Vanish with the Rose

by Barbara Michaels, Barbara Rosenblat (Translation)

Posing as an expert gardener, Diana Reed, a shrewd, determined lawyer, appears at the Nicholson estate determined to find her missing younger brother, who worked there as a caretaker. By the author of Into the Darkness. Reprint.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Gothic, Romance, Suspense, Paranormal, Romantic Suspense

Audiobook

First published January 1, 1992

About the author

Barbara Michaels was a pen name of Barbara Mertz. She also wrote as Elizabeth Peters, as well as under her own name.

She was born in Canton, Illinois and has written over fifty books including some in Egyptology. Dr. Mertz also holds a Ph.D. from the University of Chicago in Egyptology.

Reviews

[Erin *Proud Book Hoarder* · Rating 4 out of 5]

Barbara Michaels may have written a big batch of books in a certain genre, but she kept most of them unique and didn't indulge in formulaic safety nets. In Vanish with the Rose she does again focus on her love of old houses, rose gardens and landscaping, but the story-line isn't an old fashioned ghost story. Lawyer Diana Reed is doing undercover sleuthing and pretending to be a rose expert while she tries to figure out where her older brother ended up. Was he dead? Missing? That's the real reason she's out there digging through the dirt of a particular family.

Diana may have personal family issues, but the family dynamics of the house she visits brings a lot of charm and humor to the story. The mother is especially cute in a quirky way. Throwing in the dedicated housekeeper as a companion and fellow detective was a fun as well, including her weird situation with her ex (potential red herring alert). There are two men who may contend for the heroine's heart but as usual Michaels doesn't put much romance into the plot pot, and it could have been either/or by the end of the story with the same result.

The mystery isn't bad; it hints at paranormal and slowly solves a crime she's not sure exists. I wasn't terribly surprised at the ending but it was a good, somber one that fit the dreary mood of what they find out. While the mystery is only so-so with its strength, it does come across heavy in comparison to some of her other mysteries. A lot of those books dealt with horrors of the past, but this one makes sure they stay present, front and center.

It's not my favorite of hers, but it's a good one, made even better by her usual gorgeous writing style and knack for sarcastic dialogue as the characters bounce theories and debates off each others egos. Recommended for Michaels fans or those who like slow-paced mysteries...with rose gardens.

[Hannah · Rating 2 out of 5]

First off, thanks go to Lisa for awarding me this book from her first blog giveaway. If you enjoy those gothic books (from the 1960's and 1970's especially), visit Lisa's awesome blog at:
http://gothicked.blogspot.com
She's written a ton of book reviews on all types of gothic lit. There's a little something for every gothic taste.

OK, now on the the review.


I'm pretty sure I read this book when it was first published in the early 1990's. Michaels is one of my favorite gothic writers and many of her books are in my top 50 favorites. She's been very prolific, and her books have a more modern, sarcastic and feministic voice then Victoria Holt or Monica Heath, who were more traditional in their approach to gothic lit. That being said, Vanish with the Rose wasn't one of her better attempts, IMO. The premise was there for sure: a young female attorney travels to Virginia to find out what happened to her missing brother. She adopts a professional disguise - posing as an expert on roses- so that she can meet the family who bought the stately Colonial home where he brother was working before he vanished months before.

Sounds perfect, right? And normally I'd agree. Michaels is a good writer - no doubt about that. She creates subtle paranormal atmosphere with a good dose of scepticism, witty characters you get fond of, and a neat ending calculated to satifsy.
...except this one didn't satisfy me.
Somehow, every element that she manipulates so skillfully fell flat. The spooky elements were so lacking as to be almost non-existent. The characters were one dimensional and not very likable. It was hard to get a picture of them in my mind, and at times the male and female characters became interchangable in my mind. There was an over abundance of profanity (g-damn) which didn't add anything to the plot and is a curse word I personally despise to hear or read (I'm no prude, and I cuss more then I should, but in my lexicon that word and the c-word is out). Finally, the ending was frankly depressing, which isn't usually how Michaels rounds out her books.

I guess there was a reason why this one hadn't stayed in my keeper bookshelf so long ago.

But don't let anything I say sway you from trying Barbara Michaels if you're thinking of doing so. She's a fantastic writer and I still love her to bits (and only wish she'd finish up with the Amelia Peabody series and get on to something else...another gothic, perhaps?)

