Dig Up a Good Mystery

Categories: Home & Gardening , Mystery & Suspense , Staff Picks

I don't profess to be the world's best gardener, but I do love flowers, so I was very excited the other day when I noticed my spring bulbs peeking through the dirt.  Soon my yard will be awash in brightly-colored crocus, hyacinths, daffodils and tulips.  If spring can't come fast enough for you, you might want to indulge yourself with a few of these garden-themed mysteries.

• Bleeding Hearts by Susan Wittig Albert--In Pecan Springs, Texas, herbalist and tea shop owner China Bayles investigates the murder of Tim Duffy, the high school football coach.
• Death in the Orchid Garden by Ann Ripley--On location in Hawaii to film an episode of her popular gardening show, Louise Eldridge probes the beating death of a well-known botanist.
• Bindweed by Janis Harrison--When her mentally handicapped assistant, Toby, is killed by a deliberately-planted nest of killer bees, River City, Missouri florist Bretta Solomon vows to find Toby's murderer.

• The Lost Gardens by Anthony Eglin--In Somerset, England, retired botany professor Lawrence Kingston is hired to restore an abandoned estate's gardens, where he uncovers human remains that appear to have met a violent end.
• The Orchid Shroud by Michelle Wan--A similar scenario ensues in the Dordogne, France.  The search for a rare Lady's Slipper orchid leads to the discovery of a murdered infant's corpse and dire complications for landscape designer and orchidologist Julian Wood.