If you like herbal gardening, then you should check out Susan Wittig Albert's China Bayles series. China, a former fast-track lawyer, is the proprietor of an herb shop in Pecan Springs, Texas. Each mystery (the series in up to nine books) is centered around an herb. The first book in the series, Thyme of Death was nominated for both Agatha and Anthony awards in 1993. The latest book in the series, Mistletoe Man, is a case of confused property lines that lead a couple of likable people into a confrontation that ends in murder. Since the dead man was China's main supplier of mistletoe and Christmas is just around the corner, it behooves China to solve the murder as quickly as possible with the help of her.
Charlotte MacLeod wrote two sets of botanical series. The Peter Shandy series is written under her own name. Peter Shandy is an agricultural professor at Balaclava College in Massachusetts. He is also the co-developer of the Balaclava Buster, the world-renowned hybrid rutabaga. The series is written with subtle (and sometimes, not so subtle) humor. The characters are well-developed and very likeable. The first book of the series, Rest You Merry, takes place during the long-held Christmas Eve tradition of the Grand Illumination on the campus of Balaclava Agricultural College. Professor Peter Shandy finds a faculty wife sprawled dead on his living room floor and the authorities are quick to label the incident an unfortunate accident. Professor Shandy isn't so sure. A not-so-accidental poisoning, followed by a case of arson, confirm his doubts and inspire this mild-mannered amateur sleuth to research the matter of a murder most foul-committed in the season of good will. There are ten books in this series.
Ms. MacLeod also wrote the Grub-and-Stakers series under the name of Alisa Craig, featuring Dittany Henbit Monk and Osbert Monk. For more information regarding Charlotte MacLeod and her books, click here.
Single Titles
Agatha Christie's Miss Marple book, Nemesis, features Miss Marple on a house and garden tour in order to not only solve a mystery but to figure out what the actual mystery is. The tour is part of wealthy financier Jason Rafiel's startling bequest in which he names only one condition: that justice be done. But what was the crime and where were the clues?
J.S. Borthwick's The Garden Plot features nice-but-nosy English teacher Sarah Deane and her equestrian aunt, Julia Clancy. They have been offered free tickets, room, and board if they accompany the local garden group on a tour of Europe's most famous gardens. Unfortunately, the garden expert never shows up for the tour's flight and Sarah assumes the worst. Soon Sarah and Julia find themselves digging for clues in a deadly trans-Atlantic mystery.
