Book Review: Trail of the Wild Rose by Anthony Eglin

The Trail of the Wild Rose: An English Garden Mystery by Anthony Eglin
Published April 14, 2009; Minotaur
Genre: mystery

There is a lot to like about this mystery by Anthony Eglin. In The Trail of the Wild Rose, plant lovers will like Eglin's discourses on the history of the modern rose; travelers will like the descriptions of gardens around England, and mystery lovers will like the elaborate plot.

The plot has plant hunters mysteriously dying off, the first during an expedition in the mountains of Yunnan, China, and the second in a hit and run four years later. Will similar "accidents" happen to the third, fourth, and fifth persons who were on the plant expedition with the first victim? What is behind the deaths, and does it have any relation to their plant gathering in China?

The plot has lots of red herrings, false leads, and more than a few culprits who go out of their way to obscure the truth. Readers will find the main character, retired botanist and teacher Lawrence Kingston, very British and quite charming as he goes about sifting out facts, smelling the roses, and helping the police come up with solutions. I enjoyed the novel for the detailed history on roses and their propagation,and for the descriptions of historic places Kingston visits - Oxford, Dorset, Cornwall, London, and Wales.

I thought the plot in this book better than the previous one in the series, The Water Lily Cross, which had a plot that was unbelievably close to sci fi - a waterlily hybrid that desalinates sea water, turning it into fresh water over time! Wouldn't that be a prize piece of genetic engineering if it were true!

Garden mysteries, a list

Now that the snow has just about melted and spring is finally here, women (and men) can happily turn their thoughts to .... the garden, of course.

Armchair gardners who would rather read about gardens than toil in one, however, can put themselves into imaginary gardens by reading the following cozies that blend horticulture and landscaping with a bit of mystery.

There is The Lost Gardens (English gardening mystery) by Anthony Eglin, Death in the Orchid Garden by Ann Ripley, and Deadly Nightshade by Mary Freeman.

My favorite garden mystery writer is Ann Ripley, who sprinkles her early books with tips on plants and landscaping in the same way that author Diane Mott Davidson sprinkles her food catering mysteries with recipes. Their protaganists work hard at what they do - digging, planting, mulching or cooking, baking, and carting trays and platters of food around.

Ripley has her main character working hardest in Mulch, when she goes out to collect bags and bags of raked up leaves that all her neighbors have set out on the curb at night for garbage pick. She wants to add the leaves to the mulch in her wooded back yard, you see. This gets her into some big trouble, but in a way you couldn't forsee.

All the garden work you read about in Ripley's books will either make you tired or motivate you to start digging in your own backyard to plant bamboo or start a water garden.

Other gardening mysteries I have just discovered are Michelle Wan's Deadly Slipper and The Orchid Shroud, and Heather Webber's Digging Up Trouble, not to mention J.S. Borthwick's The Garden Plot, plus A Deadly Bouquet by Janis Harrison.

I hope to enjoy some pleasant spring gardening... I mean, spring reading.

Let me add Anthony Eglin's most recent gardening mystery: see a review of The Trail of the Wild Rose: An English Gardening Mystery