M/ABRESCH
Abresch, PeterBloody Bonsai1998, 239p.

Widower Jim Dandy, depressed since the death of his wife two years ago, is convinced by his children and uncle to attend an Elderhostel to learn bonsai. No sooner than the class begins, a hotel employee is stabbed to death with a sharpened bonsai tree. Jim and his new friend Dodee Swisher, who leads him into theft as well as breaking and entering, attempt to solve the case because the police seem to regard them as the chief suspects. Further murders and a kidnapping leave Jim and Dodee lucky to be alive. Jim finds adventure and romance while he, and we, learn the ancient art of bonsai.

M/ALBERT
Albert, Susan WittigThyme of Death1992, 260p.

China Bayles has left her fast-paced job as a criminal defense lawyer in Houston for a simpler life as owner of Thyme and Seasons Herb Company, an herb shop in small town Pecan Springs, Texas. When her good friend, activist Jo Gilbert dies—a possible suicide due to her terminal cancer—China and her best friend, the flamboyant Ruby Wilcox, owner of a New Age shop, investigate what they believe may be murder. Herbal lore, an appealing main character, and a romantic interest distinguish this series debut.

M/BORTHWICK
Borthwick, J.S.The Garden Plot1997, 322p.

English teacher Sarah Deane and her acerbic Aunt Julia join an all-expenses-paid garden tour of England, France, and Italy. Led by Sarah’s childhood friend Ellen Trevino, it promises the beauty of Sissinghurst, Giverny, and Lake Como, and it will allow Sarah to renew her friendship with Ellen. However, the plane takes off without Ellen, and as the tour progresses, events compel Sarah to begin an investigation of the garden group, where few members seem interested in gardens. Hindered by a precocious,14-year-old budding mystery writer, Sarah and Aunt Julia investigate; but someone makes it clear they are getting too close...

F/ENRIGHT
Enright, RosemaryThe Walled Garden1992, 352p.

After her husband is imprisoned for fraud, calm, lovely Diana Neville retreats to Gilbert’s Tower, an English country house left to her by her great aunt. The charming house, surrounded by beautiful gardens, inspires Diana to begin an organic produce distribution business, English Gardens, employing local villagers, to support herself and her daughter. The business takes off beyond her wildest imaginings, and her husband, released from prison, comes to claim his share. Life in rural Yorkshire, kindly neighbors, and romance add to this satisfying story.

F/FFORDE
Fforde, KatieWild Designs1996, 308p.

Recently made redundant, Althea wins a chance to design a garden at the prestigious Chelsea Flower Show. Seeing the opportunity to make a career out of her passion for gardening, Althea designs the garden and grows the necessary plants while heading a family of three individualist children and beginning a new relationship. Althea backs away from the architect who cares for her because she feels she should put her children first, and they wouldn’t approve. Or would they? A romantic family story with details of garden design and the Chelsea Flower Show.

F/GODDEN
Godden, JonIn Her Garden1981, 181p.

Grace Maitland resists her stepdaughter’s efforts to relocate her away from her beloved English country garden. At 75, though, she’s having trouble keeping up with all the work when Ben Halden shows up in his battered white van looking for work as a gardener. A strange friendship develops between Grace and the troubled Ben, and Grace begins to feel “more alive than I have been for years.” The idyllic summer ends with an accident (or was it murder) with the inevitable fallout for those left behind.

M/HARRISON
Harrison, JanisRoots of Murder1999, 246p.

Widowed Bretta Solomon, owner of The Flower Shop, investigates when her Amish friend Evan’s brother is found dead in the field of flowers he grew for the local floral trade. Now that Isaac is dead, everyone seems interested in the flowers he grew, and Bretta wonders why, when the annuals will be dead after the first frost—in about three weeks. Her nosing around gets her into trouble, and she almost loses her life as she solves the crime and saves a young girl’s life. Details of the Amish, the floral trade, and the difficulties of widowhood and weight loss add to this debut.

M/LATHEN
Lathen, EmmaGreen Grow the Dollars1982, 249p.

‘Numero Uno,’ Vandam Nursery & Seed Company’s new biennial tomato, which bears a huge crop for six months, is set to revolutionize the food industry. However, the tiny upstart Wisconsin Seedsmen Inc. is challenging the patent saying they developed the new tomato. Vandam is thrown into a turmoil because a court injunction has prevented the mailing of their famous catalog. Banker John Putnam from Sloan Guaranty Trust gets involved because one of their major clients, Standard Foods, owns Vandam; and when patent infringement leads to murder, he investigates. Who is willing to murder to own the rights to ‘Numero Uno’ and the millions it will generate?

