Dead in the Garden

Dead in the Garden (2018) Dahlia Donovan (Grasmere Cottage Mystery)

This is a cozy mystery, set in England, and is both adorable and has an amazingly diverse cast of characters.

Valor and Bishan are shocked and distressed to discover a dead body in their yard.

But it becomes even more distressing when Bishan is arrested for the murder.

Bishan is autistic, and that is a major issue in the story, because jail is even harder for Bish to handle than for someone who isn’t neruodiverse. But to be clear, Bishan’s autism is why Valor is willing to take matters into his own hands to get him out of jail, but it is not how Bishan is defined in the story. It’s a trait, not a personality.

Valor, is estranged from his family, and has made his way on his own since he was disinherited.

It seemed being gay and dating an Anglo-Indian had been one step too far for the son of an earl. Valor Tarquin Scott had been struck from the family; his father, mother, and elder brother hadn’t spoken to him in over a decade, not since a year after his graduation from Harrow.

By contrast, the Tambolis had embraced both their son and his boyfriend. Valor had been relieved. He didn’t honestly know how they would’ve gotten through without their support.

It’s a very sweet story (despite the murder) and although it was short and not particularly deep, it was a cute escape from the real world.

Publisher: Hot Tree Publishing
Rating: 7/10

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