Cipher Garden (Lake District Mystery) [Paperback]

Martin Edwards (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 21, 2006 | Series: Lake District Mystery

'I thought you were dead - ' In the peaceful village of Old Sawrey, in the idyllic Lake District, Warren Howe is brutally slaughtered with his own scythe by a mysterious hooded figure. The police have several suspects, but there is insufficient evidence to make an arrest. Years later an anonymous tip-off sparks the interest of DCI Hannah Scarlett, who heads the local Cold Case Review Team. With the help of historian Daniel Kind, Hannah digs deeper in the quest for truth and discovers that, in Old Sawrey, old sins cast long shadows. Following the killer's trail, Hannah arrives at a shocking conclusion, one that will change lives forever.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

When the body of Warren Howe, master landscaper and equally masterful ladies' man, is found hacked apart with a scythe in a garden in Old Sawrey, England, suspicion falls on his wife, Tina, in Edwards's engaging second Lake District mystery (after 2004's The Coffin Trail). But Tina has an alibi, and the case remains open. Years later, the police receive an anonymous note about Howe's murder, and DCI Hannah Scarlett determines to solve the crime. Is a spurned ex-lover responsible for the brutal killing—or Howe's business partner, eager to have both the landscaping firm and Howe's wife to himself? Or maybe Tina's alibi isn't so unshakeable after all. In her search for answers, Hannah uncovers suicide, incest and illicit affairs. Indeed, Hannah finds her own eye wandering toward Daniel Kind, a noted historian who enjoys sleuthing in his spare time—and Daniel, though ostensibly happily partnered with a charming reporter, returns the affection. Nearly every page yields new revelations in this delectable village caper.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Booklist

The latest Lake District mystery finds Daniel Kind, Oxford University historian and amateur sleuth, trying to determine why his garden seems almost deliberately designed as a labyrinth. Meanwhile, Detective Chief Inspector Hannah Scarlett, head of the cold case squad, gets a tip that fingers a suspect in an old murder: the dead man's wife. Slowly, even gracefully, the author weaves the two stories in and around each other until they become one. Mixing cozy and hard-boiled ambience, the series' setting, a quaint English village with big-city problems, takes center stage here, keeping readers off guard by mixing the familiar with the unfamiliar. Perhaps this innovative use of landscape as character eventually will seem quite ordinary, but enjoy it while you can. It's not often the genre offers something genuinely fresh. David Pitt
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Allison & Busby; New edition edition (August 21, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 074908135X
• ISBN-13: 978-0749081355
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.4 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.1 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,445,637 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Martin Edwards is an award-winning crime writer whose fourth and most recent Lake District Mystery, featuring DCI Hannah Scarlett and Daniel Kind, is The Serpent Pool, published in February 2010. Earlier books in the series are The Coffin Trail (short-listed for the Theakston's prize for best British crime novel of 2006), The Cipher Garden and The Arsenic Labyrinth (short-listed for the Lakeland Book of the Year award in 2008.) He has written eight novels about lawyer Harry Devlin, the first of which, All the Lonely People, was short-listed for the CWA John Creasey Memorial Dagger for the best first crime novel of the year. In addition he has written a stand-alone novel of psychological suspense, Take My Breath Away, and a much acclaimed novel featuring Dr Crippen, Dancing for the Hangman. The latest Devlin novel, Waterloo Sunset, appeared in 2008. He completed Bill Knox's last book, The Lazarus Widow. He has published a collection of short stories, Where Do You Find Your Ideas? and other stories; 'Test Drive' was short-listed for the CWA Short Story Dagger in 2006, while 'The Bookbinder's Apprentice' won the same Dagger in 2008. A well-known commentator on crime fiction, he has edited 16 anthologies and published eight non-fiction books, including a study of homicide investigation, Urge to Kill .In 2008 he was elected to membership of the prestigious Detection Club. In his spare time he is a partner in a law firm and blogs daily at 'Do You Write Under Your Own Name?'

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A modern day mystery with classic detective novel trimmings., January 7, 2009

By 

Enrique F. Bird (San Juan, Puerto Rico) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Cipher Garden: A Lake District Mystery (Paperback)

Martin Edwards is a modern day mystery writer who is not averse to using classing detective story elements in his work. He has a good plot, a professional and amateur detective investigating, a very clever red-herring right at the beginning, and a few other surprises of the Golden Age genre along the way.
A master gardener was murdered several years previously without the murderer ever caught. Then an anonymous letter to the police accuses the victim's wife of the murder. And other anonymous letters also appear. The way it all coalesces and develops is the story told by a modern master who never forgets he is a contemporay writer nor the legacy of classic detective fiction.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Tha characters grow on me, June 3, 2010

By 

Dick from Dellwood "dfromd" (Minnesota, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Cipher Garden: A Lake District Mystery (Paperback)

After "The Coffin Trail", the first of Edwards Lake District mysteries, I found myself interested in the further adventures of the principals and curious to know where the author was going with them. I was not disappointed with this one and in fact thought it better done than the first in so far as the depth of character development. I would not call this a police procedural like the excellent Deborah Crombie series since the primary character is not a police person, but a historian with a lot of curiosity plus an attraction to the local detective inspector. Bottom line for me is they are entertaining and should definitely be read in order

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars great police procedural, November 2, 2005

By 

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

This review is from: The Cipher Garden (Hardcover)

Though Detective Chief Inspector Hannah Scarlett knows her current assignment is an exile for screwing up the Rao trial and she would rather not be head of the Cold Case Review team, she is proud of the good stats supporting their efforts. A tip-off comes in that claims Tina Howe killed her spouse a "plantsman" Warren using his scythe as a grim reaper in the garden of customer Roz Gleave. Hannah notices the reaction of her Detective Sergeant Nick Lowther of relief. Though they have little new to go on, Hannah decides to reopen the investigation, which she notices upsets Nick, who was part of the original investigation.

At the same time, the police begin making new inquiries, historian Daniel Kind decides to look into the strange garden by his cottage. He hires landscaper Peter Flint, Warren's partner, to obtain insight. As the police homicidal case and the historian's curiosity connect, Hannah and Daniel seek the truth even as a fresh murder occurs to keep everything concealed.

The Howe cold case investigation is one of the best police procedurals of this always exciting series as a still in exile DCI Scarlett wonders why DS Lowther fails to use his poker face to hide his feelings with every newly discovered clue. While probing for clues, Hannah wonders who Nick is protecting and whether he and others suppressed evidence when they first investigated the case. Fans will appreciate this particular who-done-it because of the moral dilemma that the heroine expects to eventually face at the end of the inquiries.

Harriet Klausner