Book Tour & #Giveaway for The Skeleton Garden by Marty Wingate

Welcome to my stop on the Virtual Book Tour, presented by Great Escapes Virtual Book Tours, for The Skeleton Garden by Marty Wingate.  Please leave a comment or question for Marty to let her know you stopped by.  You may follow all of the stops on Marty’s tour by clicking on the banner above.  To win a digital copy of this book at my stop, please leave a meaningful comment below.  

The Skeleton Garden

By Marty Wingate

A Potting Shed Mystery, Book 4

Publisher:  Alibi (An Imprint of Random House)

Release Date: March 15, 2016

Genre: Cozy Mystery

Format: eBook

Length: 254 Pages

ISBN: 9781101968055

ASIN: B00ZNE45FO

Buy Links:  Kindle | Nook | Kobo   

USA Today bestselling author Marty Wingate’s Potting Shed series continues as expert gardener Pru Parke digs up a Nazi warplane—and a fresh murder.

Texas transplant Pru Parke has put down roots in England, but she never dreamed she’d live in a grand place such as Greenoak. When her former employers offer Pru and her new husband, former Detective Chief Inspector Christopher Pearse, the use of their nineteenth-century estate while they’re away for a year, she jumps at the chance. Sweetening the deal is the prospect of further bonding with her long-lost brother, Simon, who happens to be Greenoak’s head gardener. But the majestic manor has at least one skeleton in its closet—or, rather, its garden.

Working on renovations to the extensive grounds, siblings Pru and Simon squabble about everything from boxwood to bay hedges. But when the removal of a half-dead tree turns up the wreckage of a World War II–era German fighter plane and a pile of bones, the arguments stop. That is, until a rival from Simon’s past pays a surprise visit and creates even more upheaval. It’s suddenly clear someone is unhappy their secrets have been unearthed. Still, Pru’s not about to sit back and let Simon take the fall for the dirty deed without a fight.

Praise for Marty Wingate

“Marty Wingate plants clever clues with a dash of romantic spice to satisfy any hungry mystery reader.”—Mary Daheim, bestselling author of The Alpine Yeoman

“Classy, clever, and utterly charming . . . Brew a pot of tea and settle in with this immensely enjoyable mystery.”—Rosemary Harris, author ofPushing Up Daisies and The Bitches of Brooklyn, on The Garden Plot

“Put the kettle on and settle into a well-crafted village mystery with a delightful new sleuth.”—Connie Archer, bestselling author of Ladle to the Grave, on The Rhyme of the Magpie

About the Author

Marty Wingate is a Seattle-based writer and speaker who shares her love of Britain in her two mystery series. The Potting Shed books feature Pru Parke, a middle-aged American gardener transplanted from Texas to England, and Birds of a Feather follows Julia Lanchester, bird lover, who runs a tourist office in a Suffolk village. Marty writes garden articles for magazines including Country Gardens and the American Gardener. She is a member of the Royal Horticultural Society, Mystery Writers of America, Sisters in Crime, and the Crime Writers Association. She leads garden tours to England, Scotland and Ireland, spending free moments deep in research for her books. Or in pubs.

Author Links

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/martywingateauthor

Twitter: https://twitter.com/martywingate

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/453259.Marty_Wingate

Website: www.martywingate.com

Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/marthawingate/

Amazon author page: http://www.amazon.com/Marty-Wingate/e/B001JS1AIS

A fan of cozy mysteries and a very amateur gardener, I couldn’t wait to read The Skeleton Garden by Marty Wingate and I was not disappointed.  Colorful characters, a good pace and an engaging mystery kept me turning the pages to find out what would happen next.  While the fourth book in her Potting Shed Mystery series, this is a book which can be read and enjoyed on its own.

Ms. Wingate does a good job introducing the characters and the basis of part of the mystery right from the start.  I easily connected with Pru, her husband Chris, her recently discovered brother Simon and his wife Polly.  Living together at a large estate as they get to know each other, and Pru and Simon redo the gardens, these four characters are colorful and very likeable.  I especially liked how easily Pru and Simon got into the “sibling arguments” and learned to work around each other, even though they had been separated for most of their lives. 

The secondary characters are also well developed and I pretty much liked everybody in town.  I especially enjoyed reading about what took happened on a daily basis, how Pru and Chris assumed that moving to the country meant they would live a much more quiet life, and how easily they incorporated themselves into the area.  I especially enjoyed getting to meet and know Orlando, Chris’ nephew, who is sent to live with them for a while because of some legal troubles.  While he’s not really interested in gardening, when a body is discovered and a mystery needs to be solved, he quickly gets involved.  I also enjoyed getting to know “Sonja”, a very headstrong duck, who Simon sees as somewhat of a nuisance and a troublemaker.

The mystery is well paced, takes several twists and turns and is actually left over from World War II.  As Pru would rather never see another dead body, she’s solved several mysteries before and is becoming quit a pro; something Chris, a police investigator, is not really thrilled about.  He’s also got a bit of a dilemma because he doesn’t want to take over the investigation and show up his boss, who happens to be younger, but his experience makes him ideal to run the investigation. 

Will Pru and Chris discover the identity of the dead body found in the garden?  And will Pru be able to keep Simon out of trouble when it looks like he might have something to do with a second body that shows up?  You’ll have to read The Skeleton Garden to find out.  I really enjoyed this installment and can’t wait to see what Ms. Wingate comes up for Pru and Chris to solve next.

My Rating:  4.5 out of 5 Crowns

FTC Disclosure:  I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley for a fair and honest review.