British Mysteries

The author"bio" lists extensive gardening credentials for Eglin; and the book is filled with fascinating behind the scenes looks at commercial rose growing as well as plain and simple gardening detail. Even to this non gardener, I found these details fascinating, and like any novel where some version of a holy grail is discovered (The DaVinci Code and The Rembrandt Panel being two examples) the actual discovery and the way it's handled provide the thrill. The beginning of the book, which is kind of a traditional English mystery type set up, complete with the slightly pompous, tweedy Dr. Kingston as a foil for the Sheppards, ends up becoming more of a thriller than a British style whodunnit. In a way it's a refreshing breath of fresh air to let thriller trope into the staid British mystery format; in another way, it seemed like a betrayal, and I was almost flummoxed when the book began to include kidnapping and high stakes dealing over the fate of the beautiful flower that seems to have something sinister at its core.

I appreciated the pacing, the smooth writing, and the delicious set up, garden included; I liked the main characters and I certainly would read another novel by Anthony Eglin; he just needs to get his tone "right". It may be a quibble no-one else will have; and if you like gardening even a tiny bit I would recommend that you run, not walk, to find a copy of this book.