BEST-LAID PLANTS
A Potting Shed Mystery # 6
Marty Wingate
Random House Alibi
October 17, 2017
I am always happy to get my hands on a new Potting Shed Mystery with its mystery, gardening tips and lore, quirky characters and a touch of grown-up romance. Pru Parke is a transplanted Texan whose life dream was to relocate to her mother's native England. Her first year in England was a challenge, but now she has a good reputation and a steady flow of jobs. Not only is she established professionally, but she has married semi-retired police Chief Inspector, Christopher Pearse. All her success comes at the age of fifty-something. Both Christopher and she are feeling the need for a getaway when she receives a request to consult on restoring an Arts and Crafts garden in the Cotswolds. The creator of the garden, Batsford Bede, has let it slide in recent years and needs help. Christopher and Pru have friends in the area and decide to take a working holiday. But, just as Pru makes a start she discovers Bede, dead, under a piece of garden statuary. What was the ailing, elderly man doing out in the garden alone? It also appears that the inheritance of the property is disputed and a codicil to the will is missing. Since the local police force is small, Christopher takes over the investigation.
The Potting Shed Mysteries are a pleasure to read. I am not a gardener, but this series might even inspire me to become one. I highly recommend Best Laid Plants, which can be read as a stand-alone, but why not enjoy it from the beginning,The Garden Plot? Thanks to NetGalley and Random House Alibi for an advance digital copy. The opinions are my own.
RATING- 4 Stars
BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE
An FBI K-9 Novel # 2
Sara Driscoll
Kensington Books
September 26, 2017
Sara Driscoll's second FBI K-9 novel, Before It's Too Late, hits the ground running and never lets up. A woman in the D.C. area is abducted, leaving her dog running loose. Attached to his collar is a coded note with clues to the woman's location and a time limit. The note is directed to Meg Jennings personally. By the time the FBI unscrambles the code and clues, all based on Civil War history and locations, the time has run out. It's too late for the woman, but this is far from the end. More abductions occur, and notes arrive in quick succession, all to Meg's attention. Even worse, the victims are physically similar to Meg. It's clear that the FBI is up against a very organized serial killer; one with a personal grudge against her. Meg decides to take action that might very well cost her career. Against all Bureau policy, she enlists her sister, Cara, a puzzle-solving genius, and Clay McCord, Washington Post reporter and Civil War buff. The three are able to solve the puzzles more quickly than the FBI computers. But Meg can't imagine who her adversary might be, or why.
I liked the first in the FBI K-9 series, Lone Wolf, very much and Before It's Too Late does not disappoint. The action is non-stop, the mystery well-plotted and the characters engaging. The relationship between Meg and her Labrador, Hawk, is healthy and supportive, based on mutual respect and love. It's impressive what well-trained search and rescue dogs can do. I highly recommend the series to suspense fans and anyone interested in the inner workings of the FBI K-9 Units.
Thanks to NetGalley and Kensington Books for an advance digital copy. The opinions are my own.
RATING-4 Stars
WEYCOMBE
G.M. Malliet
MIdnight Ink
October 8, 2017
All should be perfect in the chocolate box pretty village of Weycombe where transplanted American, Jillian White, lives with her titled husband in an upscale gated community. There are cracks though, both in the marriage and the village. Jillian was "made redundant" (a kind euphemism for laid-off) nine months earlier from her job at the BBC, and her marriage to Will White is falling apart. But when Jillian discovers the dead body of Anna Monroe, local real estate agent and femme fatale, on a walking path next to the river, all the pettiness, secrets and evil in Weycombe begin to rise to the surface of this tranquil pond. Anna has always wanted to write a novel, so she begins to investigate the murder on her own, with an eye to using the case as a basis. There are consequences for everyone involved.
It's a challenge to review Weycombe without giving anything away. I have enjoyed Malliet's previous books, but this stand-alone novel is entirely different. I was immediately captured by Jillian's acid voice: she is not someone that I would like, but I wanted to listen to what she had to say. It's not often that I can't put down a book, but I stayed up late just to find out what came next. I began to get the feeling early on that Jillian was a far from reliable narrator, but the extent of her unreliability was stunning. The twists and turns in the plotting kept me intrigued until the end. I highly recommend Weycombe for fans of psychological suspense with a dark edge.
Thanks to Midnight Ink and NetGalley for an advance digital copy. The opinions above are my own.
RATING- 5 Stars
THE WITCHES' TREE
Agatha Raisin # 28
M.C. Beaton
St. Martins Minotaur
October 3, 2017
I am a latecomer to the Agatha Raisin series, having discovered them only a few years ago. I was looking for short, undemanding listens and the reviews seemed to fill the bill. I ended up listening to all of the series over time. I often had mixed feelings about them, finding Agatha annoying at times, but entertaining to a greater or lesser degree. The Witches Tree begins with a dreadful dinner party given by the local "wannabe" squire and his flashy wife. The new vicar and his wife, Rory and Molly Devere, can't wait to get home. But their plan is disrupted when they drive by the Witches Tree and see a body hanging from the branches. It's Margaret Darby, an inoffensive elderly spinster and everyone in the odd little Cotswold village of Sumpton Harcourt can't imagine why....or so they say. The Deveres draw Agatha Raisin and her sometimes sidekick, Sir Charles Fraith, into the investigation. Agatha is feeling bored with her usual lost pet and divorce cases, but two more murders and a practicing witches coven add up to almost more than she can handle.
Agatha is a mixture of overconfidence and insecurity, despite great success as a Public Relations executive and now as a PI. She seems to be unable to feel worthy unless she is in a relationship with a man but none of those are ever a success. Her longest relationship has been with Sir Charles, but he is averse to commitment of any kind with the exception of keeping his money pit of an ancestral estate afloat. I admit that I had hopes that he was moving towards realizing how important Agatha is to him, but no such luck. Agatha at least appears to avoid falling for every eligible male she meets in The Witches Tree, which is a welcome development. I do enjoy the sly social commentary that Ms. Beaton injects into all the Agatha Raisin books.
Thanks to St.Martin's Minotaur and NetGalley for an advance digital copy. The opinions are my own.
RATING- 3 Stars
