Publisher's Weekly
As Gwendoline Butler, this British author writes the Detective Coffin series; as Melville, she has been praised for Windsor Red and Murder Has a Pretty Face . All of them are superior to this interminable effort. The Garden is a London enclave, home to best friends and busy career women Edwina, Cassie and Alice. The trio attends the wedding of Edwina's father to his second wife, where Edwina is preoccupied with thoughts of her pregnancy by a lover recently killed in an auto crash. But when the women gather after the reception, they discuss a more immediate subject: the fatal poisoning of another guest. Meanwhile, anonymous, menacing phone calls to Edwina increase, simultaneous with murderous attacks on her neighbors. The disturbances strain the women's friendship and, ultimately, the reader's patience, as repetitious details about dozens of unrealistic characters become confusing and irritating. When, at long last, the denouement comes, it's less a surprise than an anticlimax.
As Gwendoline Butler, this British author writes the Detective Coffin series; as Melville, she has been praised for Windsor Red and Murder Has a Pretty Face . All of them are superior to this interminable effort. The Garden is a London enclave, home to best friends and busy career women Edwina, Cassie and Alice. The trio attends the wedding of Edwina's father to his second wife, where Edwina is preoccupied with thoughts of her pregnancy by a lover recently killed in an auto crash. But when the women gather after the reception, they discuss a more immediate subject: the fatal poisoning of another guest. Meanwhile, anonymous, menacing phone calls to Edwina increase, simultaneous with murderous attacks on her neighbors. The disturbances strain the women's friendship and, ultimately, the reader's patience, as repetitious details about dozens of unrealistic characters become confusing and irritating. When, at long last, the denouement comes, it's less a surprise than an anticlimax.
Used availability for Jennie Melville's Murder in the Garden
See all available used copies of this book at: Abebooks UK or Abebooks US
Hardback Editions
October 1991 : Hardback
| Title: Murder in the Garden Author(s): Jennie Melville ISBN: 0-517-07814-7 / 978-0-517-07814-3 (USA edition) Publisher: Random House Value Publishing Availability: Amazon Amazon CA More details... |
January 1990 : Hardback
| Title: Murder in the Garden Author(s): Jennie Melville ISBN: 0-312-03895-X / 978-0-312-03895-3 (USA edition) Publisher: Minotaur Books Availability: Amazon Amazon UK Amazon CA More details... |
February 1988 : Hardback
| Title: Death in the Garden (Lythway Large Print Books) Author(s): Jennie Melville ISBN: 0-7451-0668-4 / 978-0-7451-0668-7 (UK edition) Publisher: Chivers Large print (Chivers, Windsor, Paragon & C Availability: Amazon Amazon UK Amazon CA More details... |
March 1987 : Hardback
| Title: Death in the Garden Author(s): Jennie Melville ISBN: 0-333-43717-9 / 978-0-333-43717-9 (UK edition) Publisher: Macmillan, London Availability: Amazon Amazon UK More details... |
Paperback Editions
August 2001 : Paperback
| Title: Murder in the Garden Author(s): Jennie Melville ISBN: 0-312-29185-X / 978-0-312-29185-3 (USA edition) Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books Availability: Amazon Amazon UK Amazon CA More details... |
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