M/MACLEOD
MacLeod, CharlotteSomething in the Water1994, 262p.

Balaclava Agricultural College’s star horticulturist Professor Peter Shandy has been sent to view Frances Hodgson Rondel’s spectacular lupines. When Jasper Flodge drops dead in his chicken pot pie at the inn where Peter is staying, the quiet coastal Maine town is shocked, but not saddened. Peter hopes to collect his seed and slip out of town without becoming involved in the investigation. However, he finds he can’t leave when he falls in love with the awe-inspiring work of a local artist; and he undergoes negotiations to buy several of the paintings. Eccentric characters and gentle humor add to this series.

F/MICHAELS
Michaels, BarbaraVanish with the Rose1992, 348p.

Lawyer Diana Reed enters the Nicholson household by deceit. Reserved Charles and the loquacious Emily have hired her to design their gardens believing she is a landscape architect and an expert on heritage roses. But Diana is there to discover the answer to a sinister secret. Enlivened by humor, Emily’s feckless son Andy, a bevy of cats and dogs, unexplained music, and a couple of eligible men, this novel of romantic suspense threads information about heritage roses and landscape design throughout, as Diana discovers the answers she has come to find.

F/PORTER
Porter, Margaret EvansThe Proposal1998, 376p.

New to the aristocracy, Lord Bevington wants his gardens designed in the latest style (1797). Sophie Pinnock, on her own since the death of her beloved husband and the break-up of his landscape design firm, vies for the position. Though he dismisses her summarily because of her sex, Bevington finds he can’t forget the petite landscape gardener; so he hires her to design his gardens. The path to true love is complicated by Sophie’s memories of her late husband and Bevington’s terrible family secret. Woven throughout are details of the period’s landscape architecture, landscape architects, and information about antique roses.

M/RIPLEY
Ripley, AnnDeath of a Garden Pest1996, 243p.

Louise Eldridge has just become co-host of the PBS program “Gardening with Nature,” displacing former co-host Madeleine Doering. The show’s organic gardening bent makes it a hit with viewers, but antagonizes big business with chemical interests. When Madeleine is murdered minutes after a loud argument with Louise, chief suspect Louise finds herself with 2-3 weeks to solve the crime—the time it will take for the physical evidence to come back from the lab. Laced with gardening details, this mystery includes organic gardening essays on soil, compost, native plants, and natural pest control interspersed in the story.

M/SHERWOOD
Sherwood, JohnGreen Trigger Fingers1984, 153p.

Widowed Celia Grant is beginning to make a go of her specialty plant nursery and contract gardening business when she finds a body buried under some disturbed irises. However, when she returns with the police, the body is gone. This is only the beginning of Celia’s supposed “hallucinations,” as nasty rumors about her fly around her small English village. Someone has cleverly set up Celia, so no one will believe her; but Celia, with help from her new employee Bill, solves the crime to prove she’s not crazy. The series contains a great deal of gardening information, some in expanded footnotes.

F/SWANN
Swann, E.L.Night Gardening1999, 215p.

While Maggie Flaherty Welles recovers from a stroke, learning to talk and walk again, she enjoys watching the transformation of the garden next door through a crack in the wall between their yards, even though her own garden is going to ruin through neglect. Landscape architect Tristan Mallory follows Maggie’s therapy through this same crack, and they meet when Maggie falls in her garden. A romance develops between the two as they work to restore Maggie’s health and her cherished garden. Garden quotations begin each chapter in this bittersweet story.

M/WALPOW
Walpow, NathanThe Cactus Club Killings1999, 280p.

Joe Portugal, part-time actor in TV commercials and secretary of the Culver City Cactus Club, finds the club’s president Brenda Belinski dead, with a piece of the poisonous Euphorbia abdelkuri wedged in her mouth. Unfortunately, Joe becomes the chief suspect when the police find the rest of the plant in his shade house. To clear himself, Joe and his good friend Gina investigate the many people who may have wanted Brenda dead: her numerous old boy-friends, the plant smuggling community, and even members of the Culver City Cactus Club. Then another murder occurs, and things begin to look worse for Joe. Packed with information about succulents, the book ends with “The Joe Portugal Guide to Botanical Nomenclature.”

Prepared by Sue O’Brien, February 2000