Trowel and Error

The English Cottage Garden Mysteries, Book 4

By: H.Y. Hanna

Narrated by: Pearl Hewitt

Length: 8 hrs and 2 mins

Publisher's Summary

Autumn has arrived, with crisp, cold mornings, dew on the grass, and hedgerows full of blackberries...

When budding garden sleuth Poppy is invited to a party in a beautiful orangery, the last thing she expects is to witness a lethal wasp attack! As authorities investigate the possibility of murder, Poppy is horrified when local handyman Joe Fabbri, her friend and mentor, becomes the main suspect. Determined to prove Joe's innocence, Poppy sets out to solve the case - with help from her "mad scientist" neighbour, his new robotic invention, and a particularly stinky mushroom!

Meanwhile, Poppy is also learning that gardening isn't just sunshine and roses. As she grapples with wild wind, heavy rain, and unpleasant autumn chores, she wonders if she's bitten off more than she can chew. With limited horticultural experience and a long winter ahead, can she really make a success of the cottage garden nursery that she's inherited?

As Oren, the talkative ginger cat, lends a paw, and crime author Nick Forrest helps her dig for clues, Poppy makes a startling discovery: Could there be a link between the murder victim and her long-lost father? Would solving this case also give her answers to the biggest mystery from her past?

©2020 H.Y. Hanna (P)2020 H.Y. Hanna

Poppy's Family 😄!

I absolutely love the beauty, warmth, mystery and fun these stories about Poppy, Oren and all the other people and dog ( Einstein) that gives me a place to go. I can see the people, the gardens, and feel the love they have for each other. I am happy she found out who her father wasn't. How much fun to have a new character like Clara!!! Anxious to see if Nell and Clara will be friends. I'm thrilled and that Bernie invented a yummy flavor for Orens cat food. Also his amazing mushroom remedies!! Can't wait to read book # 5!!
And as always... Pearl Hewitt is the BEST narrator I've ever heard!!!
THANK YOU! PLEASE NEVER STOP WRITING!!!!

Less humor, but just as good as the rest!

I loved this one! The humor was a lot less than previous books, but that was all right because the story and twists and turns were really good. Poppy's despair was a bit heavier this time around as well, but she also didn't make any maddening mistakes like she did in previous books (like fibbing about how much experience she had in gardening or something to that effect). Somehow, the whole thing balanced out so I didn't feel bogged down by Poppy's troubles. As always, H.Y. Hanna did a spectacular job!!!

Delightful Addition to the Series

Trowel and Error was another delightful addition to H.Y. Hanna's cottage garden mystery series. I feel like the characters continue to grow wonderfully book to book, and I was delighted to follow their new adventures. Pearl's narration too continues to just bring even more life to an already vibrant tale. I only regret I listened to this too quickly perhaps as now I'll have to wait sometime for the next book.

A fun listen!

Trowel and Error, the latest in the English Cottage Garden mysteries, is an entertaining cozy mystery with interesting characters, plenty of humor, and a great setting, which is described so well by the author that I almost feel like I'm there. I always learn something garden related from this series - this time it was about how to grow gardenias, and was really helpful.

One thing I particularly like about H.Y. Hanna is she always comes up with unique methods of murder, as well as plenty of suspects to keep you guessing, and this book is no exception.

The story was well written, intriguing, fast paced, and kept me listening. I'm enjoying seeing the main character, Poppy, grow and develop, through her problems, mistakes, successes, and relationships with her various friends and neighbors. Oren, the feisty feline, is always entertaining. A new invention by Poppy's eccentric neighbor Bertie, CLARA the cleaning robot, provides several laugh-out-loud moments.

The reader, Pearl Hewitt, is adept at voicing all the different characters, even a cat and a dog, (and now a robot as well!) . She really brings the characters to life, and is certainly one of the best narrators I've ever listened to.

If you enjoy cozy mysteries, you will love this series! Highly recommended!
I received a free copy of this audiobook in exchange for my honest review.

Love the English Garden Series

I love all of HY Hanna's books and The English Garden Series is excellent. The narrator Pearl Hewitt is fantastic! I just wish they would hurry up and record some more!!!

Enjoyable

The best so far of this series. I have been waiting for another H.Y. Hanna book because they are do fun. This one was very entertaining, I can't wait for the next.

Love this series!

The characters in this series are able, funny & engaging. The narration is just perfect and it’s such a joy to jump into this world and solve a cozy mystery

I still just so much dislike the main character

I love the descriptive way she describes the flowers, the people and animals, but I just absolutely dislike the character of Poppy. And that's hard for me to get past unfortunately. I always have no problem figuring out the killer very early on as well.
What has kept me listening to the series though is the wonderful voice actress and the beautiful descriptions, so detailed that I can almost smell the soil and flowers. I think the author is very gifted in that area!

