Fun cozy mystery introducing Maggie. After her grandmother dies, Maggie buys her house, a place she spent many years growing up and has fond memories of. Maggie is looking for a fresh start in this small town. She volunteers to help with the community garden and is making a few new friends. When a body turns up and then her friend Violet is missing, Maggie takes things into her own hands. The local police keep telling her to stay out of it, but when her best friend and neighbor also goes missing, Maggie decides enough is enough.

I received a free e-arc of this book through Netgalley. It looks and feels like a cozy with lots of suspects and a couple of amateur sleuths who keep poking their noses into the investigation. I'm torn on whether I like the genre of amateur sleuths since it usually seems obvious that they should go to the police, but of course, there wouldn't be much story without the amateur detectives. It did keep me guessing who the killer could be.

Maggie has moved to the Berkshire's after inheriting her grandmother's house. Her best friend from childhood, Sally, lives next door. Maggie is a master gardener & has offered to be involved with the community garden kick off. The day of the event, a person is found buried in one of the plot's. Violet, the person in charge of the event, along with Maggie are persons of interest. Violet has gone missing and Maggie and Sally are determined to find out where she is, along with who the killer is.
The story moves along, does not lead itself to giving away the killer until reveal time. The characters are likeable, minus the "bad girls" who never outgrew their high school days. I enjoyed that the book takes place in the Berkshire's, with just a few references, rather than the author trying too hard with the town. It is almost irrelevant, and could take place anywhere, which is nice. Thanks to NetGalley, Ms Benoit, and St. Martin's Publishing for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. I look forward to reading the next book in the series.

First of all, the cover for this book is absolutely GORGEOUS! It's what made me request the book in the first place.
As for the story inside, while I enjoyed myself during the reading and while I found the mystery interesting, I had a hard time getting a sense of the main character. The other characters felt vibrant and well-developed, and the town the mystery took place in was vivid in my mind. But the main character herself felt more like a cardboard person compared to the rest of the characters. I felt like her reactions and her emotions were very flat to what was happening around her, and it made it difficult to really thoroughly enjoy myself. I will keep reading if there are more books because I really liked Sally and the detective and am curious what will happen next in the town. While I quickly guessed whodunnit, I appreciated the red herrings and the misdirections the author planted in the story that brought out more of the characters' and towns' secrets, bringing the story more to life.

As the final line in the states,
I see so many possibilities.
An excellent cozy mystery. I enjoyed the cast, the setting of the community garden and the interaction with the detective. This is one of the few times that
I did not figure out who the killer was. I recommend this book for fans of light cozy mysteries and hope that there are more.

Margaret Walker moved back to Marlowe, Mass. when she purchased the house that had belonged t0 her grandparents. Since her move ( her best friend Sally lives next door), she write articles on gardening for the local paper, gives talks and works on her own garden. She also began to work closely with Violet Bloom on a community garden. On the day of the opening, Margaret soon discovers a man's body buried in one of the plots and Violet is missing. The police are more interested in the dead man and not Violet, so Margaret and Sally begin to try and recreate the last time anyone saw her and try to find her.
A fun new series with a gardening focus, small town secrets and a possible love interest for our heroine.
Thank you NetGalley and Minotaur Books for the opportunity to read this e-galley of "The Gardener's Plot".

Thanks Netgalley for allowing me to read this book. Maggie is looking for a fresh start. She has moved and can't wait to do what she loves. When someone is found dead, she decides to do some investigating. I liked this book.

Everything about this story was right up my alley from the title, the cover and description of the plot. It was a quick read and easy to follow the sequence of events. There were any relatable characters. I haven’t read this author before, glad I took a chance. The main character, Maggie, is a master gardener and does some writing. She’s just acquired her Gramma’s house from the estate, which crazy cousin Simon is constantly and vehemently disputing. Moving back to her hometown in The Berkshires she’s a woman with a deceased not quite ex-husband, an old nemesis married to the local Police Chief, new and old best friends and close neighbors. She’s already committed to helping with the local community garden. Opening day could not have been more disastrous! One of the newly tilled plots has more than fresh soil – a body is discovered crudely buried. Maggie isn’t patient, she’s not satisfied with the police handling of the investigation. Despite multiple warnings and becoming a suspect herself, she keeps digging, snooping, asking questions, stirring up rumors and snarky gossip. She doesn’t take seriously the danger she’s placing herself and others in. The frustrating Detective warns her off to no avail. Maggie has a knack for putting clues together and for digging up more than dirt. I liked her tenacity but, thought she was a bit selfish when it came to placing others in harms way. Her sleuthing antics would make a great series (hint to author).
Thanks so much to Minotaur Books/St. Martin’s Press for the Advance Reader Copy (via NetGalley) of “The Gardeners Plot” by Deborah J. Benoit, publication expected 11/05/2024. The honest personal thoughts and opinions expressed here are all my own given voluntarily without expectation of compensation.

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. Thank you. Pub Date Nov 05, 2024

It was a pretty good read would definitely recommend, if you like murder mysteries then this book is for you!

I didn't know that cozy murder mystery was a thing? I'm happy that I've found this genre and author. This was overall an easy good read, I just left it wanting more. I was anticipating a very dark twist or killer, but was left disappointed.

There were times in the end that I thought it was going to be Sally and that encouraged me that it would be a twisty end. The maybe love maybe not love story that was brewing read almost a little old? I thought the MC was young 30s, but the end made her feel dated.

