Poppy never imagined she’d move to the English countryside and fall in love with a smug, demanding, ginger-haired male. Of course, that was before she discovered that she’d inherited a cottage garden nursery and before she met a certain talkative orange cat. Now she’s embracing a new life filled with rambling roses, fragrant herbs, warm summer days… and weeds (lots of weeds), as she attempts to … to restore the neglected cottage garden to its former glory.
When she lands her first gardening job at a beautiful country house, Poppy is delighted to earn some much-needed money. But she barely sets foot in the flower bed before the meddling neighbour drops dead in front of her—murdered by a lethal poison. Before she knows it, Poppy is busy weeding out suspects, helped by mad scientist Bertie and his feisty terrier, Einstein, plus a whole host of nosy villagers… not to mention maverick crime author Nick Forrest.
But with her clients’ flowerbed mysteriously dying and red herrings at every turn, Poppy soon discovers that neither gardening nor sleuthing are as simple as she thinks…
This book follows British English spelling and usage.
Clean read: no graphic violence, sex, or strong language.
Genre: cat cozy mystery series / gardening cozy mystery / women amateur sleuth / British detective mystery
THE ENGLISH COTTAGE GARDEN MYSTERIES
Deadhead and Buried (Book 1)
Silent Bud Deadly (Book 2)
~ more coming soon!
more
Fun read!
I loved it! I love all the characters! I can’t wait for the next book! This is a must read series!
Silent Bud Deadly (English Cottage Garden Mysteries #2), my nineteenth read/listen from author H.Y. Hanna & & the second book in her new English Cottage Garden Series. An enjoyable cozy mystery. I love the narrator’s British accent; I was impressed and enjoyed the vocal variety & inflections of narrator Pearl Hewitt, especially her oh so cute animal sounds & really enjoyed the read. Cozy mystery/romance, captivating primary character, what other blurbs can I use to describe these books? Oh well, buy the book, read the books, get into a good author and some good characters as I have. I was given an Audible copy of this book & am voluntarily reviewing it. This series is so good my family has taken to listening to it over watching television, next up is Doom & Bloom (English Cottage Garden Mysteries #2). (RIP Marley January 20, 2014 – July 24, 2018).
“Silent Bud Deadly” earns 5+/5 David Austin Roses…Engaging, Clever!
H.Y. Hanna continues to hold the top spot as my favorite cozy author ever, and this series has “bloomed” into the Top Five of 2019. It ticks off all of my boxes for an extraordinary read. Clever mystery? Check! British setting? Check! Realistic characters? Check! Fascinating theme? Check! A few giggles? Check! Hint of romance? Check! Although she uses the third-person narrative putting readers as observers, her writing style is so entertaining and engaging that it’s hard to put down. This second book puts us in the delightful English countryside where Poppy Lancaster is trying to bring her own garden nursery back to its former glory and also trying to produce a proper country garden for her first clients. Ok, she’s not a landscaper and most plants in her care are challenged to survive. However, a dead plant is the least of her worries when Karma joins in putting a terribly annoying neighbor six-feet under. With her new friends, some quirky, all enjoyable, she weeds through various suspects who have their own secrets, jealousies, and misfortunes they’d prefer not see the sunshine. But, one can’t hide under a bush, and with a bit of peril, it all works out bloody brilliantly! I highly recommend this book and the series.
I really enjoyed how cats, dogs and flowers play such a great part in discovering who killed the nosy neighbor! Loved it!
I was gifted a copy, no review was required. My review is voluntary.
I want to love The English Cottage Garden Mystery series since I am a fan of H.Y. Hanna’s Oxford Tearoom and Bewitched by Chocolate Mystery series, but I am having a hard time warming up to the main protagonist Poppy. I know that she means well and has great aspirations to continue her grandmother’s nursery business, but her cluelessness is annoying and hard to move beyond to enjoy the rest of the story. With all of the resources available to her, one would think she would research gardening, but instead she assumes she can do it on her own. It is especially bothersome since she seems to be relatively intelligent with regards to investigating her client’s neighbor’s death.
The investigation of nosy neighbor Valerie’s death is interesting enough with plenty of suspects and motives. I vacillated throughout the book about whom I thought whodunit but did realize their identity long before Poppy did. The story does come to an exciting, dangerous climax which made the tale worthwhile. There is a bombshell dropped by Poppy’s neighbor Nick at the end of the book that I did not see coming, and I look forward to learning more about it in future installments.