[ꕥ Ange_Lives_To_Read ꕥ · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a really strange one. Vanish with the Rose had all the elements of a good story - a mystery, a great setting, ghosts, some humor, and best of all lots of cats and dogs as supporting characters. But the whole thing fell flat for me - I didn't hate it but the writing style seemed outdated and the pace was much too leisurely.

It was published in 1991 and even though I was (most certainly!) alive and an adult at that time, I had to read up on what was going on with the women's movement. Apparently there was a third wave of feminism during which:

"...we took back terms that had been hijacked and given derogatory meanings, and we changed their connotations. 'All hail the b*tch philosophy!'..."

Well, there we go. I guess that explains why the two chicks in this story were such raging assholes to the two guys in the story and I was obviously supposed to be okay with it, because the guys certainly were. They were also okay with the women NOT having sex with them. Four healthy, attractive, unattached humans were living together in a house and no combination of them were getting busy. I am on record as hating to read sex scenes, but this was another strange thing.

Lastly, there were too many loose ends and tangents that went nowhere. For example, SO much time was spent on this secret staircase that they found behind the fireplace. Pages and pages devoted to it. Did it have anything to do with solving the mystery? No. They found some broken fragments of a music box and a doll. Big whoop. And a whole long sub-plot about Diana's flirting with a nerdy librarian, you'd think maybe some significant plot point would have come of that, but you would be wrong. There were lots of things like that.

So to sum up, if you find this book in a box at a yard sale, go ahead and buy it for a quarter but don't expect to be blown away.

[Kate · Rating 1 out of 5]

Oh my word, this book was so tedious! I was expecting a suspenseful, creepy gothic mystery. Instead, what I got was 300+ pages of characters doing home renovation, landscaping, making food, cleaning, having long conversations with cringey dialogue, driving, and antique shopping. Oh yes, with occasional reference to a possible murder (or murders?) and one character having “deja vu” visions of the past. It was like watching HGTV all day and flipping to a third-rate crime procedural one commercial break an hour.

If I had realized this was the same author (writing under a different name) who wrote Crocodile on the Sandbank, which I also didn’t particularly enjoy, I probably wouldn’t have gone for this one.

[❀⊱RoryReads⊰❀ · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 Stars

Great mystery and the male love interest is a nice change from the author's usual over grown, bossy and physically rough type.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5, if half-stars were possible.

It held my interest, but it's not one of the author's best works.  Still, it served its purpose of providing light entertainment.  (That said, it's not the lightest "light entertainment", either...)

Specific Tidbits (with SPOILERS):
-- I enjoyed the gardening aspect of the book, since I'm trying to get my own garden into order.  Nothing on the scale of the gardens in the book, of course, but it's more than enough for me.  (Especially since I don't employ a gardener!)

--  "I do wish you'd stop using me as a home for abandoned cacti.  I hate cacti."  I don't like them, either.  They're scary.

--  "'It is later than you think.'  That was a popular motto for sundials-- why, she could not imagine; who wanted to be reminded, when he strolled through a beautiful garden, that his own existence was scarcely less ephemeral?  'Tempus fugit' wasn't much better, especially for people who were probably only too well aware of the rapid passing of time.  Fortunately there were a few cheerful mottoes.  'Count only the sunny hours', for instance."  Yes, "sunny hours" for me, please.  I don't need a reminder of mortality.

--  At one point, Diana is giving the animals their nightly medicine.  "Heartworm pills for all the dogs, as a preventative measure..."  What, every day?  Maybe it just happened to be time for their monthly dosage, because I've never heard of heartworm medicine that had to be given daily.  That would be very inconvenient!

--  The bit about the "world's largest rose bush" (planted in Arizona in 1885) was so intriguing I had to look it up online.  Amazing!

--  "...that nightmare indicated there was something particularly nasty in the woodpile of her subconscious."  Heh...

--  "It would have been an amiably attractive face had it not been for her eyes-- cold as muddy-brown ice and piercing as twin gimlets."  Ah, my favorite!  Brown eyes = mud, of course.  (Sensitive?  Who, me?)

--  Emily is suffering a breakdown of some sort over the continuous noise of demolition.  Her husband notices this and closes the windows.  My question:  Why were the windows open to begin with, when there was demolition work just outside?  Wouldn't they be closed in anticipation of the noise-- not to mention dust?

--  A man about to run a piece of heavy machinery is warned to watch out for the dogs that are loose.  Diana adds a warning about the cats, but no-- "You don't need to worry about them; they have sense enough to get out of the way."  ...Uh, yeah.  Sure.  That explains why cats are never run over by cars...

