Murder Takes Root by Rosie Sandler

Steph Williams consults on gardens. She is just arriving at her latest estate with her very large dog, Mouse, when the book opens. Her main point of contact is Lady Clara although there is a plethora of other characters. Though Sandler tries to space out introductions, there were so many characters, I got confused. 

Steph is put into a bedroom in a round tower which is fantastic, but she keeps hearing arguments late at night in the servants' corridor. Thin walls but she has to leave her tower to go to the main house in order to access it. While she's there, Steph is dealing with some hard personalities including the manor's gardener who would prefer she weren't there, a number of people who are running around on each other, and an elderly gentleman who keeps dropping cryptic warnings. And then, there's the body. Though it's an apparent suicide, the police aren't so sure.

I hadn't read the first book in the series and Sandler does a good job of explaining without info dumping but I did feel like I was missing some things, especially in regard to Steph's ex-husband. I also wish we had gotten a few more clues to the solution. 

The Gardener Mysteries #2

Three stars

This book comes out April 3, 2024

ARC kindly provided by Embla Books and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

The Pantomime Murders by Fiona Veitch Smith

Clara Vale is asked to look into the sudden disappearance of Sybil Langford. The woman is legendary in pantomime circles and her professionalism is well-known. For her to leave so quickly and in the middle of the season worries her young friend Peggy. Even as Clara is looking into the information, another person dies. 

At the same time, she is hired to help figure out why a local department store is losing so much merchandise. The man who hires for the department store is a familiar name, Jack Danskin. He is eventually brought into the mystery a little bit more and he may become a bigger part of the series as we go on. 

I like this book better than the first ones as we are getting to know the characters more and the mystery came together a bit more smoothly. 

Four stars

This book comes out November 28, 2023

Follows The Picture House Murders

ARC kindly provided by Embla Books and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

The Picture House Murders by Fiona Veitch Smith

Miss Clara Vale is one of the first of the graduating group that includes women getting a degree in chemistry. Unfortunately, she is not able to find a job that will let her work in that field. Even more unfortunately, the one person who seemed to ever support her, her Uncle Bob, has passed away. She hasn't seen him for years but he's left Clara his worldly fortune, including his detective agency. 

Unsure of what to do, she decides to give herself a little bit of time to figure it all out. While she is searching through her thoughts and talking to the people who were closest to her uncle, one of his clients stops by. The woman's case was still open and she is hoping that Clara will  take it on. Alice is asking Clara to go up against an insurance company that isn't paying out for their movie theater. And her husband died in between. When a second fire occurs, Clara gets suspicious.

This was an interesting story and a nice start to a new series. With that, there was a lot going on and one or two threads probably could have been shaved to allow more room for character development. 

Three and a half stars

This book comes out August 29, 2023

Followed by the Pantomime Murders

ARC kindly provided by Embla Books and NetGalley

Opinions are my own