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Gardening Mysteries #9
Summer Garden Murder
The star of public television's top garden show, Louise Eldridge is something of a celebrity. But when a dead body is planted in her backyard, she's in for notoriety of a different kind. . .Summer is the season for disquiet in Louise's Sylvan Valley cul de sac, and the tradition continues when an uninvited guest crashes a neighborhood soiree. Five years ago, Louise identified Peter Hoffman as the "mulch murderer." Now he's been released from a Virginia state mental institution. Leaving the party doesn't put enough distance between Louise and Hoffman, who has a thing or two to say to her—and actually has the nerve to follow her home to air his grievances. Shaken by the incident, Louise and family decide to take a little R&R at the beach in the hope that Hoffman will have moved on by the time they return. When they get back from vacation, Hoffman's moved on all right—but not in quite the way Louise had hoped. He's been missing for seven days, and Louise is the one who finds him. . .buried beneath her native azalea patch. Things go from bad to worse once the police learn that someone saw Louise planting one of the nights she was supposed to be out of town. With suspicion buzzing around her, she starts doing some snooping among her friendly—and not-so-friendly-neighbors, including high-powered attorney Mike Cunningham, who may have had a shady business deal going with Hoffman; Hilde, an apprentice gardener with something to hide; and Hoffman's own widow, whose relationship with her husband wasn't exactly a bed of roses. But before Louise can make any serious headway, another murder victim turns up—felled by a garden claw covered in Louise's fingerprints. Now, with more than just her television career in jeopardy, Louise will have to dig up some serious clues to bring a killer to light—before another person winds up as fertilizer. . .
292 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2005
8 people are currently reading
113 people want to read
About the author
Ann Ripley
12 books35 followersA former newspaperwoman, Ann Ripley now spends her time organic-gardening and writing mysteries. She lives with her husband, Tony, in Lyons, Colorado. Her first novel, Mulch, won the Top Hand Award from the Colorado Authors' League. She is now at work on her fifth gardening mystery.
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
December 5, 2022
This was so un-enjoyable. The story is told mostly from one person's view, but along the way, her daughter, her husband, a policeman 'friend' and several others get their own chapters. The one thing I still don't understand is why, when this woman found a body buried in her backyard, and while waiting for the police to arrive, felt it necessary to discuss her daughter's upcoming wedding....and this happens several times during the course of the read. Someone needs to get their priorities straight. Awful book.
October 5, 2016
I spent the entire book wondering why the characters never called a lawyer. She almost has a nervous breakdown because she is so scared of being arrested when bodies keep turning up in her yard, but somehow it never occurs to her, or her high-powered government husband, or her urban-studies daughter, or anyone around her, that a lawyer would be handy.
My suspension of disbelief never recovered. The mystery was solved by accident.
My suspension of disbelief never recovered. The mystery was solved by accident.
April 25, 2019
Louise Eldridge hosts a garden show and (usually) unintentionally solves murders. But when one of her past run-ins comes back into town after serving a trifling sentence in a mental health hospital for brutality killing, then dismembering a woman who wanted more than the side in his life, it’s an on edge go for her and family. Said culprit also attempted to add her to his body count, and now that he’s back, maybe he intends to finish that thought.
But then he’s found dead, buried under Louise’s azalea patch. All evidence points to Louise, most obnoxiously so. (Which to me would scream frame job, but not certain a bias detective.)
A few newbies to the hood dos-i-dos around suspicion, even gaining a trace of trust, until a second body is planted in another of Louise’s beds (Seriously, coppers???) and she’s further implicated.
A nervous wreck with her daughter’s wedding also galloping up the calendar, Louise takes note of subliminal and blatant clues and then (of course) confronts her suspicion on her own.
It’s one of her most suspenseful reads yet, but needed finishing. What was done to Charlie? Did Morton apologize? How did Bill know where she was? Why, after so many murders, do the Eldridge’s still not have some sort of security system installed? CIA? C’mon!
While I appreciate the need for suspense and placement, placement, placement... I do not appreciate when an author puts the character in stupid situations after painstakingly making her appear so savvy. No matter what contrived reason behind it, it’s counteractive to the premise of intelligence. But then again, Louise does read T.C. Boyle, so maybe......
And even given that I’ve been a vegetarian for 42 years, I don’t think you can cook up a “golden brown” strip of bacon. Just sayin.
But then he’s found dead, buried under Louise’s azalea patch. All evidence points to Louise, most obnoxiously so. (Which to me would scream frame job, but not certain a bias detective.)
A few newbies to the hood dos-i-dos around suspicion, even gaining a trace of trust, until a second body is planted in another of Louise’s beds (Seriously, coppers???) and she’s further implicated.
A nervous wreck with her daughter’s wedding also galloping up the calendar, Louise takes note of subliminal and blatant clues and then (of course) confronts her suspicion on her own.
It’s one of her most suspenseful reads yet, but needed finishing. What was done to Charlie? Did Morton apologize? How did Bill know where she was? Why, after so many murders, do the Eldridge’s still not have some sort of security system installed? CIA? C’mon!
While I appreciate the need for suspense and placement, placement, placement... I do not appreciate when an author puts the character in stupid situations after painstakingly making her appear so savvy. No matter what contrived reason behind it, it’s counteractive to the premise of intelligence. But then again, Louise does read T.C. Boyle, so maybe......
And even given that I’ve been a vegetarian for 42 years, I don’t think you can cook up a “golden brown” strip of bacon. Just sayin.
October 3, 2018
I finished Summer Garden Murder by Ann Ripley before we moved. It was a good easy read, though a lesser favorite of Ann Ripley's gardening mysteries who feature Louise Eldridge.
