The Body in the Garden

A Lily Adler Mystery

By: Katharine Schellman

Narrated by: Henrietta Meire

Length: 11 hrs and 11 mins

Publisher's summary

London 1815. Although newly widowed Lily Adler is returning to a society that frowns on independent women, she is determined to create a meaningful life for herself even without a husband. She's no stranger to the glittering world of London's upper crust. At a ball thrown by her oldest friend, Lady Walter, she expects the scandal, gossip, and secrets. What she doesn't expect is the dead body in Lady Walter's garden.

Lily overheard the man just minutes before he was shot: young, desperate, and attempting blackmail. But she's willing to leave the matter to the local constables - until Lord Walter bribes the investigating magistrate to drop the case. Stunned and confused, Lily realizes she's the only one with the key to catching the killer.

Aided by a roguish navy captain and a mysterious heiress from the West Indies, Lily sets out to discover whether her friend's husband is mixed up in blackmail and murder. The unlikely team tries to conceal their investigation behind the whirl of London's social season, but the dead man knew secrets about people with power. Secrets that they would kill to keep hidden. Now, Lily will have to uncover the truth - before she becomes the murderer's next target.

©2020 Katharine Schellman (P)2020 Dreamscape Media, LLC

Great mystery story

I thoroughly enjoyed The Body in the Garden. It was well written and a well-crafted mystery. I became thoroughly invested in the character of Lily Adler. I will say it was reminiscent of another series I like, The Roselind Thorne mysteries by Darcie Wilde, but love them both . I'm so happy to have found Katharine Schellman. I look forward to listening to the next book in the series.

Not a cozy mystery

Real thought and portrayal of women’s issues, classism, and colonial bigotry. A nice group of twists and turns in the hunt for a killer. But no matter how much they laude Lilly’s intelligence and independence, I can’t stand the simpering, back stabbing, and false friends. I don’t even care now about the end as I consider how this deplorable society will treat the murderer’s family.
I would argue that the story might be better if they changed the time and community, but sadly so many groups of people are still this horrible.
In defense for the story, it is a historical not a cozy mystery.

EXCELLENT READ

LOVED THIS BOOK. THE CHARACTERS ARE CAPTIVATING, AND THE MOMENTS OF HUMOR SLIPPED IN AT JUST THE RIGHT MOMENT. THE STORY WAS INTRIGUING, AND, YES, WE CAN ALL FEEL SUPERIOR, FROM TIME TO TIME, AT HOW MUCH LESS MATERIALISTIC AND ARTIFICIAL WE ARE TODAY. (IF YOU REALLY THINK SO) I CANNOT WAIT TO READ BOOK 2.

Enjoyable book

Great characters, liked the narrator. enjoyed the historical aspect of the story. will probably check out book in the series.

what a great book

it was a good clean fun book. it took a lot of different turns. I was suspicious of everyone in the book. : ) I can wait to read more books by this author!

Narration detracted from story

I really enjoyed this story and Lily’s character. But for some reason, the narrator did a poor job with the men’s voices. Some sounded almost the same, and the mail male character was downright painful to listen to at times. To me, he sounded like a robot. So unfortunately, this took a LOT away from an enjoyable mystery

I enjoyed the book.

I was surprised to find this book being the authors first.
I felt the characters likeable. The storyline engaging.
The narrator, well I have had better. but she made the lead heroine stilted. and harsh. But it wasn't enough to make me stop listening as other harsh reviewers as stated. I think she did OK. The accents seemed forced and the men kind of sounded the same a bit. But ok.
New narrator? it did get better at the end with the easing of the main characters harshness.

Overall, a great first book.

Congratulations on that.

I will definitely be listening to book two, plus more to come I hope.

Thank you.

Good series intro

I actually listened to book 2 first, not knowing it was part of a series. I enjoyed coming back to the start of the series and learning how the various relationships started. Good Victorian mystery!

Great story all the way through

Great story all the way through. Interesting characters with depth and a solid plot. Loved it!

Great story for mystery lovers!

The characters were great, story kept me pressing play, and the ending was fun. I thoroughly enjoyed watching the characters evolve throughout the story. I look forward to the next book.