Death Has Green Fingers

Kate Theobald #2

by Lionel Black

Red boards with black lettering along the spine. The corners and spine are sharp. There is a bookstore's old price sticker, with the letter "L" circled underneath on the second free page. DJ shows light surface wear. 01

Genres: Mystery

192 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1971

About the author

Pseudonym of Dudley Barker

Reviews

[Bev · Rating 3 out of 5]

Death Has Green Fingers by Lionel Black (Dudley Barker) has a little of everything--murder, mayhem, blackmail, gardening secrets, double lives, adultery, and scandal. It's an academic mystery with gardening overtones....no, wait, it's a gardening mystery with academic undertones. It's got a feisty young reporter who repeatedly ignores the official warnings and gets herself caught up in the intrigue of village life...and nearly gets herself killed in the process.

Kate Theobald, the young reporter in question, travels to the village of Ashworth with her husband Henry, a barrister, to visit one of Henry's college friends. They no sooner arrive than Jonathan Sims and his wife whisk their guests off to a drinks party hosted by local academic and rose breeder, Nick Bell. Nick not only has an eye for a lovely rose, he also has an eye for the ladies--something that has gotten him into a bit of trouble. But not near the trouble that comes for him before the party can even begin. The guests arrive only to find their host sprawled in the greenhouse with a knife sticking out of his throat.

Kate is quick off the mark in the reporting stakes with Henry to help her track down clues. They soon discover that Bell had been working on a prize rose indeed--a fabled blue rose, producing a blue rose that will breed true is the holy grail for all rose breeders and it looks like Bell may have succeeded. But the plants are gone. And the question is was he killed for what could potentially be a huge money-maker or did one of his many affairs finally catch up with him in the most deadly way?

The deeper Kate & Henry dig the more dirt they uncover on the philandering flower fancier. And someone thinks Kate is getting a little too close to pay dirt. Two attempts are made on her life and a third is looming before the pieces get put together.

Lots of twists and turns and plenty of red herrings in a plot with likeable characters. Black does a great job of getting the reader right into the action and moves things along with good dialogue and clue-hunting by our main characters. A nice example of 1970s mysteries. Three and a half stars.

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[Robert Sadler · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyable written murder mystery. Pure relaxing entertainment, as the ending is rather flat. Recommended travel book.

[Jane · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was written by Dudley Barker under a pen name, Lionel Black. This is a British mystery written in 1971, and the plot is thick indeed--many characters, and plenty of twists and turns.The publisher called it "a mystery of blackmail and blue roses." Murder, mayhem, horticulture, journalism, and adultery are involved. A fun read.

[Eunira]

Kate Theobald, a reporter in London, and her husband are the main characters in this book. This is an enjoyable cosy, but the ending was a bit forced.
This is one of my 70's book - a reread to let it go...(1971)