A fabulous addition to this series. I just love Beth who unwittingly seems to get involved in yet another murder. A brilliant cozy mystery.

I really enjoy the Beth Haldane cous murder mystery series.

I love the characters and how everything comes together.

A fun, cosy read and I look forward to the rest in the series.

Thank you for the arc.

This was my first read of Author Alice Castle books.
I don’t normally like to read a series out of order. But this book read well as a stand-alone in that I didn’t feel like I was missing any info because if not reading previous ones.
I may feel differently once I read the others.
And yes, I plan to read the others.
Well done !
Thankyou to author Alice Castle, Netgalley and Crooked Lane for giving me the opportunity to read this book!
Charlene 🌸📚🤗 @lastnownext

Sometimes you just need a good British mystery and Alice Castle never fails me in that regard! This book was no exception and I lost myself in the characters and setting immediately and couldn't put the book down.

I had not read any previous books in this series. Perhaps if I had the main character would have been more likable. As it is, I am thankful she is a fictional character. She is easily the most annoying person in a book. It is bad when you are rooting for the murderer.

I have previously read the first four books in the series before deciding to take a break. The Murder Garden is the eighth book in the Beth Haldane Mystery series and I decided to read this before going back to the remaining books in the series, curious to see if Beth's life had moved forward in any way.

It has not.

We find Beth stuck in the same revolving wheel of her personal and professional life with nothing new to show except for her son Jake being almost a teenager now. I mentioned this in my earlier review and will say it again that I think Beth should just give up her archivist job (at which she rarely spends time anyways) and become a private investigator since she is a pro at discovering dead bodies--in this book in her own back yard! Even her romantic relationship with DI Harry York seems to be going nowhere and at this point I wouldn't even mind an introduction of a new male character just to spice things up!

Mystery wise, this time around it starts as a cold case with human bones being discovered in Beth's own back yard which leads to the death of another local, making Beth wonder if there is a connection between the two incidents. With her signature self-musing/introspection Beth, with some help from friends, manages to once again crack the case in the nick of time.

My thanks to NetGalley, the publisher Bookouture and the author Alice Castle for the e-Arc of the book.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐✨💫

The Murder Garden by Alice Castle
A Beth Haldane Mystery Book #8

I received an advance review copy for free thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Blurb

A winding path leads past the beautiful begonias to an overhanging oak tree. But underneath, a deadly secret is hiding…

Beth Haldane cradles a warm cup of tea and admires the view of crisp, red autumn leaves scattering the lawn of her little garden. But the peace and quiet is interrupted when her loyal pet pooch sniffs out something suspicious. At the bottom of a freshly-dug hole is a bone: and it looks worryingly human.

Even for a mystery-loving amateur sleuth like Beth, the discovery of a body beneath her own lawn is a little too close for comfort. But when the police insist that she must know something about the remains, digging up the truth herself is Beth’s only option.

With gossip flying all around Dulwich Village, Beth has her work cut out to find the culprit. Could a local cat-sitter, with keys to every home on the street, have been involved? Is her ex-actress neighbour a little too good at acting innocent? And was a whispered secret at a dinner party meant to point Beth in the right direction?

My Opinion

I have read this series in order but each book could be read as a standalone. Beth is having some work done on her house when a bone is discovered in the garden - so of course she is going to investigate. This is another great cosy mystery by Castle with many twist and turns to keep the reader interested. A quick and easy read.

Rating 4/5

It’s never good when you find a dead body in your garden…..especially when you live in a small town. With gossip flying all around Dulwich Village, Beth has her work cut out to find the culprit. Could a local cat-sitter, with keys to every home on the street, have been involved? Is her ex-actress neighbour a little too good at acting innocent? And was a whispered secret at a dinner party meant to point Beth in the right direction? This was a fun cozy and although there are 7 books in the series it reads well as a stand-alone. Thank you NetGalley for the advanced readers copy for review.

It's so nice to finally see Beth Haldane back in action with her snooping ways! This time, she's about to have a new shoffice built in her back garden to help with her overcrowded house when the builders unearth a skeleton. Of course, Beth can't resist digging into the case and putting herself in danger as usual.

This is the eighth book in the series. While it can be read as a standalone, I would probably recommend you read a few of the previous novels just to get a better understanding of the characters.

Beth is still her likeable and nosey self. This book we got a lot more of her personal drama entwined with the case, which I'm here for, with the strain between her and her boyfriend DI Harry York and also her bestie Katie taking centre stage for some of the book.

I'll be honest, I guessed the identity of the skeleton and the murderer quite early on, but it didn't spoil my enjoyment too much.

If you're looking for a lighthearted cozy mystery, with a cast of entertaining characters, then I'd highly recommend this book and the rest of the series to you!

In this eighth in the series, Beth Haldane is busy with her relationship with partner Harry, raising her teenage son and her job – and all is going well. Then while the construction crew is working on her new shoffice in the back garden, family dog Colin finds a human bone in a newly dug hole. Is it an ancient bone, an old bone, or is the person a victim of a recent crime?

Beth’s home is inundated by the police unit sent to investigate, but their progress is slow. Her partner Harry is a cop who is caught up in a very intense investigation of his own, so Beth feels it falls to her to figure out what has happened. Her investigation is complicated by the murder of a beloved community member…was she involved somehow?

As Beth pushes ahead with her investigation, she finds herself at serious risk. Can she figure out the clues before she’s the next victim?

