Garden Girl

Cape Breton Mysteries, Book 1

By: Renny deGroot

Narrated by: Nathan Foss

Length: 9 hrs and 17 mins

Publisher's summary

Gordie MacLean, a 53-year-old bachelor detective is content minding his own patch of Cape Breton Island with its rugged coastal landscape and low crime rate. When the remains of a missing person are discovered though, he’s in the right place at the right time to be lead on the case. MacLean battles his sergeant’s scorn and his own demons to prove that he can hunt down the killer; a killer who will stop at nothing to protect their long-buried secrets.

For fans of P.D. James, this book brings a classic police procedural to life, in a Canadian setting.

©2021 Toadhollow Publishing (P)2023 Renny Vivian deGroot-MacKinnon

Truely Loved This Murder Mystery!!

I am one of those people who usually figure out the murderer and plot, way before the author reveals it. This time I did Not, which makes this a Very excellent story in my opinion. Narrator does a Great job with the various characters voices and the entire storyline!!

Slow but good

Garden Girl starts with a bang when the body of a girl is found in someone’s garden. That’s the most excitement found in this book until the very end. It’s much more like real life than many mysteries in books or movies because the case involves a lot of interviews, research and discussion. If you like dialogue and police procedurals, you’ll like this book!

Gordie MacLean is an interesting character dealing with his own issues, and he’s not thrilled about having a new partner. It’s located in Cape Breton which is normally peaceful with little crime.

The narrator has good timing and does well with the different voices. It did take me a while to get used to Gordie’s voice. It irritated me at first, but it grew on me.

There are a lot of suspects, but the outcome was fairly predictable. It was still a good read and I recommend it if you like police procedurals.

Excellent police procedural

If you enjoy a good mystery/police procedural this book would be good for you. A body is found while digging up a garden and the nickname Garden Girl stuck for a little while. I listened to the audiobook which was about 9 hours. I really enjoyed the police work and how they had to follow multiple avenues to try to solve the case. Gordie is a very relatable character. An older cop on his first major case who has a lot to prove. I think his boss wanted Gordie to fail at the case but Gordie was determined to solve it and find justice. An excellent story that will keep you engaged from beginning to end.

Worst. Narrator. Ever. Browsers. Beware.

"A woman. With shaggy. Grey hair. Who might have been. Anywhere between. Fifty and sixty. Opened the door." Actual quote from the narration, or should I have said, actual. Quote. From the. Narration.

Exhausting to listen to, and further exacerbated by Foss's droning monotonous tone, which might put one to sleep if the pauses. Were. Not so. Random. that arbitrary. Emphasis was placed on. Haphazard words and. Phrases. And became. Frustrating and. Absolutely infuriating. Like this paragraph.

The sample prologue available gives little warning, except for the occasional breathlessness, of the relentlessly fractured narrative to follow. I am returning this book, because life is too short to wait for this narrator to complete a sentence.