The Gardener Estate is a huge and beautiful house with amazing formal gardens that people come from all around to photograph.

When a famous garden sculpture is starting to topple, the grounds crew find a body underneath. It turns out that it’s been buried since the 70s, when the house was used as a famous hippy commune by one of the owners, Rob Gardener. Rob’s brother Fort and his girlfriend Meadow were among many who left after a big festival at the property. The sculpture was erected the next day. Rob’s now a hermit that still lives in a little cabin on the estate.

Inspector Raquel Laing investigates the body as a possible connection to a cold case she is working. A serial killer called the Highwayman was active during that time and this body matches his MO. Is this body one of his victims or part of another murder mystery?

This is my first book by this author. It was a really good story and the mystery was gripping. I look forward to more possible books in the series.

Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

Laurie R King's BACK TO THE GARDEN features an intriguing mix of beautiful setting, high ideals, disappointments, mystery, art and philosophy. Descriptions of the Gardener Estate, Gaddo’s artwork, and the mural had me wanting to plan a visit, sit in the gazebo and gaze at the garden. In my mind, I have done so; it was that vivid.
The workings of the commune reminded me of being intrigued by them in the ‘70s, but the problems made me glad I’d never joined one. I did admire the feminist stance that anyone who expected to eat had to help with the work. Brava! Questions raised about the morality of wealth and its corrosive effects are valid, along with the harm caused by rigid demands upon children, wealth used as power, vs. letting them find and follow their own paths.
Raquel is an admirable detective, consciously leading interviews to get the answers she needs, alert for unconscious responses that convey the information to solve crimes, and determined to bring justice. Courage, intelligence, and acceptance and appreciation of help from others, all worth emulating.
I could barely put this book down, and I’d love it if this became a series.

Thank you Random House for Advanced Reader Copy of book to be on sale 9/6/22. All lovers of Laurie King's writing have a treat in store with this standalone featuring a lively and very interesting cast of characters in 1970's California.
Most of the action is based in a mansion reminiscent of the Hearst Castle. Rather than being populated with Hollywood stars the mansion and grounds are taken over by members of the countercultural movement as permitted by the sons who inherit the property. The sons had rebelled against the plans their father had promoted for them, so the property underwent a dramatic change when he died. The oldest son served in Vietnam and came home, as many did, a different person.
Interesting governance plays out in the management of a growing population living communally bringing us to a present day investigation by one SFPD officer determined to link the remains of a female on the property with a serial killer she is investigating.
With the investigator as our guide through the decades of the commune's activities the story is riveting. Highly recommend!

I would like to thank Emma Thomasch at Random House for recommending this book to me.
Back to the Garden by Laurie R. King is a stand-alone thriller/mystery/suspense/romance/serial-killer etc. novel that seems at its surface to be about the hunt for the serial killer/urban legend the Highwayman whose true victim count is unknown, but there is also an overtone of the First Murder and Murderer. We have Eve, the Garden, and a murder--how and if it ties into the Highwayman is part of the fun and mystery of the novel.
The main character, Inspector Raquel Laing, is likable and seems fleshed out rather well--I at times got a strong Clarice Starling vibe from the character--but Raquel has her own strength and foibles. I would have liked some of the supporting characters--Dee and Jen to be have been developed a little more(perhaps in a future installment if it comes)--hint.
The novel is multifaceted and to write a spoiler-free review I won't say much more about the overall mystery in the tale except to say that it unfolds through multiple points of view moving from the 1970s and the fading hippie culture to the present day.
I have to say that this is the first book by Laurie R. King that I have read ,but it wont be the last.
Thank you to #NetGalley, Emma Thomasch at #RandomHouse and #LaurieRKing for the ARC of #BacktotheGarden.

I wasn’t sure what to expect with this book but I absolutely loved it. I would call it a little bit of a mystery in a little bit of a thriller combined. I was absolutely engrossed in the story!

So good. I highly recommend this one. I was hooked I loved the structure of the novel and the storyline. Didn’t disappoint one bit. So glad I took the chance on this book.

The timeline of this seasoned author's latest absorbing standalone alternates between the late 1970s and the present day. SFPD Homicide Inspector Raquel Laing has been transferred to the Cold Case Unit as she recuperates from an injury. Elderly Michael Johnston has been identified as the Highwayman, responsible for at least four homicides in the seventies and now chained to a hospital bed as his terminal cancer progresses. Laing's goal is to get Johnston to reveal more of his victims, and to determine whether the skeletal remains just discovered at a sprawling Central Coast estate might be one of them.

In the historical timeline, we learn about the Gardener Estate, which functioned for four years as an organic farming commune--not a cult--and is now owned by a trust run by Gardener relatives and associates.

There is much to appreciate in this low-key but fascinating novel: the interesting dynamics (Gardener family and otherwise) of the people who ran the commune and those who run the estate's trust today; the interactions between a dying serial killer and a police inspector who has a reputation as an intellectually gifted mind reader but decidedly not as a people person; and the references to a now-deceased feminist shock-artist who fashioned the huge statues under one of which the remains were found.

The commune/estate's daily workings are not the focus of the book, but rather the characters who drive the story. There is not a lot of action, as much of the story is told through dialogue, but the well-designed mystery unfolds gradually and is resolved in a satisfying conclusion.

My thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group/Ballantine for the opportunity to read and provide an honest review of this book.

I really, really enjoyed this book. It hooked me from the very beginning and kept me hooked the entire time!