{"id":22446,"date":"2023-09-29T23:46:41","date_gmt":"2023-09-30T03:46:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/?p=22446"},"modified":"2024-11-13T18:13:29","modified_gmt":"2024-11-13T23:13:29","slug":"the-body-in-the-back-garden","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/22446","title":{"rendered":"The Body in the Back Garden"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Body in the Back Garden<\/em><\/a> (2023) Mark Waddell<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>Luke Tremblay didn’t plan to every return to Crescent Cove, but when his aunt dies and leaves him her cottage and store, he has to head back to settle her affairs. And since he’s just broken up with his long term boyfriend, getting out of town isn’t a terrible idea.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, his plans are stymied when a body is discovered in his garden.<\/p>\n

\u201cWell. Someone was murdered there. Now,\u201d she added, as I opened my mouth, \u201cI\u2019m not required to disclose that fact, and neither are you. It\u2019s not a material defect of the kind that would need to be acknowledged to a potential buyer. But this is a small town. People talk. And I can\u2019t promise that this information won\u2019t become available to a buyer.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

There is a problem with reading as voraciously as I do, and that is that cozy mysteries–especially ones that are the start of a series–tend to have a main character who makes the exact stupid mistakes as the main characters in every other cozy mystery.<\/p>\n

Lying \/ failing to tell the whole truth to the police? Check.
\nWalking into a crime scene without alerting the police? Check.
\nBeing surprised at accusations of murder. Check.<\/p>\n

Every stupid and annoying thing the main characters of cozy mysteries do in the first book of a series made an appearance here.<\/p>\n

It’s not that these things are bad writing, it’s just that it’s painfully obvious what the consequences are going to be as soon as the character does the stupid things, and it’s frustrating that the character is surprised by the results of their actions Every. Single. Time.<\/p>\n

One of the things I did like was that he had truly loved his aunt, prior to the family falling out. And that he forgave her father learning what had happened.<\/p>\n

“After the \u2026 the argument you had with your parents, she received a call from her brother. Your father. He warned her not to meddle, to just leave you alone. The family were united in their decision to \u2026 let you go your own way, and if Marguerite didn\u2019t toe the line, your grandfather would disinherit her.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

What bothered me was that when she made him her heir, she didn’t leave a note of her own, explaining what had happened and how sorry she was for her actions. Sure, she wasn’t expecting to die, but she’d had a will made. Surely she could have at least left a brief messages for him.<\/p>\n

Yet, I did like and enjoy the story, and I will look for other books in this series and by this author. I just wish I didn’t have so much “first book in a cozy series” going on, and that it could have gonein lightly unexpected directions for a cozy.<\/p>\n

Publisher: Crooked Lane Books<\/p>\n

Rating: 6\/10<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Body in the Back Garden (2023) Mark Waddell Luke Tremblay didn’t plan to every return to Crescent Cove, but when his aunt dies and leaves him her cottage and store, he has to head back to settle her affairs. And since he’s just broken up with his long term boyfriend, getting out of town […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[190,292,204,8,148],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22446","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-cozy","category-ebook","category-good","category-mystery","category-queer"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/piQkW-5Q2","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":24128,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/24128","url_meta":{"origin":22446,"position":0},"title":"The Body in the Garden, Audio Book","author":"Michelle","date":"December 12, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"The Body in the Garden, Audiobook (2020) Katharine Schellman narrated by Henrietta Meire (Lily Adler Mystery) Set in London in 1815 I enjoyed listening to the story, although the narrator wasn't as strong as others I've recently been listening to. But this is a first book in a series by\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"The Body in the Garden","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/The-Body-in-the-Garden.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":22454,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/22454","url_meta":{"origin":22446,"position":1},"title":"The Body in the Garden","author":"Michelle","date":"October 8, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"The Body in the Garden (2020) Katharine Schellman Set in England in 1815. Lily Adler has returned to London in an attempt to restart her life after the loss of her husband. Lily had to take a deep breath before she could respond. It had been two years, but her\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"The Body in the Garden","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/The-Body-in-the-Garden.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/The-Body-in-the-Garden.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/The-Body-in-the-Garden.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":14087,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/14087","url_meta":{"origin":22446,"position":2},"title":"Grasmere Cottage Mystery","author":"Michelle","date":"March 12, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Grasmere Cottage Mystery (2018) Dahlia Donovan This is actually three novellas, but since I read it as one book, I'm going to review it as such also. Dead in the Garden Dead in the Pond Dead in the Shop Valor Scott and Bishan Tamboli have been best friends since their\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8.5\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8.5\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-5-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Dead in the Garden","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Dead-in-the-Garden.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":12748,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/12748","url_meta":{"origin":22446,"position":3},"title":"Dead in the Garden","author":"Michelle","date":"April 14, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"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\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "7\/10"","block_context":{"text":"7\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/7-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Dead in the Garden","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Dead-in-the-Garden.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5545,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/5545","url_meta":{"origin":22446,"position":4},"title":"Rivers of London: Body Work","author":"Michelle","date":"December 6, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Rivers of London: Body Work (2015) Ben Aaronovitch, Andrew Cartmel, Lee Sullivan, and Luis Gurrero If you've been paying any attention, you know that I have a deep and (probably) unhealthy love of Ben Aaronovitch's Rivers of London series. So when I saw there was going to be a comic,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "9\/10"","block_context":{"text":"9\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/9-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Rivers-of-London-Body-Work","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/Rivers-of-London-Body-Work.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":23744,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/23744","url_meta":{"origin":22446,"position":5},"title":"Saint Peter’s Fair","author":"Michelle","date":"July 3, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Saint Peter's Fair (1981) Ellis Peters (Chronicles of Brother Cadfael) Set in Shropshire England in 1139 St. Peter\u2019s Fair is a grand, festive event, attracting merchants from across England and beyond. There is a pause in the civil war racking the country in the summer of 1139, and the fair\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8.5\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8.5\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-5-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Saint Peters Fair","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Saint-Peters-Fair.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22446","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22446"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22446\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22446"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22446"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22446"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}