Winter is a great time to read books. There is not garden calling for your
attention and it gets dark early and a warm wooly blanket, a cracking fire and
a cup of tea and you can spend a couple of hours getting lost in a good
read. So here are a few garden theme
authors to try out.
China Bayles Mysteries
by Susan Wittig Albert
Set in the Texas town of Pecan Springs, this herbal shop owner China
Bayles, escaping the big city, seems to run across dead bodies quite
regularly. Centered around her Herb shop
Thyme and Seasons, this small town mystery series includes recipes and herb
lore on various themes. Recent titles
include: Bittersweet and Blood Orange
The Brother Cadfael Mysteries
by Ellis Peter
Brother Cadfael is a fictional twelfth-century Welch monk
and herbalist, a brother in the monastery of Saints Peter and Paul in
Shrewsbury, England. Cadfael’s
adventures are centered on life in the monastery, where he grows herbs and
prepares them for their medicinal and culinary uses – as well as using his
skills, knowledge and sleuthing talents to solve murder mysteries. There is also a great companion book, called
Brother Cadfael’s Herb Garden: an Illustrated Companion to Medieval Plants and
their uses, compiled by Rob Talbot and Robin Whiteman.
The Louise Eldridge Garden Mysteries
by Ann Ripley
Louise Eldridge is an amateur gardener, garden writer, and
garden=show host with a penchant for digging up dead bodies. Ripley’s fictions are filled with
sophisticated, reliable gardening advice, arranged in separate essays,
throughout the novels. A few titles:
Death of a Garden Pest, The Perennial Killer, Death of a Political Plant.
by Rebecca Trothenberg
Before her death in 1998, Rebecca Rothenberg wrote three
mysteries featuring fictional microbiologist and plant pathologist Claire
Sharples: The Dandelion Mysteries, The shy Tulip Murders, and the Bulrush
Murders. Lots of interesting botanical
details are woven into the plots.
The Celia Grant Mysteries
by John Sherwood
This 10-book series (which ended in the 1990s) featured 50
something British widow and horticulturist Celia Grant. A few titles: Menacing Groves, Bouquet of
Thorns, Sunflower Plot,
One that I am currently enjoying that proves you do not need
to be an enthusiast to enjoy a series is the Cat and Quilting Mysteries
by Leanne Sweeney
Her fictional character a widow, named Jillian Hart lives in
Mercy South Carolina and stumbles into mysteries related to cats. A quilter she is also a cat lover so the cat
tidbits she shares are fun and interesting.
Now I do not quilt, I can barely sew, but that does not diminish my
enjoyment of these cozy mysteries. The most recent in the Cats in Trouble Series is
The Cat, The Sneak and the Secret.
These series all sound great! I am especially curious about the China Bayles Mysteries. Thank you! -Marci @ Stone Cottage Adventures
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