--  "A dog's face is capable of only limited displays of emotion, but Baby's showed as much terror as a dog is capable of showing."  This is the second time (I think) that I've seen this author write about the limited facial expressions of dogs.  Now, I'll grant you that they are limited in comparison to humans, but dogs actually have very mobile faces, and someone who spends much time with them can learn to read their expressions fairly accurately.  (Just sayin'...)

--  There's heavier cursing in this book than in most of the Barbara Michaels gothic novels I've read to date.  I'm not sure why... It was published in the 90s, so maybe she thought the cursing was necessary to "modernize" it.  

--  "'Maybe I'm not cut out for country living.'  'You get used to it.  At least most people do.' Mary Jo's face softened.  'Poor Andy never has, not really.  He covers up well, and he'll do what's necessary, but he hates the whole scene-- hunting, trapping, the way some of the people around here neglect and abandon pets.'"  ...This is set in Virginia, right?  Or somewhere in that part of the country.  You can argue that hunting and trapping are an element of "country life", but the suggestion that country folk are the only ones who neglect or abandon pets is frustrating.  There's plenty of animal abuse in cities, too.  Also, though I've never gone hunting myself, I fully believe that if it's done the right way, an animal killed for food by a hunter is treated with greater respect (and has lived a better, more natural life) than most of the ones that end up in grocery stores and restaurants.  Anyone who eats meat is being hypocritical if they have a problem with "food hunting". Trophy hunting is another subject altogether...

--  There are a lot of people calling a woman "lady".  Enough that it caught my attention.

--  I know it's supposed to be a joke, but Mary Jo calling Walt an "ignorant redneck" because he didn't understand a reference to Miss Havisham?  Obnoxious.  (I didn't really like Mary Jo as well as I feel the reader is meant to.)

--    I was beginning to think we wouldn't have the typical Barbara Michaels reference to Egypt/mummies in this book, but I should never have doubted!  The air in the shut-off stairwell is "as stale as some old tomb".  Later, there are "the mummified bodies of long-dead insects", and Diana reflects that she has seen "mummies in museum cases" that looked better than the dusty, dirty, cobwebbed Andy.

--  The costume curator/volunteer at the little historical society museum (or whatever it was) tells Diana that she doesn't "get that many sympathetic, intelligent visitors".  No, not out here in the sticks.  *eyeroll*

--  I had to smile when Diana described her multitude of problems as "all the standard plot cliches of contemporary thrillers".  As long as you know you're doling out cliches...

--  Rudbeckia ("plain old black-eyed Susan") is "a vulgar sort of flower, not suited to a formal garden"--  apparently.  I won't argue the point about its suitability for a formal garden, since I'm not especially interested in or knowledgeable about formal gardens, but to call a flower "vulgar" strikes me as pretentious.  You don't like a particular flower?  Fine, but please don't call them vulgar.  How silly!

--   Mercurochrome.  It was obviously an antiseptic, but I've never heard of it before.  We used iodine, rubbing alcohol, or hydrogen peroxide, when I was a kid.

--  "His Aunt Bertha is so cheap she buys her kids' clothes at Goodwill..."  Well, let me just add another underline to the "don't like Mary Jo" sentiment...  Seriously, though!  Mary Jo, as we are so frequently reminded, works hard for her money.  She juggles multiple jobs to put herself through college, and when we get a description of her own clothing, it's clear that she doesn't have much to spend.  Why would Mary Jo, of all people, feel the need to vocally judge someone else for buying second-hand clothes?  If they're clean and in reasonable condition, what difference does it make where they come from?  What a snob!

--  "Cats always pick the laps of the people who don't like them."  Oh?  That doesn't make much sense.

--  When Diana comes back, at the end of the book, she looks at the garden and sees "two giant magnolias" that are raising "stately branches above flower beds filled with bright blossoming annuals".  This is a really nit-picky observation, but I've always heard/observed that flowers (and grass) don't do well under Southern magnolias.  Too much shade, too much root competition.  Also, I don't think it's at all easy to transplant a large magnolia.  ...But whatever.  Carry on.  Dream a happy dream of an Insta-Garden with magical flowers that flourish in dense shade while contending with bullying tree roots.

