What do you think?
Rate this book
The Serpent in the Garden
She opened the shagreen box. Couched in gray silk was an emerald necklace, one he had not seen for twenty years. The stones were just as he recalled them: a dozen or more, baguette cut and set in gold links, with a single ruby at the center. Flashes of verdigris, orpiment, and Prussian blue sparkled in the candlelight. The form of this necklace was as disturbing as ever. It had nearly cost him his life.
It is the summer of 1765. The renowned and exquisitely dressed portrait painter Joshua Pope accepts a commission to paint the wedding portrait of Herbert Bentnick and his fiancée, Sabine Mercer, to whom Bentnick has become engaged less than a year after the death of his first wife. Joshua has barely begun the portrait when a man's body is found in the conservatory. A few days later, Sabine's emerald necklace disappears, and Bentnick accuses Joshua of theft. The painter is suddenly fighting not only for his reputation but for his life. With a sure understanding of period detail and character, Janet Gleeson creates a richly nuanced tale of greed and revenge that plays out in the refined landscapes and dark streets of eighteenth-century London.
It is the summer of 1765. The renowned and exquisitely dressed portrait painter Joshua Pope accepts a commission to paint the wedding portrait of Herbert Bentnick and his fiancée, Sabine Mercer, to whom Bentnick has become engaged less than a year after the death of his first wife. Joshua has barely begun the portrait when a man's body is found in the conservatory. A few days later, Sabine's emerald necklace disappears, and Bentnick accuses Joshua of theft. The painter is suddenly fighting not only for his reputation but for his life. With a sure understanding of period detail and character, Janet Gleeson creates a richly nuanced tale of greed and revenge that plays out in the refined landscapes and dark streets of eighteenth-century London.
352 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1938
10 people are currently reading
504 people want to read
About the author
Janet Gleeson
22 books43 followersJanet Gleeson was born in Sri Lanka and has a degree in both art history and English. She has worked at Sotheby's, as well as at Bonham's Auctioneers, where she headed the Old Master Painting Department. A former art and antiques correspondent for House and Garden and editor for Reed Books, Janet Gleeson has contributed articles to numerous publications, including The Antiques Collector, Country Life, and Apollo.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 38 reviews
October 21, 2015
100% logic-free! None of the characters behave consistently (or rationally), but the solution to the mystery takes the silliness up to eleven:
October 14, 2016
Lots of fun. Not a remotely serious book on any level, it grabbed me from the first chapter and kept me reading, enjoying every page. Our main man, Joshua Pope, loves to paint people - he's fascinated by them, not only how they look (which he has a keen eye for) but the choices they make. Fastidious about fashion, he cuts a stylish figure as he turns amateur sleuth in an attempt to find whodunit (there's a few it's to discover the who of), and salvage his reputation which appears to hang by the thinnest of threads.
It's all rather preposterous, but it's so fun in its preposterousness. If period pieces aren't your thing, I have no idea why you're even reading this, but it's obvious you wouldn't get a lot of enjoyment out of this book. Enjoying a bit of period drama and intrigue from time to time, I did find this a cracking good read.
This could easily be adapted into a TV movie (I already have casting ideas for the main characters), it's so richly described. Sure, the characters are a bit one-dimensional and capricious; there's some inconstancy there for sure. But that didn't interfere with my enjoyment of reading about their happenings. I think because I wasn't taking it all too seriously. It was a bit John Grisham meets Jane Austen.
I loved this writer's style, I found it quite light. I loved her use of language, it felt authentic but also very readable in our modern times - it didn't feel like it was trying to teach me about the language patterns of the time (18th century, god save us if it had been too true to reality, it would have been unreadable) whilst also giving us a plausible flavour of how people actually spoke and addressed one another at that time.
I found the pace excellent. It neither dragged nor raced. I kept up, didn't get lost, but equally wasn't bored and wondering when on earth things might move along.
I loved the references to the pineapple growing, and pineapples in general. There were a few wise words about natural growing patterns by the character Lancelot 'Capability' Brown which didn't moralise but gave a timely perspective on bringing an unnatural species (in this case, of a plant) into an environment not suited to it. I liked that, it rounded out some of the other aspects of pineapple introduction and growing that other characters and events brought.
I will be seeking out other Janet Gleeson novels. I so enjoyed this one, if her others have the same elements - characters, plotting, pace, background, language, readability - they'll be as much of a pleasure to read as this one was.
It's all rather preposterous, but it's so fun in its preposterousness. If period pieces aren't your thing, I have no idea why you're even reading this, but it's obvious you wouldn't get a lot of enjoyment out of this book. Enjoying a bit of period drama and intrigue from time to time, I did find this a cracking good read.
