The Red Book of Primrose House by Marty Wingate + a giveaway

Good morning, readers! Today I'm a stop on the TLC book tour for Marty Wingate's second Potting Shed Mystery, The Red Book of Primrose House. Do note that there is a tour wide giveaway with this one. Be sure to read through to the end to enter.

When we last left Pru, she had just been hired on as head gardener at Primrose House. It was a position she'd dreamed about for ages. And not only that, it allowed her to stay in England and it was close enough that she and her new love interest could still manage a relationship.

Pru couldn't be more excited about her new position as head gardener of Primrose House. The current state of the gardens is... well... pretty awful, but Pru is bolstered by the discovery of Humphrey Repton's original Red Book for the estate. The book, something Repton was known for, outlined all of the man's plans for the grounds and will allow Pru to bring them back to their original and historic state, with a  little twist. A local journalist plans to chronicle the restoration through a series of blogs, but with each new installment something on the estate is vandalized. At first it's small - the primroses, specially ordered for Primrose House, are demolished in what could have been a rabbit spree. When an old shed catches on fire and then the yews are mangled, everyone agrees it's something much more sinister than hungry bunnies. 

Then one of Pru's staff is found murdered. Though the authorities are certain the killer is in hand, Pru knows they couldn't be more wrong. 

As with the first installment, The Garden Plot, Wingate once again brings readers a quirky cozy packed with fun characters, gardening history, and suspense. It's a blend that I quite enjoy - especially the gardening history (I'd wondered where the title came from and was pleased that it was explained early on in the book - it's the kind of interesting factoid that sends me searching for more info!).

I thought this one had a bit of a rough start, though, with a few minor hiccups in the narrative. Nothing major, just that the writing didn't seem quite as smooth in transitioning us from London to Primrose House and the early days of Pru's relationship.

All in all, though, this is a series that I find I'm really looking forward to continuing.

And now for the giveaway:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

To see more stops on the tour be sure to visit the official TLC tour page here.