Autumn has arrived, with crisp, cold mornings, dew on the grass and hedgerows full of blackberries… When budding garden sleuth Poppy is invited to a party in a beautiful orangery, the last thing she expects is to witness a lethal wasp attack! As authorities investigate the possibility of murder, Poppy is horrified when local handyman Joe Fabbri, her friend and mentor, becomes the main suspect. … suspect. Determined to prove Joe’s innocence, Poppy sets out to solve the case – with help from her “mad scientist” neighbour, his new robotic invention, and a particularly stinky mushroom! Meanwhile, Poppy is also learning that gardening isn’t just sunshine and roses. As she grapples with wind, rain, and unpleasant autumn chores, she wonders if she’s bitten off more than she can chew. With limited horticultural experience and a long winter ahead, can she really make a success of the cottage garden nursery that she’s inherited?
As Oren, the talkative ginger cat, lends a paw, and crime author Nick Forrest helps her dig for clues, Poppy makes a startling discovery: could there be a link between the murder victim and her long-lost father? Would solving this case also give her answers to the biggest mystery from her past?
Books in the ENGLISH COTTAGE GARDEN MYSTERIES:
Deadhead and Buried (Book 1)
Silent Bud Deadly (Book 2)
Doom and Bloom (Book 3)
Trowel and Error (Book 4)
Fronds and Enemies (Book 5)
more
Trowel and Error (English Cottage Garden #4), my twenty-first read/listen from author H.Y. Hanna & the fourth 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 received a free Audible copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review.” The gifting of this book did not affect my opinion of it. (RIP Marley January 20, 2014 – July 24, 2018).
I love H.Y. Hanna’s English Cottage Garden series. They are the coziest of cozies. The characters are wonderful. Poppy is particularly sweet — I always want to give her a hug! As the series progresses, the characters grow closer to each other and also to the reader’s heart. Trowel and Error, the fourth book in the series, just strengthens those relationships.
I don’t retell the stories in my reviews, but I will say that the mystery in this book is a little different. The garden is less involved, although Poppy’s cottage garden, Oren, and Einstein are all present enough in the story to satisfy.
I listened to the book. Pearl Hewitt does a great job with the voices. Excellent narration, endearing characters, and a finely twisted little mystery make Trowel and Error a most enjoyable read. Five stars!
H.Y. Hanna has the most fantastic writing abilities. This book is wonderful. The characters are both loveable and deadly. From the quirky inventor next door, Bertie, to Oren the ginger cat; all the characters are richly described and so well crafted. Polly has her hands full in this story. Watch as she goes from one mystery to the next while trying to help solve the murder investigation.
This series is definitely worth a try, you will be entertained and enjoy the humor. Highly recommend.
H.Y. Hanna has the most fantastic writing abilities. This book is wonderful. The characters are both loveable and deadly. From the quirky inventor next door, Bertie, to Oren the ginger cat; all the characters are richly described and so well crafted. Polly has her hands full in this story. Watch as she goes from one mystery to the next while trying to help solve the murder investigation.
This series is definitely worth a try, you will be entertained and enjoy the humor. Highly recommend.
Loved it and the characters
While Poppy is at a party at an orangery, she’s witness to a lethal wasp attack. When her friend and mentor, handyman, Joe Fabbri is taken in as the main suspect, she sets out to prove him innocent. In addition, she’s learning that gardening is going to take a lot more than she thought. With help from her friends, Poppy settles into the investigation and into her garden.
I love this series and this book is no exception. I was hooked from the beginning of this well-written story. The characters are well-rounded, there are some you’ll like and others you won’t. Full of intrigue and mystery, this book will take you through a range of emotions during the twists and turns throughout. I’m really looking forward to the next book. I highly recommend both book and series which I suggest you read in order.
I received a free copy of this book from the author and voluntarily reviewed it.
I really enjoy this garden mystery series by H.Y. Hanna and was excited to dive into a new book in this series. This was another solid read. I liked following Poppy along as she struggles and works hard to get her business off the ground, as well as solves a mystery in each book.
This mystery was a good one. I was surprised by who the murderer was and was thinking in a totally different direction. There were plenty of suspects and clues and looking back I see enough clues that point toward the murderer even though they weren’t as obvious to me while reading that they pointed to that person. The whole set up for the murder was a bit weird and strangely similar to another mystery I was reading with the whole wasp thing. I like how the mystery progressed with clues popping up and Poppy finding out more, but it still took till the end of the book for it all to come together. There were a few scenes that where a bit too convenient or coincidental how Poppy was just in the right time at the right place at times, but this doesn’t really detract form my enjoyment of the book.
Besides the mystery plot line there is the usual plot lines surrounding Poppy’s garden business and her search for her birth farther. Poppy is struggling a bit now the weather is turning colder ad her business is drying up, she has some big set backs, but also some good things that happen and I look forward to see how she gets through the colder seasons. She also follows a lead about who might be her father and comes in contact with two people who were involved in the music scene when her mom was younger which provides a bit more insight into that.
