The second Potting Shed Mystery sets American
landscape
gardener Pru Parke the challenge of restoring the formal
gardens of a large English country house. Staffing is
minimal and she's digging in midwinter with a summer grand
opening planned by the excited new owners. But murder is
afoot.
THE RED BOOK OF PRIMROSE HOUSE refers to a garden book
left
by the original famous designer, Humphrey Repton, which
Pru
is using as her guideline. This means that the decorative
buddelias have to be pulled out, though the aged staff
gardener protests that they are good for the butterflies.
Sombre yew, box and other hedges are original, and there
is
a walled garden for flowers and fruit. During a previous
escapade Pru met Detective Chief Inspector Christopher
Pearse, a divorced man with grown children, and their
blossoming relationship convinced her not to go back to
Texas. Excitement mounts as a local newspaper starts
following the restoration in a weekly blog. But this
attracts malicious attention, and vandalism starts
appearing in the extensive grounds. That's not the worst
of
it. Who could be angry enough to murder an elderly
gardener?
I was enjoying the garden restoration so much that the
crimes really did seem an outrage. Pru, no superwoman,
deals with matters as sensibly as she can and tries to
protect a harmless young worker. I like her attitudes and
strong work ethic. She doesn't ask anyone to shovel manure
without pitching in herself. The slightly scatty owners of
Primrose House, the Templetons, are mostly absent and
communicate through excited mails every time they think of
new extravagant features - which Pru is sure would not be
suitable. Local people are more down to earth and family
tensions come to the surface as the investigation
continues. Pru, investigating her own English family tree,
is also in for a shock.
I hadn't read the first one but had no difficulty in
picking up the story, THE RED BOOK OF PRIMROSE HOUSE.
Any keen gardener will enjoy the amateur sleuth tale and
you may be inspired to get planting for spring, however
small your garden.
In Marty Wingate’s charming new Potting Shed Mystery,
Texas transplant Pru Parke’s restoration of a historic
landscape in England is uprooted by an ax murderer.
Pru Parke has her dream job: head gardener at an
eighteenth-century manor house in Sussex. The landscape for
Primrose House was laid out in 1806 by renowned designer
Humphry Repton in one of his meticulously illustrated Red
Books, and the new owners want Pru to restore the estate to
its former glory—quickly, as they’re planning to showcase it
in less than a year at a summer party.
But
life gets in the way of the best laid plans: When not being
happily distracted by the romantic attentions of the
handsome Inspector Christopher Pearse, Pru is digging into
the mystery of her own British roots. Still, she manages to
make considerable progress on the vast grounds—until vandals
wreak havoc on each of her projects. Then, to her horror,
one of her workers is found murdered among the yews. The
police have a suspect, but Pru is certain they’re wrong.
Once again, Pru finds herself entangled in a thicket of evil
intentions—and her, without a hatchet.
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