This could easily be adapted into a TV movie (I already have casting ideas for the main characters), it's so richly described. Sure, the characters are a bit one-dimensional and capricious; there's some inconstancy there for sure. But that didn't interfere with my enjoyment of reading about their happenings. I think because I wasn't taking it all too seriously. It was a bit John Grisham meets Jane Austen.
I loved this writer's style, I found it quite light. I loved her use of language, it felt authentic but also very readable in our modern times - it didn't feel like it was trying to teach me about the language patterns of the time (18th century, god save us if it had been too true to reality, it would have been unreadable) whilst also giving us a plausible flavour of how people actually spoke and addressed one another at that time.
I found the pace excellent. It neither dragged nor raced. I kept up, didn't get lost, but equally wasn't bored and wondering when on earth things might move along.
I loved the references to the pineapple growing, and pineapples in general. There were a few wise words about natural growing patterns by the character Lancelot 'Capability' Brown which didn't moralise but gave a timely perspective on bringing an unnatural species (in this case, of a plant) into an environment not suited to it. I liked that, it rounded out some of the other aspects of pineapple introduction and growing that other characters and events brought.
I will be seeking out other Janet Gleeson novels. I so enjoyed this one, if her others have the same elements - characters, plotting, pace, background, language, readability - they'll be as much of a pleasure to read as this one was.
May 8, 2015
I'm not terribly knowledgeable as far as historical accuracy goes, but it seems - from my amateur view - like Gleeson did a good job. Even her style felt vintage, though she easily avoided the monotonous droning that Victorian novels tend towards.
I was enthralled with the mystery and the people themselves the whole time. Gleeson writes a dynamic plot. I did guess the culprit, but it was more like "huh, I wonder if it's them" before I thought it might be someone else. I'm not one to actively guess the mystery anyway; I like to be surprised.
One thing that didn't affect me as much as I think Gleeson intended was the identity of the mystery woman in the beginning. I actually forgot the whole scene happened, tell you the truth. So when they revealed her name I simply thought, "Ok cool, that's her." Everything else was very nicely wrapped together and tied up with a pretty closure bow.
Essentially I was entertained. It wasn't mind-blowing or shocking, but it was well-written and fun. And I love the pineapple aspect because I FOUND THE PINEAPPLE! (Psych reference, for you sad people who don't know its awesomeness.) And history. History is good.
I was enthralled with the mystery and the people themselves the whole time. Gleeson writes a dynamic plot. I did guess the culprit, but it was more like "huh, I wonder if it's them" before I thought it might be someone else. I'm not one to actively guess the mystery anyway; I like to be surprised.
One thing that didn't affect me as much as I think Gleeson intended was the identity of the mystery woman in the beginning. I actually forgot the whole scene happened, tell you the truth. So when they revealed her name I simply thought, "Ok cool, that's her." Everything else was very nicely wrapped together and tied up with a pretty closure bow.
Essentially I was entertained. It wasn't mind-blowing or shocking, but it was well-written and fun. And I love the pineapple aspect because I FOUND THE PINEAPPLE! (Psych reference, for you sad people who don't know its awesomeness.) And history. History is good.
November 18, 2007
Yikes. I can enjoy pretty trashy literature (if it can even be called that), but this plot was so idiotic, convoluted and farfetched I read to the end just to find out what on earth the author was going to pull out of the hat. She's not a bad writer in terms of style, but there were so many inconsistencies, random plot turns, and flat out historical inaccuracies that I couldn't help but be bemused. Won't be reading her next book, though.
June 4, 2018
It should not take me 200 pages to be fully invested in a book. It should also not cause me to falter every ten pages and try to give up. I cannot care about any of these characters any less. They are insipid and underdeveloped. The narrator is an idiot, and the culprit is easily identified if you've ever read a mystery novel before.
Don't be fooled by the pretty cover, this book is boring and pointless.
Don't be fooled by the pretty cover, this book is boring and pointless.
March 3, 2012
Set in 18th Century Britain and like her earlier book, the Grenadillo Box, this book has a depth of language and a set of characters that's refreshing and formulaic at the same time.
This a what Gleeson does best: Creating an intricate mystery while maintaining a seemingly predictable plot.
Well-written, superbly-crafted characters and a story that's "sweetly bitter".
This a what Gleeson does best: Creating an intricate mystery while maintaining a seemingly predictable plot.
Well-written, superbly-crafted characters and a story that's "sweetly bitter".
