Kerry Hammond is here to review the first book in a new gardening series.
Pruning the Dead is the first book in the new Garden Squad
Mystery series by Julia Henry. It released on January 29, in Paperback by
Kensington. The author also writes the Theater Cop series and Clock Shop
series; both published in paperback.
In the book, Lilly Jayne is an institution in the small town of
Goosebush, Massachusetts. She can trace her family back to the founding members of
the town and resides in a grand house with a view of the ocean. Since her
husband died, Lilly has become a bit of recluse, staying away
from community events and happenings. She finally re-engages as many of the
town residents attempt to clean up an overgrown park to help beautify
Goosebush. It’s during this event, with dozens of people milling about, that a
body is found in the garden shed, stabbed with a pair of hedge clippers.
The victim had few friends, and since she was the third wife
of Lilly’s ex-husband, Pete, Lilly wasn’t exactly a big fan. But when the police
suspect Pete, Lilly doesn’t believe he could be a murderer. She enlists the aid
of her group of friends, the Garden Squad, to not only help clean up the town,
but to help solve the murder and bring order back to their small community.
I thoroughly enjoyed Pruning the Dead. It was a well plotted
cozy mystery with dynamic and interesting characters. Plenty of characters had
a motive, many had opportunity, and I enjoyed trying to work out the puzzle of
which one was the guilty party.
This book was provided to Mystery Playground by the
publisher. The review was fair and completely independent.
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