Overall I enjoyed this book. I look forward to reading more of this genre and author!

I considered DNFing several times and should have followed that instinct.

The story of The Gardener's Plot is a cozy mystery lacking mystique. Any suspense died on the vine thanks to repetitive dialogue, a painfully slow pace, and a lackluster narrative. Plenty of irrelevant scenes should have been weeded from this too-long book, and the non-existent character development left me detached from the narrator. Its barely pieced-together storyline unearthed a sorrily predictable killer but didn't address blatant plot holes or continuity issues.

Overall, The Gardener's Plot was a disappointment. The summary suggests a fun story. Cool idea, poor execution.

I received an ARC from the publisher and NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

This was written for me!
✅ Small town characters
✅Intense gardeners who love compost (married to one)
✅mystery without gore

I read this while packing for a trip with the intention to read it on the trip but finished it while packing. So good.

My girl Maggie is settling back in her small town of lovable busybodies when tragedy strikes at the opening of the local community garden she got roped into volunteering for. A juicy whodunnit proceeds. You feel Maggie's frustration at how things move slowly, and how she's navigating re-entering a community she had once left behind.

I want to read this a second time to catch the clues I missed as I didn't see the end coming; thoroughly enjoyed it. I was a teensy bit confused about character backgrounds, so took off 1/2 a star. 4.5 stars for me.

Thank you NetGalley and St Martin's press for opportunity to review this ARC.

A predictable cozy mystery, this time involving a small town, a community garden, a new/old resident and a murder. Maggie has returned to the town where she was raised by her grandmother. Getting involved with a new venture, that of a community garden, seems to suit her perfectly, and make good use of her talents as the assistant director. She loves her cuppa tea and is always putting the kettle on.

The day the community garden is to open, she and the other gardeners discover a dead body buried in one of the plots - only one boot is sticking up. Then, the director of the community garden goes missing. Maggie and her best friend, Sally, can't resist looking into the murder and the missing person.

The plot seemed a bit thin and pretty routine for a cozy mystery, as well as overlong. How many times do we have to have that tea brewed? How many times do we have to have the same information repeated over and over and over? For all the length, there was very little character development.

The author did a great job presenting this finely tuned whodunit. The tone was comfortable, and the writing style made it easy to follow along with what the author intended. The visually descriptive narrative and engaging dialogue created an atmosphere where I wanted to know who was doing what to whom and I enjoyed how it played out in the end. The multiple red herrings throughout would eventually make it clear as to the killer’s identity and their motive. I like how this drama gave me satisfaction, which became a pleasurable read. Overall, this was a pleasantly entertaining tale and I hope there is a second book with Mags, Sally and the residents of Marlowe, MA.

A cozy mystery about finding a dead body in a community garden and the director has gone missing. Maggie is second in command at the graden and feels compelled to solve the mystery. I thought this had the bones of a good mystery, but there wasn’t as much character development as I would like.

I was invited by the publisher to read this book. I recommend this book if you are looking for a cozy mystery, as Maggie tries to clear her friend Violet's name from the police's suspect list for a body that was discovered in their town's community garden. I enjoyed this book because the author kept the reader guessing about who the culprit was, and provided many options, all while keeping that intimate feel.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press/Minotaur Books for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for letting me read this ARC.
As an avid gardener I really enjoyed the overall gardening theme of this cosy mystery. I also think the author did a great job of suggesting something vaguely sinister in the woods early in the book raising the suspense. There were plenty of twists and turns to keep me guessing. The characters were interesting and the main character has an interesting backstory that I hope we will learn more about in future books. I enjoyed this.

I don't often pick up a cozy mystery but happy I snagged this one!

Fabulous character development, tons of suspense, and just a fun read. Lots of potential killers that I couldn't put it down till I found out who did it!

First of all, when I read the author’s bio for this book, I was 100% IN and immediately requested an ARC of this new mystery from Macmillan Publishers via NetGalley. Benoit, whose debut novel The Gardener’s Plot won the First Crime Novel Competition sponsored by Minotaur Books/Mystery Writers of America. Prior to taking to the blood-dripping pen of mystery writers, Benoit was a legal secretary for 30 years. As an aspiring writer working on my first novel, who coincidentally spent 20 years in the legal field, I take great comfort in knowing it’s not too late to swing for the fences!
It was obvious to me early on that this was no run of the mill debut novel. The writing is solid and engaging. The characters are fully developed and the plot is compelling. While I spent the first quarter of the book angsting over the disappearance of Maggie’s good friend and fellow gardener Violet, a body is found in the new community garden…and it’s not the missing Violet! Nice twist there.
In The Gardener’s Plot, I didn’t find many of the usual weaknesses in debut novels, but if I had to quibble over anything it would be that there is not much in the way of physical description of the characters. I like to be able to paint a picture in my mind of the characters and I found it difficult to do so with this one. Not a deal killer by any stretch, as the imagery and descriptive writing for the flowers and trees was excellent. It is a book about gardening after all!
I zipped through this mystery at top speed, not just to learn the identity of the killer, but because the plot and character development kept me very interested. The ending is very satisfying, if a bit of a nail-biter—to be honest a bit less cozy than the traditional cozy mystery—but it left a few loose threads that I can only imagine Ms. Benoit is hard at work to tie up in book #2. I’m banking on this one being the start of a Maggie Walker series! As stated earlier, I’m 100% IN on this one! Well done, Ms. Benoit, well done!