I did find it a bit slow going in places and there were a few spots where an editor’s eye could have been useful. But the climax to the story and the reveal of the murderer made up for any slow going leading up to that.

Fans of the Beth Haldane series will doubtless be drawn into her newest adventure and enjoy it.

While this is book 8 in the series, this is my first Beth Haldane read and it really does read as a stand alone.   I had no trouble following the plot.

I love a cozy series.  Characters you get to know.  There are murders or at least crimes, but no high intensity scenes to worry about.  They just make me happy.  This one lived up to my expectations.  I read it in a little over a day.

Beth is a little quirky and surrounded by a good cast of characters.  There are a few pets, some neighbors, a boyfriend and of course a murder to solve.  I've been on a roll reading books where while digging, bones are found.  It doesn't try and overcomplicate the plot or throw in twist after twist.  Just what I wanted in my cozy: an amateur sleuth and a murder to solve.  And doesn't that cover scream cozy place to be?  Now I do always wonder as I read these why anyone would hang around these sleuths cuz I would definitely notice my friend solving her eighth murder.  LOL

If you are looking for a British cozy series, then this will delight you.

The Murder Garden the eighth book in the Beth Haldane mystery series, continues the story of Beth, widow, single mother and amateur sleuth. This is a true cozy mystery with all the things that make you love a cozy mystery. Her relationship with Detective Inspector Harry York has evolved and Harry has moved into her very small home. She realizes she must make more space and so decides to add an office/shed to her tiny backyard. Unfortunately the construction crew quickly unearths bones. Of course they do! And so begins yet another round of sleuthing. The writing is gentle and quite funny and her books cover some thought provoking themes. The series does not need to be read in order but I would recommend reading at least one of the previous books to become familiar with the many characters in Beth's life and village. This is a series to sit back and enjoy.

I'm happy I read another mystery featuring Beth Haldane as I had a lot of fun and thoroughly enjoyed it.
It kept me hooked and guessing, was glad to catch up with the characters and had a lot of fun.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this arc, all opinions are mine

Eighth in a cosy detective series set in the chichi London suburb of Dulwich Village. Our heroine Beth Haldane is a single mother, widowed very young, with a propensity for stumbling over murders in what had until recently been a very safe area of London. She and her 'boyfriend' DCI Harry York seem to have given up on the idea of buying a house together in a cheaper area and have instead decided to build a Shoffice (part shed and part office) at the end of the garden. Unfortunately, Beth's dreams of getting rid of Harry's Golden Age novels and her son's gaming equipment into the Shoffice is thwarted when the builders find what is unmistakably a human bone. With Harry working late on another case, a group of dedicated CSI detectives traipsing in and out of her cottage, and a dog desperate to eat said bones, Beth is forced to investigate the murder in order to have any chance of getting her Shoffice built.

Finally, a book in this series in which the reader has a chance to guess the murderer's identity because there are actual clues! It's only taken eight books to get to this point. Also, I think Alice Castle has realised that there seems to be little chemistry between Harry and Beth and has introduced a potential new love interest in the form of the dour chief CSI officer - already he gets my vote over the bossy and fairly useless Harry. As I have noted previously, this series takes cosy mysteries to a new level where there is more detail about who Beth has coffee with and what homework her son has been set than there is actual detecting.

I received an ARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley and on my Kindle Unlimited subscription in return for an honest review.

The Murder Garden: by Alice Castle is the eighth book in the A Beth Haldane Mystery series. If you love cosy mysteries these are books for you. I really enjoyed the latest book by Beth it flowed well and ended up reading it in one sitting.

I loved this especially as it can be read as a standalone but I do advise to go back and read the other seven, as these are a read for a wet winters day or a great holiday read.

Big Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for my ARC.

Beth Haldane finds plans for her new “shoffice” build put on hold after the builders dig up some bones. I found this book a little slow moving, with Beth wailing about the discovery, but eventually she gets to the truth of the matter. I do wonder how she manages to hold on to her job at Wyatts school with the amount of work days she misses!

Watch your neighbours closely as you never know what goes on behind closed doors

When a bone is found by the workmen currently building a quiet retreat in the garden of Beth she knows that it is more than likely human and should not be there so our amateur sleuth sets out to discover who is under her garden

My first adventure with amateur sleuth Beth Haldane was a success. Even though I haven't read any other books in the series, it reads well as a standalone with a complete mystery and enough backstory to ensure the reader understands the characters' lives and relationships. I like the original setting, in Dulwich rather than a cosy English village, but this retains a cosy crime vibe with its intelligent amateur sleuth, numerous suspects, quirky cast of characters and twisty mystery.

I like Beth's character, the cast of characters, especially the animals and the well-written mystery.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher.

The Murder Garden is book 8 in the Beth Haldane Mystery series. I have read the previous books and loved them all and this one is no exception. In this instalment a body is found in Beth's garden and once again can't help but do some amuture sluething. There are plenty of twists and turns in this cosy mystery that kept me turning the pages.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for my ARC.

Thank you Netgalley, Bookouture and the author Alice Castle.
Beth is an amateur sleuth and the discovery of a body in her own backyard is too close for comfort.
Beth needs to find the murderer around the village since the police insists she must know something.
Very well done cozy mystery, funny, likeable characters.
Lots of twists and turns.
Recommend
4 stars