The Christmas Garden Affair : A Gardening Mystery [Library Binding]

Ann Ripley (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

You don't have to know an echinops from an epimedium to enjoy Ripley's (Harvest of Murder; Death of a Garden Pest, etc.) cast of characters, plucked from every niche of the horticultural world. Louise Eldridge, her ratings for her PBS show "Gardening with Nature" sinking due to sexy newcomer Bunny Bainfield's rival program, "Bunny in the Garden," is dismayed to find her competitor also attending the first lady-elect's Christmas conference emphasizing native plants, held at a restored colonial inn in Alexandria, Va. Gathered in the inn's crowded ballroom are many guests who have reason to hate Bunny or fear her methods and her success: the world's top floral designer, Bunny's glowering sidekick of suspected Stasi origins, a successful garden writer and publisher, a radical environmentalist, a bureaucrat, dignified academics and nursery owners. Bunny's drive to monopolize the nursery business and horn in on the design and publishing fields, her tinkering with America's native stock to make everything bigger and brighter, to say nothing of her nasty manners and brassy sexuality, all portend her demise, courtesy of a glass of poisoned wine. Louise, a sometime sleuth, investigates on her own, with and without the approval of the local police. A second murder adds zest to the puzzle, while the caricatures of national celebrities will raise more than a few smiles. As the cat in the Santa's cap and Christmas tree with death's head snowflakes on the jacket suggests, mystery fans can expect plenty of murderous holiday fun.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

The country's First Lady invites PBS gardening icon and series sleuth (Harvest of Murder) Louise Eldridge and her garden TV rival, sexy Bunny Bainfield, to an exclusive conference on native plants. Bunny falls victim to murder, though, and Louise begins investigating a handy abundance of suspects. For collections where gardening mysteries are in demand.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Library Binding: 293 pages
• Publisher: Kensington Books (October 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1575667770
• ISBN-13: 978-1575667775
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.6 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,347,545 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Charming Who-Done-It, October 3, 2003

By 

Erika Sorocco (Southern California, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Christmas Garden Affair: A Gardening Mystery (Paperback)

Louise Eldridge is aggravated when sexy home & garden queen, Bunny Bainfield, sweeps up all of the great ratings for her show "Bunny in the Garden," thanks to her style of wearing low-cut tops, and short shorts, while filming her show; while Louise works hard to keep her home and garden show on the air. Louise can't stand to see someone like Bunny raking in the money for exploitation of a great hobby, but when Louise realizes that she and Bunny have both received invitations to the First Lady's Christmas Conference on native plants, she realizes that someone must hate Bunny even more than she does, for Bunny is poisoned, and ends up dead. Louise soon begins uncovering secrets about the many suspects, and Bunny herself, and knows that it's up to her to solve the mystery, before the killer strikes again.

This is my first Ann Ripley mystery, and I must admit, I am not disappointed. Louise is a fun character, who keeps you interested in reading on, to see what will happen next. Adding the enjoyable world of home and gardening to the mystery is just an added plus. A charming who-done-it in which all mystery lovers will enjoy.

Erika Sorocco

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars entertaining amateur sleuth tale filled with gardening tips, September 30, 2002

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Christmas Garden Affair : A Gardening Mystery (Library Binding)

There have been no recent homicide investigation in Louise Eldridge's life, but the TV personality has seen her ratings on her PBS gardening show plummet since the vivacious and sexy Bunny Bainfield hosts the same kind of show in the same time slot though on a different channel. Both Louise and Bunny are invited to the new First Lady's Christmas Garden Gala, along with other knowledgeable garden experts who Louise wants to line up to appear on her show.

From the time she arrives at the event, Louise hears one person after another bad mouth Bunny. She has alienated everyone in the plant and flower world so it really doesn't come as much of a shock that somebody hates Bunny enough to poison her at the eve of the conference. In her own subtle way, Louise starts an investigation, independent of the police, to discover who killed Bunny. Louise always seems to forget that she puts her life in danger when she plays detective and this time it is no different.

THE CHRISTMAS GARDEN AFFAIR is an invigorating cozy that is character driven. The heroine uses her intellect to weed out some suspects and add others but all the time she is trying to put the pieces of the puzzle together. It's hard for Louise to quickly finger a suspect because there are so many suspects with viable motives, which means the audience, once the reader overcomes the shock of Louise budding in, has an entertaining amateur sleuth tale filled with gardening tips.

Harriet Klausner

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fun read, January 3, 2004

By 

E A. Larson "cokewoman" (Des Moines, IA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Christmas Garden Affair: A Gardening Mystery (Paperback)

Great literature--no. But this was an immensely fun romp and skewer of the gardening world and thinly veiled references to garden figures we know and either love or hate. As a professional gardener, I laughed out loud more than once at her references to the both insular and welcoming world of horticulture. First I'd heard of Ann Ripley and I'll definitely dip into her other titles!:) Enjoy!