Reviews

Murder in the Community Garden by Judith Gonda

annarella's review

4.0

I enjoyed this cozy mystery and appreciated how the author made the COVID part of the plot and dealt with it.
I was glad to catch up with the fleshed out characters and the solid mystery kept me guessing.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

mystereity's review

adventurous challenging mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

I requested Murder in the Community Garden from Netgalley because the blurb sucked me in;   Tory Benning, a landscape architect, arrives at the community garden she landscaped. But trouble brews when Mac and Bunny, two opposing mayoral candidates, accuse each other on TV of produce thefts from their garden plots and moments later, Bunny is found dead and Mac is the prime suspect.

This is the first book I've read in the Tory Benning series. It was pretty good, Tory and her friends are a likeable and interesting crew and the plot was suitably twisty and kept me on my toes.  This one definitely trends young - late teens/early 20s young - so younger readers will probably enjoy the many social issue references in this book.  As for me, reading is my escape from the world, so I prefer books that keep it cozy with fewer references to the issues currently causing so much strife and stress.  

This was a cute book and I definitely recommend it to younger kids looking to get into cozy mysteries.