The Garden Plot

Potting Shed Mysteries, Book 1

By: Marty Wingate

Narrated by: Erin Bennett

Pru Parke always dreamed of living in England. And after the Dallas native follows an impulse and moves to London, she can't imagine ever leaving - though she has yet to find a plum position as a head gardener. Now, as the sublet on her flat nears its end, the threat of forced departure looms.

Determined to stay in her beloved adopted country, Pru takes small, private gardening jobs throughout the city. On one such gig in Chelsea, she makes an extraordinary find. Digging in the soil of a potting shed, Pru uncovers an ancient Roman mosaic. But enthusiasm over her discovery is soon dampens when, two days later, she finds in the same spot a man's bludgeoned corpse.

As the London police swarm her work site, ever inquisitive Pru can't quite manage to distance herself from the investigation - much to the dismay of stern Detective Chief Inspector Christopher Pearse. It seems that, much as he tries, even handsome DCI Pearse can't keep Pru safe from a brutal killer who thinks she's already dug up too much.

©2014 Martha Wingate (P)2016 Tantor

Wonderful Cozy Mystery

Loved this start to finish!! Can't wait to pick up the next book in the series. I don't normally write reviews, but this book is so charming, I just had to write one. I love that the main character is older - not in her 20's- but still vulnerable. I love the English setting. I loved the mystery - easy to follow along, but not obvious (at least until the end). And I loved the romance - lots of chemistry and a slow burn, but nothing graphic.
If you are on the fence about this book, I would tell you that it is definitely worth a purchase!

Couldn't finish this book

Was The Garden Plot worth the listening time?

No, i got bored and couldn't finish it.

Any additional comments?

I with I could have enjoyed it ,but sadly I didn't

Murder and Archeology in a Garden

Pru has been in England for almost a year in which she has been looking for work as a gardener in The Garden Plot by Marty Wingate. Turned down by everyone to whom she applies, Pru is on the verge of returning to Texas when she gets a small local job cleaning up the garden of the Wilsons. After a day of dealing with vines, Pru gets into the garden shed, only to do some digging within the shed and find hints that a mosaic of a Roman horse might be buried there. This really excites Mr. Wilson, an amateur and highly enthusiastic archeologist, who is so thrilled to find ruins in his own backyard. But then the next day Pru goes back to the shed, only to stumble across the body of one of Mr. Wilson's archeological friends.

Pru gets involved in the case, connecting with the Detective Chief Inspector in the case, Christopher Pearse, and becoming romantically involved with him. Noticing that Christopher seems to suspect the Wilsons of the murder, Pru determines to investigate on her own to clear the names of two of her only friends in London.

This book was a fun, light cozy mystery. I needed such a book after reading the more intense The Circular Staircase. The Garden Plot has a fun premise of the combination of gardening and archeology. I really liked getting to learn about the Roman history in England and about some archeological practices. The characters of Pru, Christopher, and the Wilsons are reasonably well defined, though not drawn in too much depth. We do find ourselves cheering for Pru to succeed in both her career and her life.

Erin Bennett performs the audio edition of this book. She does a delightful job of making the book lively and enjoyable. She creates believable voices for the different characters and enhances the reading experience.

I enjoyed listening to The Garden Plot. The story was fun, and we find ourselves invested in the characters and especially the love affair of Pru and Christopher, as Pru nears having to lose what she has just gained because of a lack of success in finding employment in England. I give this book four stars.

Pleasant Story With Some Flaws

This is a pleasant cozy mystery, and the narrator is very good and handles multiple accents competently.

There are flaws, though. Minor ones include a small but pivotal plot inconsistency and the need for an editor who understands the appropriate uses of "who" and "whom." The major one is a police officer character who not only ignores an obvious suspect but engages in serious conflict of interest that probably would get him fired in the real world.

Those flaws distracted me but didn't ruin an otherwise enjoyable, though lightweight, read.

Loved this book!

Great mystery writing, the author kept me on my toes trying to figure out who the bad guys were. The narrator did an excellent job. I am going to start the next book in the series tomorrow morning!

Great Mystery! Not Typical Story

I thoroughly enjoyed this book because the mystery setting was not typical. A gardener trying to solve crime? Very interesting. One thing bugged me, no physical description of the main character, other than height. I went back to the beginning and read the book just to see if I'd not been paying attention. But, no, nothing, at least not in the beginning where descriptions are normally found. (If I missed it twice, forgive me.) I kept picturing a dowdy gardener, but that didn't seem to suit the character's ability to walk long distances without difficulty. Sorry, I wanted hair color, eye color, and build to go with her height. Now that I think of it, most of the characters were denied descriptions, but with those I was able to fill in the blanks in my mind. I just couldn't do it with the main character. Oh well, it was a great story and Erin Bennet did a fantastic job reading this book. I normally don't like voices, but she did amazingly well! I would definitely recommend this book!

Fantastic First Entry

If you're a fan of the Cozy Mystery you're sure to fall in love with this series. The characters and the plotting are so well executed and kept me in suspense to the very end. I hope this is just the first of many books in this series.

Really good cozy mystery

I enjoyed the entire book. The characters were very realistic and the storyline kept me interested until the end

Great character development

Characters were very likable and believable. Also, the mystery was hard to solve. Kept you guessing almost to the end.

Strong start; Exhausting middle

I can’t stand it when a protagonist becomes dumb just to serve the plot, but I do hear the second books are better written.