Fronds and Enemies

English Cottage Garden Mysteries, Book 5 (The English Cottage Garden Mysteries)

By: H.Y. Hanna

Narrated by: Pearl Hewitt

Spring has come at last with cheerful daffodils and plump crocus blooms, and Poppy is hoping that the new season will magically resurrect the cottage garden nursery she's inherited. But with her stock failing to grow and a mysterious "peeping Tom" stalking the village, she's got her gardening gloves full...and that's even before her visit to the local doctor ends with her stumbling on a dead body! Then, her friend and neighbour - crime author Nick Forrest - suddenly finds himself the top suspect, and a missing garden gnome is the only lead in the case. Determined to find the real killer, Poppy sets out to do some horticultural sleuthing - helped by eccentric old inventor Bertie and a posse of nosy villagers. All she finds, however, are more questions. Was the murder simply a "crime of passion", or was it something more sinister? Is there a link to the recent spate of creepy lingerie thefts in the village? And could the naughty ginger tomcat Oren be the key to solving the mystery?As she grapples with spindly seedlings and cryptic clues, Poppy discovers that even a sleepy English village can be a hotbed of deceit and death....

©2021 H.Y. Hanna (P)2022 H.Y. Hanna

Earns 5+/5 Garden Gnomes…Engaging, Clever Favorite!

Bloomin’ Fun! In one of my favorite series, an English Cottage Garden Mystery, H.Y. Hanna has penned a well-developed and cleverly titled fifth mystery, “Fronds and Enemies.” With a Neighborhood Watch fanatic, missing undergarments, an “Auricula” club, and a couple of murders, it is a delightful mystery, fun challenge for any amateur detective, and an “Oh, wow!” ending and tying up of some of the book’s loose ends. Poppy struggles to get enough inventory to make a success of her garden nursery, and dealing with a rash, hazard of working around thorny flora, she is told to drop everything and visit the village GP. There she meets some interesting people, gets up close and personal with a toddler, and hears loads of gossip about the handsome Dr. Seymour, who she finds is also an avid gardener and president of the local Oxfordshire Auricula Club. His wife, however, is quiet brash and demanding, and very critical about her husband’s young practice manager Yvonne. So, when Poppy, retracing her steps to locate a lost necklace, happens upon the bludgeoned body of the young Yvonne, it seems a “cut and dry” investigation. But nothing is easy peasy in the Cotswolds with peeping Toms, snooping Sallys, inventive miracle grow, and even Nick Forest, Poppy’s hunky neighbor, has his own tangles with the tabloid press and local law enforcement. Of course, when you choose to engage in H.Y. Hanna’s fantastic work with the audio version, you are in for a marvelous treat with the voice artistry of Pearl Hewitt doing the narration. Her pleasant narration includes variations on British dialects that portray well tone and emotions, age and gender, feline machinations, and various delightful, quirky, and sinister personalities. All in all…entertaining, compelling, a few giggles for fun, and an entertaining, above and beyond narration!

I love this series

H.Y. Hanna and Pearl Hewitt team up to do it again with another installment in this wonderful series. I always enjoy seeing what antics Orin will drag Poppy in to this time around. I can’t wait for the next installment.

Love HY

loved it. another one of hers I cozied up with waiting at my son's karate practice. peep it out.

Fun and Addictive Series

Awesome cast of characters: a young woman who runs a cottage garden and nursery; a grumpy former CID detective who writes crime mysteries; a zany inventor who comes up with amazing ways to create mad cap devices; a thieving orange tabby and a hyper terrier dog who spread mystery thought out the village. Lots of laughs and funny.

Wonderful story

This is a terrific book with a lovable characters, especially the cat. The mystery has some twists and turns and as always with H Y Hanna, you feel as if you are there in the English country side.

Another excellent cozy mystery!

Ugh! Lee needs to be fired. I swear. He’s the laziest cop ever! And so condescending and rude. There. I got that off my chest.

I love the pacing at which the author moves things forward throughout this series. My curiosity is all agog over who Poppy’s dad might be.

And this time I thought for sure three times who the killer was. Each time I was so very wrong. The final time I was excited and had it all worked out. Nope! Wrong! Lol It’s so much fun when that happens.

Poppy Gets Flowerd

I've Loved All of H.Y . Hanna 's Books until now. This story didn't seem to be her style at all. Finished it.
I adore Poppy, Big Orange Tom and his handsome crime writter owner ! Looking forward to the next GREAT
STORY IN THE GARDEN !! AS ALWAYS LOVE PEARL HEWITT 💖💖💖💖

Love the Cottage Garden series!

So fun and enjoyable :-) Narration is very good and adds to the storyline. Will be on the lookout for the next book in the series!

Great Cozy Writing

I have listened to almost every book written by H Y Hannah on Audible and really enjoy them. This series is really cute, I love the gardening aspect of it and find myself searching for the plants she mentions in the story. Can't wait for the next one!

Charmed again

I am a fan of H.Y. Hanna's cozy series, and listening to them is my preferred format, because Pearl Hewitt voices them so well. As always, the charm of the setting is the primary attraction for me. English villages are a familiar setting in many cozies, for just that reason. If you are a homemaker and gardener, as I am, the fantasy setting of a cottage garden as the home and business of the protagonist, is a wonderful escape to favorite daydream haunts.

These books never skimp on the mystery plot, though. There are always a number of likely perpetrators and motives to follow. The logic is sound and the happenstance of clue discovery is believable in the context of characters and setting.

Finally, there is always a good dose of humor. Cat lovers will particularly enjoy the recurrent involvement of the mischievous neighbor cat, and the eccentric professor-inventor always provides funny interludes. This story in the ongoing series is light on romance, compared to the others, but perhaps I just feel that way because I would have liked more interaction between Poppy and the attractive author/ex-detective.