The Lost Gardens: An English Garden Mystery [Hardcover]

Anthony Eglin (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 18, 2006

Hidden within the derelict gardens of abandoned Wickersham Priory, a deadly secret is waiting. But when an unsuspecting young Californian named Jamie Gibson finds herself the new owner of the estate, through a surprise bequest from a total stranger---the secret begins to stir.
            Jamie, fired with enthusiasm to restore the gardens to their 1930s glory, seeks the help of Lawrence Kingston, a retired professor of botany, eccentric bon viveur, and amateur sleuth. Lawrence soon unearths an old chapel, which leads to an ancient Healing Well, which in turn yields a human skeleton. And as the police pursue their inquiries, Kingston begins his own investigation---following a baffling trail of clues that wind down through the centuries, from the battlegrounds of World War II to the depths of the Middle Ages.
            It is a trail marked by misadventure, revenge, compassion, and murder when finally Kingston unlocks the secret of Wickersham Priory, he and Jamie must confront a reckoning that neither of them could have ever imagined.
            As with the highly acclaimed The Blue Rose, Eglin brings his botanical and literary skill to this new mystery. 

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Lawrence Kingston once again mixes horticulture with crime solving in Eglin's agreeable second cozy to feature the retired botany professor (after 2004's The Blue Rose). Jamie Gibson, an American woman who has inherited Wickersham Priory in Somerset, hires Kingston to restore the estate's neglected gardens. In the underbrush, Kingston discovers a ruined chapel complete with a healing well, which turns out to contain human remains. Kingston investigates, exploring such matters as why the mysterious previous owner left Wickersham Priory to Jamie and the absence of any family history or memorabilia at the estate. A series of dire events—two deaths, a car accident, a rifled flat—keeps the plot moving, but it's the plethora of gardening detail that makes this a memorable read. (Apr.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Eglin (The Blue Rose, 2004) presents another case featuring retired botany professor Lawrence Kingston. When a young American woman inherits Wickersham Priory, an estate in Somerset, England, she decides to restore it to its former glory and hires Kingston to clear and replant the extensive gardens. In the process, he finds a human skeleton in an old well. Naturally, he is compelled to investigate, which takes him deep into the strange history of Wickersham Priory. The primary appeal of the Kingston series is its detailed treatment of a subject dear to the hearts of many cozy fans: English gardens. Barbara Bibel
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: Minotaur Books (April 18, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312328729
• ISBN-13: 978-0312328726
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.6 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,222,962 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Mystery takes a back seat to gardening lore, June 8, 2006

By 

W. Oliver (Alabama) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Lost Gardens: An English Garden Mystery (Hardcover)

This is Eglin's second "English Garden" mystery (the first being "The Blue Rose") and it is just as enjoyable. His books are reminescent of "tea cozies" but they are a slight elevation about that. The mystery is not particularly interesting, or suspensful for that matter, but Eglin makes up for that with his fascinating asides to gardening lore. Eglin comments that this book was inspired by "The Lost Gardens of Heligan," a true-life account of the discovery and uncovering of an estate garden in England. As retired botanist/amateur sleuth Lawrence Kingston and his client, Jamie Gibson, begin to rescue the overgrown garden at Wickersham Priory, the reader is treated to highly interesting details regarding gardening history, wine-making, Lawrence Johnson and his famous garden at Hidcote, and garden design. The book moves at a brisk pace and doesn't overstay its welcome. A fun read!

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Garden of good and evil and gardening and history and..., July 10, 2006

By 

Douglas E. Welch "New Media Consultant" (Van Nuys, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Lost Gardens: An English Garden Mystery (Hardcover)

The Lost Gardens, the second in a (hopefully) on-going series by Anthony Eglin picks up the story of Professor Lawrence Kingston following the murder and intrigue surrounding the discovery and theft of a unique blue rose, the Holy Grail of gardeners. This story is recounted in "The Blue Rose" and my review can be found in this previous post.

In this new story, Kingston is hired to restore a huge manor garden to its former glory after the property is inherited, unexpectedly and unexplainably, by a young, American woman. When a dis-used chapel is found on the property, complete with a skeleton in its well, Kingston is again involved in detective work, archeological mysteries and murder.

While not quite as action-packed as the first book, The lost Gardens is a grand combination of gardening lore, history, mystery and action-adventure. Kingston become even more likable than before, less curmudgeonly and might even be falling in love again.

Eglin gives a charming feel to the English countryside, despite the untoward events that occur and leads the reader down a wandering garden path to an exciting and satisfying conclusion.

I look forward to more books in this series that combine my interests in gardening and my love of a great mystery.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Loved the garden, May 19, 2007

By 

D. Cusick "scalloway" (Fleming Island, FL) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Lost Gardens: An English Garden Mystery (Mass Market Paperback)

I bought this book as it turned up as an amazon "recommended" book. Hey, I love gardens. I love English mysteries. What's not to like? The garden and the horticultural details were fascinating. I enjoyed the slow unfolding of the history of Major Ryder.

But it was not exactly an Agatha Christie. No real surprises about "whodunnit". No multiple likely suspects to keep you guessing. No plot twist at the end. The character who makes a suspicious entrance early in the book is really the only suspect. It's just a question of what happens until he's unmasked.

I also never quite understood why the heroine was so downright reluctant to try to determine why this vast English estate had been left to her by a total stranger. I can't believe she just moved over to England and took it on without, apparently, the least bit of curiousity about why it had been left to her. She even actively tried to discourage Kingston from investigating when be began looking on her behalf. That just never rang true, and I kept waiting for some surprise ulterior motive to arise, but it never did.

However I did like it well enough that I've gone and ordered the author's Blue Ross as well.