Goodreads: Planted 4 Murder by J.C. EatonRating: Really Liked It (4 Stars)Source: Publisher
Description: When the seniors of Sun City West take over a garden plot, they have no idea they’ll unearth a plot for murder . . .
At the urging of the guys in the pinochle club, the members of the Sun City West book club decide it’s time to grow their own vegetables and join the local agriculture club. But when tending to their plants turns up a skeletal hand, the gang begin to feel like they’re working in a graveyard instead of a garden. It’s clear that whoever the bones belong to was the victim of foul play, and soon the seniors are pleading with Sophie “Phee” Kimball to step in and help them weed out the killer.
As rumors and speculation flourish, Phee begins to grow suspicious of the other members of the community garden. Certain that one of them chopped up a body and scattered the parts, she has to deal with invasive insects, sabotaged crops and her mother’s hairbrained schemes as she digs for evidence. Her efforts are finally rewarded when a ring found on the skeletal hand yields a clue that will lead her straight to the culprit. The only problem is that the killer is one step ahead of her, and Phee discovers too late that she’s in for a hoe lot of trouble . . .
Genre: Mystery - Cozy
Why I Picked This Book: I have been reading this series since the beginning and always enjoy seeing what trouble Phee, her mother, Harriet, and the rest of the Sun City West crew get up to.
My Impression: In this latest book the Sun City West crew have decided to start gardening which seems harmless enough - until Harriet's neurotic and badly behaved dog, Streetman, finds a skeletonized human hand in compost pile. Soon enough there is all kinds of drama - from plot sabotaging, gossiping and culminating in a murder. To make things more challenging the victim is one that most of the gardening club is happy to see gone. Motives and suspects abound.
Since the actual private investigators - Nate and Phee's husband, Marshall - are out of state if not the country chasing down cat thieves, Phee can't help but get involved. The investigation goes along the usual pattern. The book club ladies and Herb's group have some serious hijinks, Phee gets to make an early morning visit to the dog park to get some gossip from Cindy, Rolo shows up a time or two (though I'm a bit disappointed that I didn't find out what appliance he wanted though apparently it's from Ikea), and Streetman causes some serious trouble. Add in the addition of Aunt Ina's literary group and a whole new group from the gardening club and it made for a very fun if a bit chaotic read. As usual I enjoyed this book. The mystery is fun and holds together nicely, the pacing is good, and the chaos is a lot of fun. Bonus points for having a little whos who of characters in the very front as there is a pretty big cast. As well, I loved all the mentions of Phee's Uncle Louis. He's one of my favorite characters in the series and even though all his doings were off page I enjoyed the mentions.
This series is written by a married couple and I was so sad to see the authors note at the end that Jim had died at the beginning of the year. Ann does mention that they already had the next two books in this series put together as well as having a notebook of "murder ideas". I can only hope that the writing this series brings her as much joy as it does the reader.
Would I Read More of this Series/Author? Absolutely! I always enjoy this series and look forward to reading more - and other series by this author.
Would I Recommend this Book? If you enjoy quirky cozies this is a fun series that you really must try.
* I received this book in exchange for an honest review. As always my opinions and impressions are completely my own. *
