The Garden Plot

by J.S. Borthwick

Book Overview

Sarah Deane, a nice-but-nosy English teacher and her equestrian aunt, Julia Clancy, accompany the local garden group on a tour of Europe's most famous gardens, but when the garden expert misses her... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0312151314
• ISBN13: 9780312151317
• Release Date: January 1997
• Publisher: St. Martin's Press
• Length: 322 Pages
• Weight: 1.15 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 5.7" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

Excellent mystery

This was my first Sarah Deane mystery. I happened to pick it up at my local used bookstore. What a great find! I love mysteries that involve tour groups or traveling, so this was the perfect Sarah Deane mystery for me to start with. It's a wonderfully suspenseful story without any blood, gore, swearing, or a lot of violence. Yet, it's more than just a fluffy cozy. The author does an excellent job with developing the characters and by the end of the book, I felt they were my friends. (Gotta love crusty old Aunt Julia!) I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a great mystery. I have purchased the rest of the Sarah Deane series and look forward to reading the rest of them.

Okay, but not her best

I've read all of the books in this series, and while I wasn't completely disappointed in this book, there were some areas for improvement. I didn't get much of a sense of the gardens. Based on the title, you'd think they would be almost a character on their own, but they were kind of glossed over.The characters were fun, interesting, and basically well developed, but the actions of one character at the end of the book seemed to come out of left field. I even backtracked a little to see if I'd missed something, and I couldn't connect the dots.Some annoying grammatical/typographical errors distracted me, too, but that's a minor point.All in all, an enjoyable read.

Very complicated plot but thouroughly enjoyable.

I love the way this author writes. She has some different plots so you aren't bored. And they keep you up late at night to finish them!Great read!

This author is a joy to read; never gets stale

New Englander Julia Clancy receives two free tickets to join a tour of European gardens when her friend Lillian Garth, who organized the tour, falls down a set of stairs. Julia decides to take her niece, school teacher Sarah Deane, along as her guest. Sarah does not really want to tour a bunch of stuffy gardens, but a free trip to Europe sounds too good to pass up. Sarah also learns that an old friend, Ellen Trevino, who she has not seen in several years, will serve as the tour guide. When the group board the plane at Logan Airport, Ellen is not there. The police find her corpse at a Maine rest stop. ..... The tour seems strange to Sarah as no one appears interested in gardens, yet there is no respite even in the tranquil locales. The participants act weirder and weirder, and the tour guide almost drowns. Sarah decides to learn what is going on without her spouse Alex to help her. He is busy searching for Ellen. Sarah cannot back down from trying to learn why the group is acting so strange even after her life is threatened. If she does not show a little more caution, Sarah may find her amateur sleuthing career ended very soon. ...... THE GARDEN PLOT is a wacky, but lovable mystery novel that stars the sensational Sarah Deane, mostly going solo in this novel. J.S. Borthwick has written a refreshing tale that is made more interesting by the support cast and the locale. No one does a Maine cozy (except perhaps Ms. Fletcher) better than Ms. Borthwick, who, by taking her show on the road, adds new life to an already wonderful series. ......Harriet Klausner