The Neglected Garden: A page-turner seeded with mystery and suspense

This was a decent and quick read, but I went into it expecting something a little bit different. The following 3 genres is what this was billed under.+International Mystery & Crime (Kindle Store)+International Mystery & Crime (Books)+Women's Mystery, Thriller & Suspense FictionThere was some mystery and suspense, but definitely more romance than anything. Especially since it not only involved Gilly and Marc, the 2 main characters, but Gilly's sister's wedding planning and relationship, also taking up large portions of the book.Typical tropes of young broken hearted female that never seems to get it right in the relationship department, meets hot, rich, foreigner, single dad, with a mysterious past that's not open to discussion, and needs someone with experience in the same field that the broken hearted female works in. Of course, there's a whodunit adventure to be solved that works it's way into the plot.For the most part, the relationship and the mystery are kept a a PG rating, with nothing too deep or violent.It's a quick page turner, if you're looking for some time to burn, and wanting a stand alone storyline that doesn't get too complicated.My final rating comes in at 3.5 stars.

I thoroughly enjoyed the story. It’s intriguing and surprising twist. The book has been well edited and lacks all the spelling errors so one ten I found in modern literature. I look forward to reading more by this author.

A wonderful read! The main character Gilly is so messy you can't help but hope things go her way. Oh, but the book has a twist and a turn and another twist! Just a wonderful story and Suzanne Winterly is a wonderful story teller!

This story has a good premise and I had high hopes for it. As a landscape designer, I am naturally drawn to books about rescuing abandoned gardens, (Who wasn't influenced by "Secret Garden?) and the description of Gilly's work in the garden is adequate. However, Gilly as a character is lacking. She is thoughtless, rude, contentious for no particular reason, just how she seems to be. She is not particularly likeable and I am sure I don't know why Marc is drawn to her. As the story opens, she has just been fired from another job because she complains about children and dogs playing in the gardens she designs. She is often in trouble because she blurts out antagonistic questions without considering how they will be received. She trusts the wrong people, and tells herself that people who seem nice aren't interesting or trustworthy. She seems lacking in sense. She rather resents her family's efforts encouraging her to be more careful, to try to not antagonize yet another employer. Her erratic nature just manages to limp through a disjointed plot, and interacts with other two-dimentional characters. I don't particularly recommend this.

This story has just the right amount of twists and turns to keep you turning pages and enjoying the story arc.Gilly is an intelligent no-nonsense heroine who has a penchant for horticulture. The lovely backdrop of greenery and blossoms throughout the setting keeps you wrapped in the spring scents of Ireland. The book has a pleasingly lazy pace that just slides you easily from one scene to the next- looking forward to more.

I found this book very interesting and very much liked the characters and twists at the end. There were blends of mystery and drama which added interest as to what would happen next. I enjoyed the whole story from the beginning to the end. I found the author's style most intriguing and want to try more books 📚 to read and see if I enjoy them as much as I did this one. Thanks for sharing your talent with me! Pegge

Overall, this book was ok. I gave it 3 stars because the main character jumped in the rack with her boss almost immediately! No graphic sex which was good and No foul language.

Every page invites introduces the reader to characters in such s brilliant way to cause pages to fly by... as you seek to solve the mysteries that continue to intrigue you! Congratulations to this first novel by Susanne Winterly!

Unconvincing and one dimensional characters plus an obvious plot made it a struggle to get through. Obviously you expect to suspend disbelief for a romantic suspense novel but it was the everyday details that constantly didn't ring true - the descriptions of the landscaping business and project were particularly unconvincing. Obviously the author knows zero about how a landscaping project might be designed, commissioned and executed in spite of this being a central theme of the book. Similarly the characters behave in unlikely ways that constantly jar eg the wonderful housekeeper who cares for a 4 year old but cannot spare the time to arrange playdates for him despite dishing up homemade cakes daily. What a fantastic carer the devoted but absent father found for his child! I almost gave up around 40% when I realised I really didn't care what happened to any of the characters as I didn't believe in them. However I plodded on as it seemed help with my insomnia. Not recommended. I'd rather reread a Mary Stewart for the Nth time any Day!

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and just wanted to continue to the end without having to stop. It is set in Ireland in 2010. Gilly is a Landscape Gardener and is given the task of restoring an old walled garden on a large country estate outside Dublin. Marc owns the country estate and travels to and fro from London regularly. A couple of the characters turned out not to be as genuine as Gilly had initially thought. Near to the end of the book the story took an unexpected direction. This story has very varied content - gardening, romance and suspense. The author brought the whole setting to life. I could almost picture the lovely scenery.

I really enjoyed this book. It was a real page turner and i couldn't put it down. It's well written and the plot is believable. The characters are well drawn and dialogue good. I felt really engaged with the characters and their lives and found i wanted to know what happened next. It was nice to read a book set in Ireland too, made a great change. I recommend this book to anyone who wants a good read that isn't too fraught.

A real page-turner. Bought this on Thursday, it arrived on Sunday and had finished it by the following Saturday - couldn't put it down! Combines romantic fiction with an absorbing thriller that has plenty of unexpected twists. A lot of research has obviously been done - I particularly liked the section in Japan. Hope the author writes more!

I really enjoyed this book and was gripped from the start. There was much more to it than I had expected. I particularly enjoyed the details of creating the garden and could almost see it developing as the story went on. Interesting and well developed characters. I hope the author will write more.