When a troop of
players plans to stage Midsummer Night’s Dream in the
Coeur-de-la-Mer Priory Hall garden that is normally closed to the
public, Pru is excited. She has always wanted to examine the garden
at close range. She becomes even more enthusiastic when the gardener
at Coeur-de-la-Mer quits because he can’t stand the people
trampling on his plants, and she is asked to take over his
responsibilities.
The job starts well.
Pru is responsible for set design as well as maintaining the garden.
Luckily she has a new helper Hal Noakes who is able to pick up the
slack at Greenoak as well as at the Priory Hall. Pru enjoys the
players with the exception of the young man playing Lysander. He’s
lazy, difficult and thinks he’s God’s gift to women. When he
becomes the victim of an allergic reaction that turns out to be
murder, Pru and her detective husband, Christopher, have to find the
killer before the play is ruined.
As usual, Marty
Wingate writes a fun mystery with a beautiful setting. The country
house gardens are perfect for Midsummer Night’s Dream. I love the
descriptions of the plants and how Pru chooses the plants for the
stage sets.
It helps to be
familiar with Midsummer Night’s Dream. There are a great many
characters and at first the dual names are challenging, but the
author tries to help by often using just the character’s name.
Although the cast list is long, the story sorts out the bit players
and after the first couple of chapters it’s easy to remember who’s
who.
If you enjoy cozy
mysteries in a great setting, this is a good one.
I received this book
from Net Galley for this review.
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