Thank you NetGalley and Minotaur Books for the opportunity to read "The Gardener's Plot" in exchange for my honest review. This was my first book by Ms. Benoit and I thoroughly enjoyed it from the first page to the last. We meet Maggie Walker in Marlowe, Massachusetts. She has inherited her grandmother's house and lives next to her best-friend Sally Kendall and her family. Carl Henderson wants to buy up plots and houses to build a condo project and has been upsetting various residents with his plans. If that wasn't enough Maggie's cousin Simon wants his share of their grandmother's estate and wants the house, which is rightfully Maggie's. Simon is quite possibly the most annoying character ever created. He spends most of the story whining about wanting what is rightfully his but he never, ever visited their grandmother when she was alive. Maggie and Violet have a Community Garden project where they are supposed to meet for the grand opening. When Violet is nowhere to be found Maggie lets the eager planters in and they find a body in one of the tilled plots. When Maggie and Sally feel that Police Chief Sam Whitaker and Detective Matt Quinn are not doing enough to find Violet, they take matters into their own hands. What follows is another body and a disappearance. Dreyfuss the dog is the hero of the story as he provides vital clues. These characters would make a wonderful series, they are well crafted and interesting. I would love to read more about them.

new-series, first-in-series, cozy-mystery, murder, amateur-sleuth, local-law-enforcement, suspense, missing-persons, small-town, gardening, Massachusetts, unpleasant-relative, unpleasant-victims**** The first body was the real estate agent in the community garden. And where is the director of that garden? Maggie has returned to the small town where she was raised by her grandmother to do some personal recovery after the sudden death of her adulterous husband of many years. Now she must learn a whole new skill set while fending off an obnoxious relative and the local gossips. Fine start to a new series. I requested and received a free temporary EARC from St. Martin's Press | Minotaur Books via NetGalley.

The Gardener’s Plot by Deborah J. Benoit is an engaging gardening mystery. I found myself drawn into the story. I like the main character, Maggie Walker who is passionate about gardening. I do not know where she gets all her energy. I appreciate that the author took the time to develop the main character as well as a couple of other major characters. There were a number of secondary characters. It was a challenge to keep them all straight in the beginning. The world building was well done. I like the small-town atmosphere. As with any small town, gossip flows faster than butter on a hot stack of pancakes. The mystery was entertaining and well plotted. There were some twists and turns along the way to the reveal. There was a good wrap up at the end, so I was not left with any lingering questions. I enjoyed the gardening information. It was presented in an easy-to-understand manner, and you do not need to be a gardener to enjoy it. I picked up some helpful tips. The Gardener’s Plot is a fun whodunit with tilling soil, a contentious cousin, a badgering developer, a new community garden, a boot in a plot, a missing Bloom, troublesome letters, and a fresh start.