--  "...How do you think Papa would have reacted if he found his blossom of Southern womanhood in the arms of a dirty foreigner?"  ...Um, what?  This is the kind of thing that crops up in Barbara Michaels books a little too frequently.  Did she have a problem with the South?  Because it certainly feels that way, sometimes.  Disappointing.  Now, I'm not saying that "Papa" wouldn't have had a problem with his daughter having a relationship with a foreigner (especially since the "foreigner" in question was a poor and lowly workman)-- but the whole "blossom of Southern womanhood" thing really puts a special twist on it.  So wealthy, snobbish, controlling Yankee-Papa would've been totally ok with his "blossom of Northern womanhood" falling in love with a "nobody"?  Yeah, I'm sure he would've been overjoyed at the prospect of such a son-in-law. 

--  "Why does a happy ending have to be two people falling into one another's arms?"  True, but kind of funny coming from this author-- and particularly so when spoken by a character on the very verge of... well, falling into another character's arms!

--  When Andy asks Diana why she chose him-- which was a surprise, because it felt like she was leaning toward Walt the whole time!-- she answers that he makes her laugh.  His reply?  "So does Zero Mostel."  ...Huh?  This was written in the early 90s.  That actor died in the 70s.  Andy is 25 or so, which means he would've been a young child when Mostel was still alive and making movies.  Not exactly a topical reference, in other words.  Is it just me, or was that a very odd thing for him to have said? (ETA: Ok, just remembered that they watched The Producers at some point in the book... So it's not quite so out-of-the-blue bizarre, I guess, but I still stand by my initial reaction that it was a weird thing to say.)

--  The joke about the long showers and the water conservation... So romantic.  I like Andy-- and could've liked him (with Diana) more if he'd seemed less like a brother/Mary Jo's destined match during most of the book-- but that was kind of gross, to be honest.  It wasn't the best note to end on, that's for sure!

--  The ghost story explanation was something of a let-down.  As I've seen others comment, it's thin at best.  Though it's implied, there's also no explicit answer to who was scamming Miss Musser-- and certainly no resolution/comeuppance on that score.  Then we have Larry getting the blame for Brad's murder, from everyone but a few in the know.  Not very nice.  I guess it's supposed to spare Diana's mother, but what about Larry's family?  I guess they don't matter!  Brad's murder... Larry's suicide...  Diana's father's suicide... The book's a downer on several fronts.  But since none of it seems real, it's easy enough to not care much, on way or the other. 

-- Not a favorite, but I can't say I'm sorry I read it, faults and all.

[Andrea · Rating 4 out of 5]

The heroine's objective in passing herself off as an expert in old roses is not clear until about 1/2 of the way through the book (unless you read some of the reviews at the front of the book).

The old estate in located in Virginia, where a couple that recently hit the lottery jackpot bought the house from an aging single lady with an eye to restoring the house and the grounds. Only later do we learn that Diana's brother disappeared after living among the townsfolk for a brief period of time, and Diana wants to know what happened to her brother.

Good characters, interesting plot twists, and lots of people to cheer for. The person ultimately revealed as responsible for the disappearance of Brad Reed is a surprise; and the mystery is neatly tied up at the end.

[M. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Diana Randall arrives at the Nicholson house in North Carolina to begin work as a master gardener. There's just one problem: she's no gardener. She is a lawyer, and her knowledge of flowers stems from textbooks she has consumed over the past few weeks. Diana's true purpose in this masquerade is to find out what happened to her brother, who worked on the Nicholson estate a year ago...and has since gone missing. Diana meets many people who knew him and soon becomes entangled in the various dramas involving the Nicholsons and those in their orbit. It doesn't take long before things get eerie, with the discovery of a body, the ethereal tinkling of music, some shocking visions...and eventually violence.

Vanish with the Rose is a long book, clocking in at over four hundred pages, and that's a good thing. When a book is long and unappealing, it's akin to torture; when it's long and enthralling it is bliss. And this is Barbara Michaels, whose books are like dining at your favorite restaurant: you know it's going to be wonderful before you even open the menu. The menu in this novel includes secrets, jealousy, history, danger, suspense and a theme of roses...all further adorned with a bit of the supernatural and some scene-stealing pets.

There are two mysteries in the book, and they keep the reader guessing. The characters are the real draw of this novel, as they are delightfully imperfect and travel down the path of change as the novel progresses. I so enjoyed spending time with them. I shall remember them next spring when the roses bloom in the back yard.

[Ivonne Rovira · Rating 4 out of 5]

Diana Reed isn’t who she says she is. She isn’t an expert on antique roses (the ones that predate the now-ubiquitous, ever-blooming hybrid tea roses, introduced in 1867) or a garden landscaper. Diana Reed isn’t even her real name.