September 25, 2011
I feel like this book dragged on a lot. It did not hold my interest and I ended up skimming the last 70 pages.
March 5, 2013
I'm not even going to finish it.
April 8, 2020
good overall- little bit of dragging in parts
May 7, 2024
Não gostei. Uma leitura extremamente descritiva e entediante .
January 21, 2025
Emerald necklace. Pineapples. Muder
March 4, 2025
This is far from a flawlessly executed plot. You do have to suspend disbelief a bit, but overall I enjoyed this more than I thought I would.
March 16, 2025
Throughly enjoyed this! The author writes very well, completely taken by surprise!
February 28, 2017
This book took me forever to read and I don't know why. I really enjoyed it. I love a good historical mystery and this was fabulous.
Joshua Pope is an artist working on the wedding portrait for Herbert and Sabine. He's a totally unique character. He is a widower, whose wife and child died a year before from drowning. He's scared of water.
The mystery starts when a man ends up in the pinery. This book has a lot of information on the growing of pineapples, which is something Sabine knows a great deal about, and she is bringing that knowledge with her to England.
Shortly after the death of the man Sabine's beloved serpent necklace goes missing, and Herbert knows that it was left in Joshua's care.
This beginning part of the novel takes a a little bit of time to get going, but you get a good introduction to the characters, Sabine in particular. She's not particularly likable and she's one of the people that you suspect early on of being a killer, though there is no reason why she'd have her own necklace stolen.
While Joshua works to find out who stole the necklace, mystery after mystery appear and they all seem to point to one person. Of course, that's not the killer, or perhaps it is, in a round about way when you make it to the very end of the book.
I love how thorough Joshua was in trying to find answers, especially after the death of Herbert's daughter Caroline.
There's a large cast of characters in this book and so many incidents that need investigating. Probably the most interesting is the existence of a woman who was the daughter of Sabine's late husband. Her existence keeps the story going, though ultimately she's not as important to the outcome as you might originally think.
I love how things began to keep turning up as Joshua keeps looking for answers. It made the story a real page turner. I definitely will read more of Janet Gleeson's books.
Joshua Pope is an artist working on the wedding portrait for Herbert and Sabine. He's a totally unique character. He is a widower, whose wife and child died a year before from drowning. He's scared of water.
The mystery starts when a man ends up in the pinery. This book has a lot of information on the growing of pineapples, which is something Sabine knows a great deal about, and she is bringing that knowledge with her to England.
Shortly after the death of the man Sabine's beloved serpent necklace goes missing, and Herbert knows that it was left in Joshua's care.
This beginning part of the novel takes a a little bit of time to get going, but you get a good introduction to the characters, Sabine in particular. She's not particularly likable and she's one of the people that you suspect early on of being a killer, though there is no reason why she'd have her own necklace stolen.
While Joshua works to find out who stole the necklace, mystery after mystery appear and they all seem to point to one person. Of course, that's not the killer, or perhaps it is, in a round about way when you make it to the very end of the book.
I love how thorough Joshua was in trying to find answers, especially after the death of Herbert's daughter Caroline.
There's a large cast of characters in this book and so many incidents that need investigating. Probably the most interesting is the existence of a woman who was the daughter of Sabine's late husband. Her existence keeps the story going, though ultimately she's not as important to the outcome as you might originally think.
I love how things began to keep turning up as Joshua keeps looking for answers. It made the story a real page turner. I definitely will read more of Janet Gleeson's books.
July 22, 2014
I'm not sure what to make of this book. I'd tried reading it twice before and given up each time at the exact same spot - the start of the second chapter, where there's a sudden and rather unhappy change in point of view. I'm not a big fan of changing points of view in a book, especially not so early on when readers are just starting to get to grips with a main character, to sympathise with them and, well, like them. All that hard work in the first chapter building up feeling for a character who's going to take us through the rest of the book is suddenly lost, in a switch to a much more unsympathetic character who isn't. The fact that we never go back to the second character's point of view suggests strongly that this is simply an authorial device - a way to get the discovery of the first body across when it's someone other than the main character making the discovery. It isn't altogether successful.
This time, I forced myself to get past the 'sticking point' and keep reading, and overall I'm glad I did. The plot, a madcap romp involving dead bodies, missing gold necklaces and the growing of pineapples, is intriguing and fast-paced enough to keep the pages turning, and the main character Joshua Pope, a society portrait painter who takes on the case of a missing necklace for his latest clients, is likeable and engaging. The author has clearly done heaps of research on Georgian society in general and Georgian garden design in particular (Lancelot 'Capability' Brown even makes a couple of brief appearances); and weaves those elements mostly successfully into the narrative.
