Book Synopsis:
Anna Deerin moves to a remote Cotswold cottage to become a gardener, trying to strip away everything she’s spent all her life as a woman striving for, craving the anonymity and privacy her new off-grid life provides.
But when she clears the last vegetable bed and digs up not twigs but bones, the outside world is readmitted.
With it comes Detective Inspector Hitesh Mistry, who has his own reasons for a new start in the village of Upper Magna.
Drawn in spite of herself to this unknown woman from another time, Anna is determined to uncover her identity and gain recognition for her, if not justice.
As threats to Anna and her new life grow closer, she and DI Mistry will find that this murder is inextricably bound up with issues of gender, family, community, race and British identity itself – all as relevant in decades past as they are to Anna today.
My Review:
I really enjoyed this atmospheric, intriguing mystery which I can’t believe is a debut novel.
The story is told from the point of view of Anna a gardener and Hitesh a Detective Inspector recently arrived in the village in the present day. Their story is interspersed with a diary like entry from the daughter of Fallow Hall in 1967. I really like both Anna and Hitesh and enjoyed learning more about their backstory as the book continues. I found Anna’s job as a gardener particularly interesting as I loved the wonderfully vivid descriptions of what she grows and how she makes everything into produce to sell at the local market. Hitesh was another fascinating character, and it was lovely watching him become integrated into village life- particularly with his heart warming friendship with the local vicar.
I thought the book had a gentle pace to it and I enjoyed finding out more about village life as well as the history of the hall. The relationship and power dynamics between the villagers was interesting to unpick as there was definitely more lurking beneath the surface than I initially realised. I did guess who the victim was fairly early on, but I actually think that was the authors intention and there is enough uncertainty over who it might be that I had to keep reading to find out if I was right. The twist at the end was very clever as the reader discovers more about the murky history of the hall and why the victim was murdered. I must admit that it took me a bit my surprise as I had many theories but had been unable to guess.
Overall as you can probably guess I enjoyed this book and will be recommending it to people who might like a gentle, cosy mystery involving a very interesting house. I look forward to reading more from her in the future.
About The Author:
Born and raised in South Gloucestershire, Bonnie Burke-Patel studied History at Oxford. After working for half a decade in politics and policy, she changed careers and became a preschool teacher, before beginning to write full time. She lives with her husband, son, and needy cat in south east London, and is working on her next crime novel about fairy tales, desire, and the seaside.
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