Earns 5+/5 Swarmzzzz...Engaging Entertainment!

Trowel and Error, The buzz is...it’s brilliant! H.Y. Hanna is an all-time favorite author for her clever mystery, descriptive language, and an entertaining banter, and this fourth book in her English Cottage Garden Mystery is another excellent adventure. The murder mystery was well-developed from the victim selection and a long list of folks connected to the victim to intriguing motives and interesting secrets, and ending with a final nail-biting bit of personal peril. I had the killer on my radar, but cleverly Hanna’s story had me dismiss that idea when something better came along...I love it when I get stumped. Readers get more insights into Poppy’s late mother and the father she never knew...fascinating side story! The English Cottage Garden main characters are delightful, realistic, and varied in age to meet any cozy fan’s preferences, and additional characters do well to support their personalities, class, and education. Several suspects had the opportunity and slowly several motives are exposed as Poppy uses her informal queries, Bertie’s newest invention CLARA, and an “in” at the police station; my inner Sherlock was on overdrive. I may not be an active gardener, but I greatly enjoyed the idea of a nursery, gardening, and all the flowers talk. I loved it all!

How can H.Y. Hanna’s story get any better? Produce it as an audiobook narrated by the talented Pearl Hewitt. My entertainment is greatly enhanced by Pearl’s ability to go well beyond a traditional reading out loud with variations of the British accent illustrating region and education, great effort with make voices, and performing the tone and emotions to keep me totally engaged. She makes an excellent CLARA, the robot. She sure is my favorite narrator, and when I read one of Hanna’s books, I always have Pearl’s voice in my head.

Killed the series for me

Not that the previous books were great, but they were light and the narration and production made them easy to listen to. This one is horrible. I’m willing to overlook some poor story lines but I couldn’t even get through this book and I won’t be keeping up with the series any longer.

Lovely book

Loved it looking forward to the next story. Hope there are many more... By H Y Hanna

good story

the story content is brilliant it's a lovely escapist story especially in the year 2020

great fun! please keep them coming!

As always a fun story with lovely characters. the narrator is charming. where is the next installment?

brilliant

yet another well written and read book. roll on number 5. the sooner the better

No error made with this mystery

I really enjoy the book version of this story so was really glad to grab the audio book version too.This is another fun cozy mystery that I loved by H.Y Hanna. Once again she has beautifully weaved a clever murder mystery into a entertaining plot. I really like the characters and animals, they are so much fun and written about so well that even if this is your first introduction to them you have no problems imaging them. I love quirky characters and I can't think of anyone more quirky then Dr Bertram, the mad scientist neighbour and all his inventions, that somehow never do what they are ment to do, all highly amusing and a great imagination is needed to come up with some of his inventions. The mystery was good and I found myself guessing along with Poppy nearly until the end, as there was lots of suspects all with reasons to hate the victim. I had worked it out just before Poppy but only just. H.Y. Hanna is a talented author and I would recommend any of her books from any of her three series to a friend, especially if they needed cheering up.
Poppy is blackmailed by her cousin to attend a party as his date. She should have know better than to go alone with him and being introduce as somebody else was her first clue that the night wasn't going to end well. Then she is caught up in a wasp attack but what made the swaps swarm in the first place? Things escalate when the dead body of an aging rock star is found out side. He was a gate crasher and wasn't invited to the party but should that have really cost him his life? The police suspect it was murder when a towel belonging to her friend and helper in her cottage garden is found under the body. Poppy is quick to jump to his rescue and point out many other party guest had just as much reason to see him dead from the cheated band member to the crazy super fan to the ex pa of the host of the party. A storm is coming and it is not just the one caused by the weather, Poppy will have to solve this murder if she doesn't want the police to arrest the wrong man, as well as battle a grumpy cat who is on a strict diet and fend off a mad cleaning robot.
Pearl Hewitt does another excellent job with the narration and even my dog was hooked by the story because when Oren the cat meowed she had to run down the garden barking.
I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

A great series

I've loved listening to this book. I feel like the characters are now my old friends. I really like Nick and Poppy's interactions and I'm looking forward to seeing them develop their friendship more. Bertie is an eccentric character and a source of great amusement. His inventions are totally wacky! This mystery had me entertained and guessing. I was also very intrigued about the connection the characters may have had to Poppy's father. Poppy's slightly shady cousin is lots of fun as well. He will, no doubt, pop up again at some stage to cause bother!
I definitely recommend this series to fans of cosy mysteries.


I received a complimentary review copy and this is my voluntary and unbiased opinion.