The story piggy backs on to a previous murder (Death at the Spring Plant Sale) Eldridge helped solve, this time she finds bodies in her neighborhood. She is the number one suspect, but her family doesn't believe it. A lot of threads in this story with some leading to dead ends.
If you are looking for a cozy mystery with garden bent, Ann Ripley's gardening mysteries are worth reading.
The story piggy backs on to a previous murder (Death at the Spring Plant Sale) Eldridge helped solve, this time she finds bodies in her neighborhood. She is the number one suspect, but her family doesn't believe it. A lot of threads in this story with some leading to dead ends.
If you are looking for a cozy mystery with garden bent, Ann Ripley's gardening mysteries are worth reading.
June 14, 2017
A little complicated, the garden seems so remote and in the woods.
Two men buried in the garden so the blame goes to Louise,
She is practically arrested for murder.
It was OK and I will read one more in the series.
Two men buried in the garden so the blame goes to Louise,
She is practically arrested for murder.
It was OK and I will read one more in the series.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 14, 2020
I really enjoyed this book. Got it for 10cents at our local library for my wife, but got hooked when I read the first couple chapters.
July 30, 2021
Summer reading 2021 Morse Institute Natick and Goodnow library Sudbury
October 10, 2023
Pretty good mystery. I liked the family and neighborhood dynamics, and the fact that the sleuthing was apportioned out among many.
September 24, 2016
What can I say about this one? Dreadful.
Although this is the 9th in the series, it was the first Ann Ripley book I’ve read. And the last.
The writing itself is riddled with mistakes of grammar and syntax, but the most galling thing for me was the discrepancies in the timeline. From the very beginning, sections were given dates. The first was a party on 4th August. The next date was 18th August. But in between was reference to that same party “3 weeks ago”. You don’t have to be a prize winning mathematician to work out that’s wrong.
So I was off-side almost from the beginning.
Then there was the murder itself. The whole plot relied on you having read a previous book. I hadn’t. Although I’d have liked to start at the beginning of the series, our small library won’t necessarily have them all so sometimes we have to settle for what we can get. Recurring characters are one thing, but relying on information not available to a first time reader is unacceptable. Each book should stand alone.
Despite this, I easily worked out who the murderer was. I couldn’t figure out the motive … because I didn’t know the history.
I soon got bored with the bumbling attempts of the amateurs to solve the mystery and flicked to that end to check if I was right and find the “why”.
My assessment: Tedious and poorly written. Don’t bother.
Although this is the 9th in the series, it was the first Ann Ripley book I’ve read. And the last.
The writing itself is riddled with mistakes of grammar and syntax, but the most galling thing for me was the discrepancies in the timeline. From the very beginning, sections were given dates. The first was a party on 4th August. The next date was 18th August. But in between was reference to that same party “3 weeks ago”. You don’t have to be a prize winning mathematician to work out that’s wrong.
So I was off-side almost from the beginning.
Then there was the murder itself. The whole plot relied on you having read a previous book. I hadn’t. Although I’d have liked to start at the beginning of the series, our small library won’t necessarily have them all so sometimes we have to settle for what we can get. Recurring characters are one thing, but relying on information not available to a first time reader is unacceptable. Each book should stand alone.
Despite this, I easily worked out who the murderer was. I couldn’t figure out the motive … because I didn’t know the history.
I soon got bored with the bumbling attempts of the amateurs to solve the mystery and flicked to that end to check if I was right and find the “why”.
My assessment: Tedious and poorly written. Don’t bother.
March 18, 2011
This is the eighth installment of the Louise Eldridge gardening series out of nine, though I've read it out of order. In this one, Louise's party is interrupted, when Peter Hoffman comes back to terrorize her neighborhood and her in particular. He was known as the "mulch" killer, a few years ago, and have returned from four years in mental rehab. After he frightens Louise, she decides to take her family on vacation. When she returns, Hoffman winds up missing. As Louise does her gardening, he winds up dead. And all evidence points to her, putting her family and her career in danger. Things go from bad to worse, days later, when someone else winds up missing and dead. And with the help from family and her neighbors, they help her find out who's the cold-blooded killer who framed her. It's a fight to the end.
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March 14, 2014The book was outstanding. One of my favorite reads. My dads friend dropped this book off for my mom to read ,but I picked it up first and boy am I happy I did. This book was full of mystery and drama. When I found out peter was back and what he did I was waiting to see what he would do. I was scared for Jane ,but shes a way stronger woman then I could have imagined. To think this happened in a neighborhood like that makes me think if anyone is safe in even a nice place like that.
July 27, 2010
The mystery was ok at best but the writing was distractingly terrible. The language the characters used made them all (even the "almost 18 year old" as she is always described) seem about 75 years old. The descriptions of modern life seems as though they were written by someone time travelling from the 1950s. I kept checking the publishing date and was shocked it was 2005. Quite bizarre.
May 2, 2009
Really hard time getting into this book. Too many characters in the beginning and not enough information about them to know who they are. I put it down and wasn't even going to finish it but waited about 2 weeks and managed to finish.
March 14, 2008
This book was a disappointment. I figured out the obvious murderer MUCH before anyone in the book did, and I then had to wait for them to bumble along.
April 17, 2010
Good story, it drug out a little long and got a little confusing with all the characters. But able to enjoy it.
June 28, 2011
I don't know maybe it's just me but, I couldn't get into this book at all. Gave up after page 100.
September 3, 2013
Enjoyed it
April 24, 2015
Good Defense
June 8, 2015
Very easy to figure out the who done it and why.
October 28, 2015
This was a solid read, a bit of bubblegum thrown in but over all well done. I figured it out very early but still read through to see how it all happened.
December 28, 2022
3 1/2 - Very Good
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews