Title:  The Gardener’s Plot  
Author:   Deborah J. Benoit 
Genre:  Mystery       
Rating:  3.8 out of 5

After life threw Maggie Walker a few curveballs, she’s happy to be back in the small, Berkshires town where she spent so much time as a child. Marlowe holds many memories for her, and now it also offers a fresh start. Maggie has always loved gardening, so it’s only natural to sign on to help Violet Bloom set up a community garden.

When opening day arrives, Violet is nowhere to be found, and the gardeners are restless. Things go from bad to worse when Maggie finds a boot buried in one of the plots… and there’s a body attached to it. Suddenly, the police are looking for a killer and they keep asking questions about Violet. Maggie doesn’t believe her friend could do this, and she’s going to dig up the dirt needed to prove it.

This wasn’t a bad read, although Maggie veered over the line to nosiness as opposed to investigating at times. To me, it wasn’t believable that apparently so many people in this town had land lines instead of cell phones, and that no one ever carried their cell phones with them. Not realistic. The small town feel was well-done, and I enjoyed the gardening aspect, but I probably wouldn’t read any more books, if this were a series.

Deborah J. Benoit is from Massachusetts. The Gardener’s Plot is her debut novel.

(Galley courtesy of St. Martin’s Press in exchange for an honest review.)

Website:    https://penpaperplant.com/author/djbwriter/  Amazon:    https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0CQHLJP9T/ref=x_gr_bb_kindle?caller=Goodreads&tag=x_gr_bb_kindle-20 Title:  The Gardener’s Plot  Author:   Deborah
J. Benoit       Genre:  Mystery       Rating:  3.8 out of 5 After life threw Maggie
Walker a few curveballs, she’s happy to be back in the small, Berkshires town
where she spent so much time as a child. Marlowe holds many memories for her,
and now it also offers a fresh start. Maggie has always loved gardening, so
it’s only natural to sign on to help Violet Bloom set up a community garden. When opening day
arrives, Violet is nowhere to be found, and the gardeners are restless. Things
go from bad to worse when Maggie finds a boot buried in one of the plots… and
there’s a body attached to it. Suddenly, the police are looking for a killer
and they keep asking questions about Violet. Maggie doesn’t believe her friend
could do this, and she’s going to dig up the dirt needed to prove it. This wasn’t a bad read,
although Maggie veered over the line to nosiness as opposed to investigating at
times. To me, it wasn’t believable that apparently so many people in this town
had land lines instead of cell phones, and that no one ever carried their cell
phones with them. Not realistic. The small town feel was well-done, and I enjoyed
the gardening aspect, but I probably wouldn’t read any more books, if this were
a series. Deborah J. Benoit is
from Massachusetts. The Gardener’s Plot is her debut novel. (Galley courtesy of St.
Martin’s Press in exchange for an honest review.) Book Review:  The Gardener’s Plot, by Deborah J. Benoit  

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