had such raw memories that two of the daughters left. Yet most of the rooms were devoid of furnishings. Small stacks of packing boxes were in many of them. To me, this felt incongruous.

BOTTOM LINE: ABRUPT, YET DRAMATIC

The Deadliest Bouquet #5 ends somewhat abruptly. I think that, despite this, it does manage to pull off the story behind the story, the one which was being told. The premise is fascinating and the ending poetic.

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