Other than Poppy, the recurring characters are endearing. Oren the cat and Nick are especially compelling, and I look forward to seeing more of Nell. None of the characters central to Valerie’s death are particularly appealing, but I think that is intentional.
I hope that Poppy gets her act together in the next installment. Recommended to cozy readers who enjoy gardening and a rural English setting.
I received an ARC of this title from the author and voluntarily shared my thoughts here.
So glad Poppy is back and still in her grandmother’s cottage, trying to make money to keep it. She is busy weeding the garden and making acquaintances as she adjusts to the move.
Nick, the writer next door and his cat Oren, are still around as is the other neighbor, Dr. Bertie with his dog Einstein. Suzanne, detective and ex girlfriend of Nick, likes Poppy.
It’s as if the first book never ended…yeah! And Nick is still a hunk but is not hitting on Poppy, which makes the books more realistic as they slowly get involved in each other’s lives.
John, a doctor, and his pregnant wife, Amber are visiting Nick and see Poppy’s garden. Poppy is desperate and takes the job of fixing a cottage garden for them. Christine, a decorator, of Amber’s home seems very involved with the couple. And then there is Valerie, the nosiest neighbor, next to Amber and John’s new home.
You have a death on the first day of Poppy’s job. And Poppy sees into the doc and his wife’s relationship..it’s an eye opener. Then poor Bertie tries to register his new device to a club but they are unimpressed. Bertie doesn’t give up, nor does Poppy as she investigates the murder and learns the many ways one can kill using plants!!
Nick becomes involved as John is a friend of his and Poppy suspects John. By the way, very solid plotting, great characters like Fothergill, humorous sub plots and the details of growing plants that just might kill. Surprises in several places, a bit of a scary scene toward end and please keep writing about Poppy!!
Fun read, easy to read yet couldn’t figure the killer out till later and I read it imagining I was in her wild garden. 4.8 stars
I received a free copy from the author and voluntarily reviewed it.
After how good book 1 was I was excited to dive right into book 2 soon after I received it. And I am happy to say book 2 is just as good. Silent Bud Deadly follows Poppy as she’s working hard to restore her grandmother’s garden nursery, but when she gets a job gardening she stumbles upon another murder.
The mystery in this was one was great. I did manage to predict who the murderer was, but not because it was too obvious, it just suddenly clicked for me when they did something. And there was enough I hadn’t figured out yet and I enjoyed seeing Poppy put the pieces together. There is a great twist, which I found quite unique as it’s not something I’ve seen so far in cozy mysteries as far as I can remember. I also liked how we slowly figure out more about the murdered women and who might’ve had motive to kill her. It also was interesting how at first there didn’t seem as many suspects, until Poppy discovers more and then more suspects pop-up.
Besides the mystery there’s Poppy who’s building a life for herself here in this new town she moved to. I loved seeing how she was doing and also her struggles with gardening. It made sense she made some mistakes, although I wasn’t happy when she lied to someone. I did liked when she admitted she made mistakes as she seemed open minded enough to realize when she was wrong and correct that. I like Poppy as a character and it was great to see how she was going with her garden.
There are also some interesting surprises among the side characters. There are some new characters like Amber, Christine and John we meet who have to do with Poppy’s gardening job. We hear more about Nell and there’s a fun development with her. I liked seeing how the detective Suzanne and Poppy interact. And Nick still continues to be a promising love interest for Poppy, they annoy each other sometimes, but it’s clear they do care about each other. But it really is only a hint so far of possible romance, but it will be great to see how that develops. I also liked seeing what Bertie is up to in this book and how one of his inventions plays a role in the investigating part. And the pets Owen and the terrier (forgot his name) make multiple appearances as well. It’s a great cast of side characters.
To summarize: this was an awesome sequel. I had so much fun reading it and figuring out the mystery alongside with poppy. I managed to guess the murderer correctly, which was fun, but there were parts I only figured out when Poppy did. There is a great twist concerning the mystery which was really well done. I like seeing Poppy settling in here in her new house and town and how she’s working on her gardening skills. It felt realistic that she made mistakes and even tough I didn’t always agree with how she handled things, I do think her reasoning made sense and was in character. There is a great cast of side characters and also some great connections Poppy makes with them. All in all this is a great new series and I would recommend it to those who love cozies!