However, you do have to suspend an awful lot of disbelief. Not only that Pope would agree to become an amateur detective in the first place, but also that he would keep on beavering away at the case in the face of hostility, a lack of evidence, and even a direct order from his clients to stop. Given that most artists were wholly dependent on the income from their painting, I can't help thinking that in real life Pope would not have had the leisure to give up his work and go off on some wild goose chase for people he barely knew and liked even less. An additional spur of clearing his name feels bolted on and the circumstances surrounding that are never investigated.
And it's in this level of character motivations that the book really falls down. People do the silliest things, just for the sake of the plot, or for no reason at all. Characters act out of character or do things that are physically beyond them; their wounds and/or illnesses have a habit of disappearing whenever they become too inconvenient; and their personalities are so mercurial that you have a hard time working out who's who because none of them show any consistency in their behaviour. Fair enough, people have mood swings but if an entire household acted so bizarrely for so long I think I'd be tempted to reach for the Evening Primrose Oil. Possibly for this reason, the characters never develop; I got no sense that any of them (with the possible exception of Pope himself) were real people in a real world.
And the pineapples that appear to be so important at the beginning of the book (so much so that entire passages are given up to describing their horticulture) turn out to be yet another device for getting a character into the right place at the right time. Rather a disappointment, that, as I liked the pineapples, dammit. They're unusual enough to be a character in their own right!
Overall, it's an enjoyable enough read, but you're probably best taking it away on holiday - and leaving your disbelief firmly parked in a drawer back home.
This time, I forced myself to get past the 'sticking point' and keep reading, and overall I'm glad I did. The plot, a madcap romp involving dead bodies, missing gold necklaces and the growing of pineapples, is intriguing and fast-paced enough to keep the pages turning, and the main character Joshua Pope, a society portrait painter who takes on the case of a missing necklace for his latest clients, is likeable and engaging. The author has clearly done heaps of research on Georgian society in general and Georgian garden design in particular (Lancelot 'Capability' Brown even makes a couple of brief appearances); and weaves those elements mostly successfully into the narrative.
However, you do have to suspend an awful lot of disbelief. Not only that Pope would agree to become an amateur detective in the first place, but also that he would keep on beavering away at the case in the face of hostility, a lack of evidence, and even a direct order from his clients to stop. Given that most artists were wholly dependent on the income from their painting, I can't help thinking that in real life Pope would not have had the leisure to give up his work and go off on some wild goose chase for people he barely knew and liked even less. An additional spur of clearing his name feels bolted on and the circumstances surrounding that are never investigated.
And it's in this level of character motivations that the book really falls down. People do the silliest things, just for the sake of the plot, or for no reason at all. Characters act out of character or do things that are physically beyond them; their wounds and/or illnesses have a habit of disappearing whenever they become too inconvenient; and their personalities are so mercurial that you have a hard time working out who's who because none of them show any consistency in their behaviour. Fair enough, people have mood swings but if an entire household acted so bizarrely for so long I think I'd be tempted to reach for the Evening Primrose Oil. Possibly for this reason, the characters never develop; I got no sense that any of them (with the possible exception of Pope himself) were real people in a real world.
And the pineapples that appear to be so important at the beginning of the book (so much so that entire passages are given up to describing their horticulture) turn out to be yet another device for getting a character into the right place at the right time. Rather a disappointment, that, as I liked the pineapples, dammit. They're unusual enough to be a character in their own right!
Overall, it's an enjoyable enough read, but you're probably best taking it away on holiday - and leaving your disbelief firmly parked in a drawer back home.
February 12, 2008
This book may not be your cup of tea if you're not into historical period mysteries. This one takes place in the 1760s; it is set partially in London, partially in Richmond at a country home. So if just this much turns you off, don't read it. However, if you enjoy historical mysteries, you'll like this one.
The main character is artist Joshua Pope, who receives a strange visitor one evening. It is a woman who wants to know the history of a particular necklace, and offers to give the necklace to him in return for its story. But after Pope takes a look at what she's offering, he says he will write down the necklace's history and she is to return in a month's time and he refuses to take the necklace.. The book is actually Pope's tale about the necklace.
Well written, this book will hold your interest until you've finished. The characters are done well, and the mystery itself is quite good as well.
Recommended; like I said, if you don't like period mysteries, this isn't the one for you.
