Fronds and Enemies

Spring has come at last with cheerful daffodils and plump crocus blooms, and Poppy is hoping that the new season will magically resurrect the cottage garden nursery she's inherited. But with her stock failing to grow and a mysterious "peeping Tom" stalking the village, she's got her gardening gloves full... and that's even before her visit to the local doctor ends with her stumbling on a dead body! Then her friend and neighbour - crime author Nick Forrest - suddenly finds himself the top suspect, and a missing garden gnome is the only lead in the case. Determined to find the real killer, Poppy sets out to do some horticultural sleuthing - helped by eccentric old inventor Bertie and a posse of nosy villagers. All she finds, however, are more questions. Was the murder simply a "crime of passion" or was it something more sinister? Is there a link to the recent spate of creepy lingerie thefts in the village? And could the naughty ginger tomcat Oren be the key to solving the mystery? As she grapples with spindly seedlings and cryptic clues, Poppy discovers that even a sleepy English village can be a hotbed of deceit and death...

Spring has come at last with cheerful daffodils and plump crocus blooms, and Poppy is hoping that the new season will magically resurrect the cottage garden nursery she's inherited. But with her stock failing to grow and a mysterious "peeping Tom" stalking the village, she's got her gardening gloves full... and that's even before her visit to the local doctor ends with her stumbling on a dead body! Then her friend and neighbour - crime author Nick Forrest - suddenly finds himself the top suspect, and a missing garden gnome is the only lead in the case. Determined to find the real killer, Poppy sets out to do some horticultural sleuthing - helped by eccentric old inventor Bertie and a posse of nosy villagers. All she finds, however, are more questions. Was the murder simply a "crime of passion" or was it something more sinister? Is there a link to the recent spate of creepy lingerie thefts in the village? And could the naughty ginger tomcat Oren be the key to solving the mystery? As she grapples with spindly seedlings and cryptic clues, Poppy discovers that even a sleepy English village can be a hotbed of deceit and death...