The Lost Gardens: An English Garden Mystery

Lawrence Kingston once again mixes horticulture with crime solving in Eglin's agreeable second cozy to feature the retired botany professor (after 2004's The Blue Rose ). Jamie Gibson, an American woman who has inherited Wickersham Priory in Somerset, hires Kingston to restore the estate's neglected gardens. In the underbrush, Kingston discovers a ruined chapel complete with a healing well, which turns out to contain human remains. Kingston investigates, exploring such matters as why the mysterious previous owner left Wickersham Priory to Jamie and the absence of any family history or memorabilia at the estate. A series of dire events—two deaths, a car accident, a rifled flat—keeps the plot moving, but it's the plethora of gardening detail that makes this a memorable read. (Apr.)