April 5, 2010
Set in the Georgian period when growing pineapples was all the rage. Portrait painter Joshua Pope is commissioned to paint a wedding portrait of Herbert Bentnick and Sabine, his betrothed, at their estate, which is famous for its exotic gardens. During the sittings, Sabine wears an unusual emerald necklace fashioned into the shape of a serpent. When a stranger is found dead in the pinery (pineapple conservatory) and the necklace disappears, Joshua, suspected of the theft, is forced to investigate. He stumbles about clumsily and eventually trips over the truth. It’s a bit far-fetched referring to the “poisonous” green of the emeralds and trying to twist such a sinister meaning into the snake imagery.
July 18, 2016
This novel was very well-written, with the classic elements of a whodunit thriller, AND a bit of knowledge about horticulture and painting mixed in. I found the subplot of the emerald serpent necklace very intriguing; I also enjoyed the tie-in with Genesis -- a serpent who brings ill-luck to those who possess it, just as Eve's fall came from the serpent. Not a terribly veiled allusion, but nonetheless interesting. I also admit to thinking halfway through that I had solved the mystery. Of course I was wrong. No surprise there. Gleeson had a wonderful grasp on history and demonstrated just plain ol' good writing.
December 6, 2013
I liked this quite a bit. I am quite taken with Janet Gleeson's books in general and this one was as good as the others. Joshua Pope, a famous painter, gets embroiled in a family mystery amidst the background of the pineapple rage in England in the 18th century. The only reason this didn't get 4 stars is because in places it dragged on quite a bit and I found myself skipping pages to jump ahead. There were a lot of red herrings in this mystery which made it more interesting and me more willing to get through the slower parts to the conclusion.
September 13, 2018
Set in London 1795. The protagonist is Joshua Pope, eminent portrait painter of the time commissioned to paint a marriage portrait of Sabine Mercier and Herbert Bentnick. Sabine has a mysterious past and an exotic emerald necklace fashioned after a serpent. Joshua is pressed into service to solve not only the theft of the necklace but the death of an unknown man in the pinery (hothouse for pineapples).
A good solid historican murder mystery with a few twists. The atmosphere believeable and the characters well drawn.
A good solid historican murder mystery with a few twists. The atmosphere believeable and the characters well drawn.
December 14, 2020
One of Ethel M Dell's most gripping novels.
A page turning novel of love and intrigue set in France not the author's familiar India and England. Two half brothers fall in love with an innocent young English girl who has left her sheltered rural life in England to visit her mother in Paris. The girl is unaware of her Mother's involvement with a gang of ruthless anarchists and also that she is dying of a serious heart condition. The story is fast-paced and definitely worth reading.
A page turning novel of love and intrigue set in France not the author's familiar India and England. Two half brothers fall in love with an innocent young English girl who has left her sheltered rural life in England to visit her mother in Paris. The girl is unaware of her Mother's involvement with a gang of ruthless anarchists and also that she is dying of a serious heart condition. The story is fast-paced and definitely worth reading.
February 11, 2008
I am not a huge fan of this book. It just seemed really slow, of course I was reading it in spurts on my vacation in Hawaii, and maybe the darkness didn't fit my location well. I thought some of the foreshadowing was over done too. Like the caves in the grotto and all the warnings. I kept thinking, "Gee, I wonder if the main character going to end up trapped in there?"
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 17, 2015
Historical mystery drama, with an unexpected main character caught in the middle. What more could you ask for? Visit my blog for a more in-depth review: The Man in the Middle: A Reading of “The Serpent in the Garden”
May 13, 2008
Gleeson's story follows the mysterious deaths that occur on an estate when an artist comes to paint an engagement portrait in the 1700s. The plot was somewhat entertaining, but I found the story implausible in that the painter becomes a self-proclaimed detective, interrogating everyone around him.
September 26, 2012
Intriging period mystery beautifully written. Exquisite prose and language. Kept re-reading passages for their descriptive words and language. Thoroughly enjoyable.
I wish more well written books with such a command of the English language were available. thank you Janet.....
I wish more well written books with such a command of the English language were available. thank you Janet.....
January 22, 2017
Not sure why all the bad reviews, I thought the writing was excellent and was unable to put the book down. There were a few things toward the end that didn't make sense, but I don't think it detracted from the story too much at all. I don't need things to be completely perfect..
January 7, 2008
Not the best book I read this holiday. It didn't really keep me engaged and I battled to finish it.
August 19, 2008
Entertaining light mystery.
July 18, 2008
Lots of characters to keep track of...but a good entertaining murder mystery in the style of Jane Eyre, Emily Bronte...etc.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 38 reviews