Diana has maneuvered to get herself hired as a rose expert by the Nicholsons, a family that literally won the lottery and used the proceeds to buy and renovate an 18th century home near the small town of Faberville. The Nicholsons bought the home from the senile Matilda Musser, and it was in the last days of Miss Musser’s tenure that Diana’s brother, Brad Randall, had come to stay at the house, serving as handyman and helper to the 90-something-year-old lady. Until one day, without warning, Brad was gone, never to be heard from again. Diana knows her brother would never just disappear without a word. And she’s staying at the Nicholsons’ in hopes of finding out what really happened.

Barbara Michaels (pseudonym, along with Elizabeth Peters, for archeologist Barbara Mertz) usually pens delightful supernatural romances. Vanish with the Rose doesn’t rise to the level of the Georgetown series, Be Buried in the Rain, Other Worlds, or Wait for What Will Come; Michaels spends so much time on Diana’s guilt and Mrs. Nicholson’s son’s goofiness that it isn’t until nearly halfway through the novel that we get to the crux of the matter. But once Michaels gets going, readers will have a hard time putting Vanish with the Rose down. Also, Michaels’ worst novels — like this and The Copenhagen Connection — are still much better than the vast majority of other writers’ best. So be sure to save this one for a rainy day when you’ll have lots of interrupted reading time.

[Debbie · Rating 4 out of 5]

If Michaels set out to write an entertaining and intriguing suspense with a soupcon of the supernatural and a lagniappe of romance, she has succeeded. Yes, parts of it are pure fantasy. Why would people who had only just met a young woman go away for two weeks on the spur of the moment and leave her in charge? The first third of the book Diana is masquerading as an old roses expert and the book is a bit coy about who she really is and why she is there, but not excruciatingly so. She also runs into young men right and left and there is enough withheld to not be absolutely sure which she will end up with until the end. But what really worried me was when Andy more or less moves into his mother's house, who is taking care of the big "green" dog? And what work has Diane actually been hired to do? All the garden landscaping appears to be well underway. Also, when all four young people decide, for securities sake, to hang out together in the house, it did have a bit of a summer camp feel (or Scooby-do?)

[Lara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Barbara Michaels books are such ridiculous fluff, and I love it. This is one of my favorites, but I'm not sure I can really even say why. Maybe it's that I find Diana's quest to find out what happened to her missing brother Brad interesting, or maybe it's that I like Andy as the love interest--I'm always a fan of the goofy, funny guy over the usual broody, muscly dude. Maybe it's that I find the history of roses kind of fascinating, or that there's a supernatural element to the story that's never completely explained. Whatever the reason, it has compelled me to read this book like, six or seven times already. It's somewhat of a comfort book for me, which might be weird, but there it is. Judge away!

[Terri · Rating 2 out of 5]

Did not enjoy this book. Thought I would because I own it...why?

[Robert Fontenot · Rating 3 out of 5]

I finally began to realize that what Barbara Michaels writes are not just Gothic romances, but cozy Gothic romances. Sure, there are long-lost secrets and murders and paranormal moments and strange threats, but there’s also gardening and interior decorating and shopping and a lot of eating. The southern mansion in this book has hidden doors and secret staircases, but also dozens and dozens of cats and dogs. Many of the more action packed moments throughout the book are undercut with bits of slapstick comedy, including a St. Bernard who is constantly trying to lie down on top of people. It doesn’t always work in this book. The total shifts are more tedious than anything else. The love interest is perhaps one of the most annoying I have ever seen in a book and I cannot fathom why they end up together in the end. The mystery itself comes to a rather unsatisfying and almost arbitrary collusion, as if the killer was chosen out of a hat. Still, the cozy parts are, indeed, very cozy and I can see why I liked Barbara Michaels so much when I was younger.

[Sridhar Babu · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is about the search for her missing brother brings lawyer Diana Reed, where her brother had worked as a care taker..and disappeared, so Diana convinces the owner of the estate, that she is an expert in Rose Garden,,sort of undercover.

From page after page this novel creates great expectations,like...a secret attic in the Hall of the house , Diana's search for the former owners of the house...unknown tomb stones at the back yard of the house, the skeletal bones found during renovating the barn,sudden appearance of Larry and his disappearance under mysteries circumstances all gives hope of an interesting and gripping novel, but all leads to nothing...

Through out the novel the author is confused, how to proceed with the given plot...whether to give a horror, mystery, or comedy and ended in nothing leaving all the characters in a half boiled state..

For me..it should be.. Vanish with the Rose...the story Vanished..!!!

