Product Description

No one could ever accuse Jane Jeffry or her equally green-thumbless best friend Shelly Nowack of being modern reicarnations of Luther Burbank. Their ineptitude in all things vegatative has inspired them to sign up for a botany class at the local community center, even though the gods of gardening seem to be warning Jane to steer clear.

Jane trips on a curb and badly bangs up her foot, but his gamely hobbles to class on crutches and in a cast, only to learn that the glamorous and celebrated microbiologist teacher, Julie Jackson, has been beaten into a coma by a person or persons unknown. But the class must go on, even though the substitute teacher, Dr. Stewart Eastman, is the arrogant creator of his patented plant species and more interested in his personal ambition to achieve botanical fame and fortune than imparting knowledge or a love of gardening. He's propaganding only his ego and his latest floral coup.

When a murder occurs, there's and abundant crop of suspects in the class, Is the perp who plants a body in Dr. Eastman's compost pile the conspiracy nut Ursula Appledorn, who's' convinced that they are being stalked by a cabal involving the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Queen Elizabeth, and the French Dauphin? Or maybe the obsessively tidy computer nerd Charles Jones? Or the milquetoast widoer Arnold Waring? Perhaps it's the terrifying knowledgeable Miss Martha Winstead with her strong opinions on gardening?

Jane's beau, police detective Mel VanDyne, who admits to a secret longing to drive dieselpowered earth-moving equipment, is on the case, but hasn't seen the gardens the classmates have created -- wherein flourishes the floral clue to the grimy crime. Jane's afraid he'll pluck out the wrong suspect.

And Jane, her nuisance injury ignored, is willing to get her gardening gloves, and Shelly's as well, dirty to uneath the gardener who's responsible for one bashing and one buried.

Product Details

• Published on: 2000-11-08
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 224 pages

From Publishers Weekly
The title of this 12th Jane Jeffry gardening mystery from Macavity and Agatha Award-winner Churchill (Grime and Punishment; A Farewell to Yarns; etc.) says it all, as the crime element is almost an afterthought. When Jane and neighbor Shelley Nowack sign up for a gardening class at their local community center, they end up with a substitute, the pompous Dr. Stewart Eastman, after an unknown intruder sneaks into the home of the regular teacher, Julie Jackson, and knocks her out, leaving her in a coma. Suspects in the attack include everyone taking the gardening class: fastidious computer programmer Charles Jones, persnickety librarian Martha Winstead, lonely widower Arnie Waring and loony aging hippie Ursula Appledorn. But in this leisurely, talky tale, Jane is less concerned with crime solving than with visiting the gardens of her classmates, tending to her injured foot, worrying about her teenage son's unsuitable girlfriend and buying herself a new TV for her bedroom. Only near the end does a murder occurDDr. Eastman is found strangled with green twine in a compost pileDafter which Churchill brings the plot to a tidy conclusion, with the killer's motive turning on Dr. Eastman's patented pink marigolds. While Jane and Shelley make plenty of wry social comments, there's too little sleuthing going on for this cozy to appeal to anyone except gardeners and already established fans. (Dec. 1)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
Jane Jeffry is definitely a cozy sort: her best friend, Shelly, lives next door, and her kids are adolescent but adorable. In this latest adventure, Jane's boyfriend, Mel the detective, is mostly offstage. Shelly and Jane sign up for a gardening class, but their lecturer, a plant researcher, is severely beaten before it begins. The class goes forward anyway, with a supercilious replacement and an assortment of broadly drawn but vivid types: a take-no-prisoners elderly librarian, a martinet whose pant creases match his tortuous garden geometry, a befuddled fellow who can't get over the death of his wife, a conspiracy freak, and so on. When the offensive replacement lecturer is found dead in his own garden, Jane and Shelly find digging up the connections among these folks to be irresistible. Jane is only slightly hampered by a broken foot, and this time she even treats herself to a TV in the bedroom. GraceAnne DeCandido
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

-- Carolyn Hart
"Jill Churchill creates domestic malice with a deft pen."

Customer Reviews

Enjoyable enough
Todd was at soccer camp, the cooking lessons were to keep Ursula away, who cares what Shelley's husband was doing? Or Jane's in-laws? Or if a murder doesn't actually happen until late in the book? It's still got a mystery in it! I liked Shelley's and Jane's gardening solutions, too!

Light Frothy Gardening Mystery
If you like light, frothy and cozy mysteries, this is the book for you. I enjoy Jill Churchill's books even though I have been able to guess the murderer in each, but this does not deter me from further reading.

Jane and Shelly are best friends living next door to each other. Jane (not unlikely for a cozy mystery) has a detective boyfriend named Mel. So when a murder does happen, he is conveniently there to help her and her friend solve it.

In this book, Jane and Shelly enroll in a gardening class, but the teacher has bludgeoned and lies in a coma. A stuffy plant researcher takes over the class but instead of teaching the basics of gardening, he immediately delves into plant patents by showing off his pink marigolds.

The class itself is made up of an odd assortment of garden "lovers" who want to show off their particular gardens to the others--some of which are very good and some horrid.

Then, the substitute lecturer is found dead in his own compost pile, and Jane and Shelly are off to find who in the class did him in.

Mulch is an enjoyable and quick read with many humorous touches thrown in by the author. Plan to read Jill Churchill's books if you want to be entertained, and you won't be disappointed.

An enjoyable read!!
I picked up this book at the grocery store when I was desperate for something to read while visiting relatives. What a joy! Although this was my first Jan Jeffry novel, it's not my last!

Jane Jeffry and her friend Shelly Nowack offer some laughs while they work to solve a crime. In this case they signed up to take a gardening class when the instructor is attacked and the substitute instructor is killed. While Jane juggles house work, raising children and a gardening class, her and her friend work to solve a the murder.

If I could rate it a 4+ I would have done that or a 5-. Mainly because I thought the ending was a little bit abrupt. However, it was a great read and I'm buying more of her books today.

Enjoy.