From Garden to Grave

By: Rickie Blair

Narrated by: Petrea Burchard

Length: 8 hrs and 12 mins

Publisher's Summary

Murder. It’s a perennial problem.

Verity Hawkes is a shut-in. After two years bunkered in her apartment, the only thing that gets her out is the disappearance of her beloved but eccentric aunt. As she takes over her aunt’s landscaping shop, she’ll need to go from hoarder to horticulturist in a hurry....

Her new home of Leafy Hollow is quaint, except for her most obnoxious client. When a series of freak accidents kills the customer, all signs point to Verity as the killer. 

The hunt for answers is on, and Verity must question a tipsy carpenter, a bacon-peddling vegan restaurateur, and her dreamy landscaping competitor to keep her new life afloat. Failure to find the truth could put her back in a confined space for much more than two years....

From Garden to Grave is the first book in a series of delightfully funny cozy mysteries. If you like lovably quirky characters, deceptively idyllic Canadian villages, and twists you won’t see coming, then you’ll love Rickie Blair’s Leafy Hollow Mysteries series. 

Buy From Garden to Grave to plant a new seed of mystery today!

©2018 Barkley Books (P)2019 Barkley Books

Very satisfying cozy mystery

I'd give this 4.5 stars if I could. It started off a little slowly, but picked up well. The author has a very understated sense of humor - in some places I laughed out loud. The narrator, Petrea Burchard, is a very gifted voice actor. She created distinct and appropriate voices for each of the characters, so it's always clear who is speaking. When I closed my eyes and listened, I was completely carried away.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

lots of characters

this was lots of fun. interesting characters. great narration. can't wait for the next audiobook.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Cozy mystery, good story & narration

Verify goes to clear up her presumably dead Aunt's estate. This cozy mystery has murder, current & past. The uncovered secret life of her Aunt, small town rumors, a financially challenged landscaping business, a falling down cottage, & several possible villains. I look forward to listening to the next book in this series.

I was given an ARC, but voluntarily left this review

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Entertaining

From Garden to Grave is the first book in the The Leafy Hollow Mystery series by Rickie Blair.

I listened to the audiobook and really enjoyed the narration.

Verity Hawkes is having a difficult time and things get off to a rough start when she returns to Leafy Hollow to see about her missing aunt.

Her aunt’s home is rundown and she has to deal with that as well as trying to save her aunt’s lawn care business.

There is an interesting twist/cliffhanger at the end of the book and Kim anxious to read the next book to see what happens.

The one complaint for me is that I don’t like it when the protagonist puts herself in dangerous situations and in this case they actually did something illegal. I’ll hoping it doesn’t continue in future books.

I received a free audio review copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review.

Murder in Small Town Ontario

Verity Hawkes has been hiding out in her B.C. condo and not dealing with the world since the death of her husband two years ago, but when she gets a call from her eccentric aunt's lawyer back in Ontario to let her know that said aunt's car was found in the river and she is presumed dead, Verity heads home to clean up the mess and, maybe, solve the mystery.
When she arrives, she finds her aunts business and her beloved Rose Cottage both teetering on the edge of collapse ... and then people start turning up dead.
This was an entertaining romp through a lovingly cast and relatively accurate small town rural Ontario. Verity and her Leafy Hollow acquaintances are quirky, opinionated and a lot of fun, and the series of "who dun it's" , including what really happened to her missing aunt kept me following the clues to the very end.
I enjoyed this story ... probably enough to look up the next story. If only to find out what I don't yet know about Verity's missing - but almost certainly not dead - aunt.

Light, enjoyable cozy mystery

Verity Hawkes has been hiding out in her apartment in Vancouver for two years, ever since her husband, Matthew, died. Now she's gotten a call from her Aunt Adeline's lawyer, Wilford Munson. Adeline's car was pulled out of a river, and while Adeline wasn't in it, neither has she turned up anywhere else. She's missing and presumed dead. And recluse Verity needs to come to tiny Leafy Hollow, Ontario, to settle her aunt's estate, right now.

Reluctantly, Verity takes her first trip in two years.

Her aunt's Rose Cottage, which she remembers so fondly, is in very sad shape. Her aunt's garden has clearly been neglected longer than Adeline has been missing. Her lawn care business is alive, but in the red, because Adeline hasn't been going after unpaid invoices in a while.

This is not going to be the short trip and then back into hiding in her Vancouver apartment that Verity has hoped for. Something is very wrong, and she's not at all convinced her aunt is dead.

Soon, while continuing to believe that she's absolutely going back to Vancouver as soon as possible, Verity is making friends, forming connections, doing small, helpful things for people, getting caught up in trying to run her aunt's business effectively. And, of course, trying to figure out why her aunt disappeared.

The first part of the book had me jumpy (like Verity, I do have anxiety issues), with events that seemed to happen just a little bit too quickly and randomly. Then either the book settled down or I did, and became quite enjoyable. Even across this rather short book, characters grew and developed and showed more depth than seemed likely at first meeting. By the end, I really wanted to see more of most of them.

Recommended for a light read.

I received a free copy of this audiobook from the author, and am reviewing it voluntarily.

An entertaining, funny cozy mystery

From Garden to Grave is a great, funny cozy mystery about a woman who finds all sorts of trouble when she goes to care for her aunt’s home after her aunt disappears. The story is entertaining with quirky characters and unforeseen twists. This is the first book in a series, and I would like to read/ listen to more.

The narrator of the audiobook does a very good job with the characters voices and the story.

I received a complimentary copy of this audiobook. This is my honest and voluntary review.

A book you can enjoy anywhere

Wow, I just loved this book and hope the next book is released soon because I want to find out what happens next. The characters were fun and I enjoyed the mystery surrounding the disappearance of the aunt. The small facts and secrets that Verity found out added a little something to the story and gave a little twist to what promises to be a great cozy mystery series. It also had me chuckling in a few places.
When Verify's Aunt disappears in leafy Hollow, she has to leave her apartment after two years and face her fears to travel to the sleepy town. When she arrives things are not quite what she is expecting, her aunts cottage is run down and her garden business is in trouble. Verity doesn't believe her resourceful and eccentric aunt can be dead and decides to stick around and keep things going for her aunt until she returns. The problem is Verity doesn't know anything about gardening and her first job doesn't go well but it turns even worse when the client turn up dead. It turns out Leafy Hollow isn't so sleepy and as Verity was the last person to have a shouting match with the victim the police are taking a closer look at her. Can Varity solve the disappearance of her aunty? Or more importantly dig up clues that will stop herself from being arrested?
The narrator was good and I liked her use of vocals for all the characters.
All in all I liked this book and I highly recommend it, in fact I am going to suggest my mum listens to it too.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Brilliant

I loved this audio book. Great characters and brilliant storyline.
I highly recommend this book.
Good narration.
❤️😍🤩🤪

1 of 1 people found this review helpful