In the peak of summer, gardens are ablaze with flowers and chartreuse leaves, buzzing with bees and fluttering with butterflies.
Summer is also a great time for garden parties, picnics, and lazy afternoons. But behind those peonies and daffodils, there are dangers lurking in the shadows.
Poisonous plants, sharp gardening equipment, and hidden nooks to hide bodies abound. Here’s a list of 8 garden-related mystery books for you to read in your gardens.
A Deadly Bouquet
Bretta Solomon, owner of The Flower Shop, is providing the flowers for the wedding of the year in hometown River City, Missouri.
Weddings can be filled with drama, but no one expected the landscaper and the hairdresser to wind up dead on the same day.
Bretta knows that there’s no way this is a coincidence and decides to investigate before anyone else ends up dead. It’s the fourth in the six-book Bretta Solomon series.
Death in the Secret Garden
Children’s book author Lyon and state senator Bea Wentworth have their hardest case yet. They have to clear the name of Vietnam Veteran Spook, who is accused of killing a pregnant teenager in the forest.
But it’s not the only mark of death in the town. The church secretary is shot dead inside the church office, and the governor’s husband dies from a heart attack after a visit to his lover.
Not only do the Wentworths have to try to save Spook, but the governor is convinced that Bea was her husband’s lover and aims to destroy her.
Can the Wentworths figure out the solutions to all these problems before it’s too late? It’s the ninth in the ten-book Lyon and Bea Wentworth Mystery Series.
A Hoe Lot of Trouble
Nina Quinn has her hands full. She’s the owner of Taken by Surprise, where she does surprise garden takeovers. But someone is taking her gardening tools.
On top of that, she’s finally kicked her cheating husband out of their house; her stepson is acting out, and she’s got to deal with her sister’s wedding.
But things go from bad to worse when her friend’s father-in-law and former teacher is murdered. Now Nina has to dig deep to find out who would want him dead.
It’s the first in the seven-book Nina Quinn series.
The Cipher Garden
In the second in the eight-book Lake District Mystery series, DCI and head of the Cold Case Review Team Hannah Scarlett is looking into the cold case of Warren Howe, who is found stabbed with his own scythe.
At the time, the police couldn’t find enough evidence to arrest anyone. Years later, a new clue springs up, and Hannah wants to reopen the case.
At the same time, Historian David Kind gets drawn into the mystery as he tries to find out more about his new cottage’s garden.
Will they be able to get to the bottom of this cold case, or will they be left out in the cold once again?
The Garden of Eden and Other Criminal Delights
This book features 17 essays and short stories by Faye Kellerman, author of the Peter Decker and Rina Lazarus mystery series.
It includes two short new stories, “Garden of Eden” and “Open House.” In “Garden of Eden,” Rina decides to solve the suspicious death of Cecily Eden, who loved plants as much as Rina.
“Open House” has Rina and Peter solving the death of a person found in a house being shown to potential buyers. Other short stories include Cindy Decker, a police officer, as well as some standalone crime stories.
The collection also includes several essays about Kellerman’s life. It’s a fun book for fans of Kellerman.
Gardening Can Be Murder
As a change of pace, here’s a fun book of essays exploring the tradition of gardens and murder mysteries.
McDowell explores the different ways that gardens feature in crime fiction, from poisonous plants to plant-obsessed detectives from early mysteries through the present day.
The book makes a case that gardens and murder mysteries have long been intertwined
Murder in an Irish Garden
In the 11th book in the twelve-book (so far) Irish Village Mystery Series, Siobhán O’Sullivan is practically being run off her feet. She’s studying for her detective sergeant exams.
At the same time, her brother Eoin is opening a new restaurant, The Six, and competing in a garden contest. But someone wants to make sure the gardens do not grow and that the gardens are not vandalized.
Worse yet, someone is found dead. Can Siobhán and the rest of the Garda get to the bottom of these crimes?
The Winter Garden Mystery
In the second of the 19-book Daisy Dalrymple mystery series, Daisy Dalrymple is hired to write another article about the rich, famous, and titled.
She’s been invited by her friend Roberta to stay at Occles Hall, but it’s clear that not everyone is happy she’s there.
When a young housemaid disappears, everyone assumes she ran off, but when her body is found in the Winter Garden, accusations abound.
Daisy feels she must investigate to clear the maid’s fiancé's name and get some justice for the young woman.
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