Death in a Desert Garden

by Marty Eberhardt

Overview

Bea Rivers’ new job at Shandley Gardens seems to be idyllic; a stimulating career at a desert garden full of botanical wonders. But a slow rot has spread within Shandley Gardens as financial woes add stress to the small board of directors, putting Bea's job at risk. When one of the Gardens’ founders, Liz Shandley, is killed in what appears to be a tragic accident, the immediate worry is the survival of the Gardens. But then the police determine that Liz was murdered, and suddenly Bea's job is less than idyllic. The tangled web of relationships is almost as confusing as the enigmatic botanical clues someone keeps dropping. Bea struggles to balance her life as a committed single parent dating a struggling writer while she’s drawn further into the investigation of Liz's death. As Bea tries to decipher the strange clues to find the murderer, she uncovers deep secrets and surprises among the staff and board that will forever change the Gardens.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781951122225
Publisher:	Artemesia Publishing, LLC NC
Publication date:	10/05/2021
Series:	Bea Rivers Mystery
Pages:	214
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.50(d)

About the Author

Marty Eberhardt directed botanical gardens in Tucson and San Diego, and spent many years as a nonprofit staff member, board member and consultant. She now delights in using the right side of her brain to write fiction and poetry. She has published sixteen poems and two prose pieces in The Wilderness House Literary Review, The Dragon Poet Review, The San Diego Writers INK 2017 Anthology, three volumes of The Guilded Pen, The Twisted Vine Literary Review, and The Silver City Quarterly Review. She divides her time between Silver City, NM and San Diego.

Editorial Reviews

"Marty Eberhardt expertly draws the reader into the beauty and danger of the desert, weaving elements of the traditional mystery into the story along the way. The result is a great read!" —Marty Wingate, author of the First Edition Library mysteries and the Potting Shed mysteries

Marty Eberhardt creates a tale full of endearing characters, alluring landscapes, and local flavor. . . . Seeded with native plant lore, Death in a Desert Garden had me guessing right to the end. If you can’t get enough of good mysteries with southwest settings, make Death in a Desert Garden the very next book on your reading list." Vicky Ramakka, author, The Cactus Plot

From the Publisher

10/01/2021

DEBUT Eberhardt's cozy debut features Bea Rivers, who lives a modest life as a divorcée, raising her two kids, dating, and working at Shandley Gardens in Tucson, AZ. Her manager has organized a retreat inside Shandley Gardens for the staff and the board. Just as Bea is arriving at the retreat, the board member and garden founder Liz Shandley is found injured under a eucalyptus tree in the garden. Near the tree there's a strange, crudely tiled portrait of Liz. When Liz dies after being taken to the hospital, authorities determine that she was murdered. Who would want to murder the philanthropist, and why? Everyone is a suspect, but Bea's alibi is airtight, and it turns out that her old school friend Marcia is the investigating officer. Other staff and board members start inviting Bea over and testing out their theories on her, and everyone wants to know what she thinks. But are the staff and the board who they say they are? Can Bea help Marcia find and charge the correct person with the crime? VERDICT For fans of cozy mysteries in Southwestern settings.—Michelle Gilbert Doshi, Lake Forest Lib., IL

Library Journal