There also is the same enjoyable cast of characters as in the previous books, especially her two neighbors and their pets are great to read about. And then there is Bertie’s creation CLARA, who was quite interesting to read about too. And Poppy’s friend Joe, who is suspected of being the murderer and how Poppy gets even more involved as she wants to prove his innocence. I like how she has found friends in this new place and seeing how they’re art of her life. Then there are some new characters. she meets who are connected to the mystery as well.
To summarize: This was another fun read in this series. I like reading about the mystery as well as the other plot lines surrounding Poppy’s garden business, her search for her father and her relationships with her new friends here. The mystery was a solid one. The set-up was a bit weird with the wasps being involved, but I liked how it developed. There were plenty of suspects with most being clear from the start and then Poppy slowly figuring out more of what happened and what was going on. I was surprised by who the murderer was as I was thinking in a different direction, but looking back I can see the clues that point in this person’s direction. Poppy is a fun character to read about and I like the side characters, especially her two neighbors and their pets. All in all another great read in this series and I look forward to the next one.
Trowel and Error earns 5+/5 Swarmzzzz…Engaging Entertainment!
H.Y. Hanna is an all-time favorite author for her clever mystery, descriptive language, and an entertaining banter, and this fourth book in her English Cottage Garden Mystery is another excellent adventure. Poppy Lancaster needs to fulfill her end of a “quid pro quo” with her cousin Hubert Leach. He had given Nell, her surrogate mother and housemate, a lucrative cleaning contract, so acting as his date at an invitation-only cocktail party seemed easy. Until she discovers his “quo” is more than her “quid” can handle. But a deal is a deal. She is, however, afforded an introduction to billionaire David Nowak who owns the Róża Garden Centres and is a candidate for Parliament. This cocktail party is meant to show off his renovated orangery and maybe a bit of fundraising on the side. But, the evening doesn’t go as planned. Party crashes Rick Zova, a mate from David’s past, is found dead…covered in wasp stings! Rick’s uninvited appearance seemed a friendly surprise, but Poppy overheard conversations, talked to another party crasher, and witnessed a disturbing outburst. She is shocked to learn CID is honing in on her friend and mentor Joe Fabini with circumstantial evidence; she is adamant that Joe is innocent, and she’s going to prove it!
The buzz is…it’s brilliant! The murder mystery was well-developed from the victim selection and a long list of folks connected to the victim to intriguing motives and interesting secrets; all of this ends with a final reveal nail-biting by a bit of personal peril. I had the killer on my radar, but cleverly Hanna’s story had me dismiss that idea when something better came along…and Joe? He had reason; I wondered if Poppy just had it wrong. I love it when I get stumped. Readers also get more insights into Poppy’s late mother and the father she never knew…fascinating side story! The English Cottage Garden main characters are delightful, realistic, and varied in age to meet any cozy fan’s preferences, and additional characters do well to support their personalities, class, and education. Several suspects had the opportunity and slowly several motives are exposed as Poppy uses her informal queries, Bertie’s newest invention CLARA, and an “in” at the police station; my inner Sherlock was on overdrive. I may not be an active gardener, but I greatly enjoyed the idea of a nursery, gardening, and all the flowers talk. I loved it all! No recipes or gardening tips…just saying.
How can H.Y. Hanna’s story get any better? Produce it as an audiobook narrated by the talented Pearl Hewitt. My entertainment is greatly enhanced by Pearl’s ability to go well beyond a traditional reading out loud with variations of the British accent illustrating region and education, great effort with make voices, and performing the tone and emotions to keep me totally engaged. She makes an excellent CLARA, the robot. She sure is my favorite narrator, and when I read one of Hanna’s books, I always have Pearl’s voice in my head.
This is another fun cozy mystery that I loved by H.Y Hanna. Once again she has beautifully weaved a clever murder mystery into a entertaining plot, which resulting in an excellent book. I love the characters and animals, they are so much fun and written about so well that even if this is your first introduction to them you have no problems imaging them. I love quirky characters and I can’t think of anyone more quirky then Dr Bertram, the mad scientist neighbour and all his inventions, that somehow never do what they are ment to do, all highly amusing. The mystery was good and I found myself guessing along with Poppy nearly until the end , as there was lots of suspects all with reasons to hate the victim. I had worked it out just before Poppy did but it is definitely a book I would listen to as an audio book, despite knowing how it ends.
Poppy is blackmailed by her cousin to attend a party as his date. She should have know better than to go alone with him and being introduce as somebody else was her first clue that the night wasn’t going to end well. Then she is caught up in a wasp attack but what made the swaps swarm in the first place? Things escalate when the dead body of an aging rock star is found out side. He was a gate crasher and wasn’t invited to the party but should that have really cost him his life? The police suspect it was murder when a towel belonging to her friend and helper in her cottage garden is found under the body. Poppy is quick to jump to his rescue and point out many other party guest had just as much reason to see him dead from the cheated band member to the crazy super fan to the ex pa of the host of the party. A storm is coming and it is not just the one caused by the weather, Poppy will have to solve this murder if she doesn’t want the police to arrest the wrong man, as well as battle a grumpy cat who is on a strict diet and fend off a mad cleaning robot.