I previously enjoyed books in the Potting Shed Mystery series and as well as in the Birds of A Feather series by popular author Marty Wingate, so I was delighted to dig up another mystery to solve. This is the sixth novel featuring an American garden designer who moves to work in England, named Pru Parke, who discovers that her BEST-LAID PLANTS actually feels to me like a modern day Agatha Christie, but presents a Texan lady in a role Christie would never have considered; like one of the characters we meet, her characters would have called gardeners "staff" and not invited them into the house. Fans of amateur sleuth books in an English village setting will adore the read whether they like gardens or not, but gardeners will go potty for it.
A trip to the English countryside turns into a brush with
death for Pru Parke, the only gardener whose holiday
wouldnβt be complete without a murder to solve.
Pru and her husband, former Detective Chief Inspector
Christopher Pearse, are long overdue for a getaway. So when
Pru is invited to redesign an Arts and Crafts garden in the
picturesque Cotswolds, she and Christopher jump at the
chance. Unfortunately, their B&B is more ramshackle than
charming, and the once thriving garden, with its lovely
Thyme Walk, has fallen into heartbreaking neglect. With the
gardenβs owner and designer, Batsford Bede, under the
weather, Pru tackles the renovation alone. But just as sheβs
starting to make headway, she stumbles upon Batsfordβs body
in the gardenβdead and pinned beneath one of his limestone
statues.
With such a small police force in the area, Christopher is
called upon to lead the investigation. Pru canβt imagine
anyone murdering Batsford Bede, a gentle man who preferred
to spend his time in quiet contemplation, surrounded by
nature. But as her work on the garden turns up one ominous
clue after another, Pru discovers that the scenery is more
dangerous than she or Christopher could have anticipated.
No excerpt available.
© 2003-2026