[Kitty · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good. Not her very best, but definitely a "Michaels". Young lawyer lady pretends to be a landscape artist in order to gain access to an old mansion recently purchased by an elderly couple who just won the lottery. She is looking for clues about something that might have happened at this old mansion - something she has a personal interest in. Murder, ghosts, hints of romance... everything a good story needs.

[Nan · Rating 1 out of 5]

Dnf

[ScholasticPerturbation · Rating 3 out of 5]

Can't really say great or bad things about this one, pretty dead center in ratings. Barbara Rosenblat narrates one of the audiobooks and I can never praise her highly enough, though her extreme talent with multi national accents is wasted on this book, which takes place in wherever-USA and no characters with accents were present in this one (try the Vicki Bliss series for a whole spectrum of accents as the main character travels to a different country in each book).

I guess it's telling that I have little to say on this book, but think of other (better) ones by the same author instead. It was a sad mystery with a sad ending (other than the obligatory love story included in all her novels). Usually there's some historical tragedy that's revealed by the snooping heroine in Barbara Michaels' books (and there was a bit of one here) but this time the rough stuff was up front and center for the main character, involving herself and those closest to her.

As usual, her supporting cast is pretty good and memorable.

[Deane · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn't care for the beginning chapters of the book because everything seemed secretive and hard to understand what was going on. When Diana shows up at a very old house bought by a couple who won the lottery....Emily and Charles....Emily has so many wild projects she wants to have in their new house and Diana became one of many workers at the house and gardens.

Emily has a son, Andy who is such a chatterbox and has so much imagination to share...he constantly wants to be with Diana....I thought she might be more interested in Walt the man in charge of getting the work done.

Diana had told Walt why she was lying about her why she was there as a well-known leader in flowers, shrubs and history. She felt her brother, who had worked for the old lady who owned this property was missing...she feared and felt that he was dead.

The killer was a big surprise to me...and now I know Barbara Michaels and Elizabeth Peters are pseudonyms of the same author, Barbara Mertz.

[Sarah TheAromaofBooks · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one was... okay. We are a third of the way into the book before we find out why Diana is here under false pretenses, and I always am aggravated when big information is being withheld from the reader for no real reason. I actually think the reason is because Diana's reason actually made almost zero sense, so the author wanted to hook you in before letting you know about this incredibly weak plot point.

I just never quite got engaged to this. I liked everyone but didn't love them. There was this strange paranormal thing going on but it kind of fizzled out. The romance was mostly a ???? The mystery stuttered.

I didn't dislike it. Some of the dialogue was quite fun, and I actually enjoyed all the gardening/landscaping/rose talk. But actually I think this book would have been better as just a regular romance where she shows up to do some landscaping, instead of this weird kinda sorta mystery going on.

[Marnie Z · Rating 3 out of 5]

**spoilers**
rounded up from 2.5*
It took me awhile to get through this, I kept reading because it has pretty good reviews. It was written in the 90's and came across as quite dated. Way too much dialogue, I didn't even like Diana or anyone really and even though I love gardening and antiquing, the book had too much going on. Was this a mystery, a romance, a ghost story? It seemed to try to be all these things. There were bits of the story meant to add suspense I guess that just fell flat and became quite annoying "oh we've found some bones"/"they're just a deer!", "oh we found a secret room and a secret box"/"just some old toys!". I thought it was crazy when Emily found out the person she had hired to do her garden and let stay at her house was lying about everything was just like "no big deal".. I was going to give this 2* but I did think the ending was pretty good, that was the only time the book was interesting but even then it didn't end when it should have, it went on and on

[Lori Stevens · Rating 3 out of 5]

POOR NARRATION RUINS THIS EDITION ...

I'm revisiting Barbara Michaels and I thought I'd enjoy this novel about a garden and a mystery. The story is intriguing and I should be enjoying the story but I'm listening to the audio book on Hoopla. Big mistake. It is unfortunate that Barbara Rosenblatt has dominated narration for Ms. Michaels novels. Her cigarette and whisky voice is unpleasant but it's her interpretation of the novel that caused me to switch to the print edition at chapter five to finish. Ms. Rosenblatt comes off as the same sarcastic, flippant, smarmy character in each novel she narrates. Way too much cynical borscht belt comic for me to digest. From here in out I'll be reading Barbara Michaels instead of listening to the audio book. Give me the golden voices of Anna Massey, Davina Porter, Jenny Agutter, Imogene Church, Jennifer Ikeda or Emilia Fox any day.

I'll comment on the story after I finish the novel ... in print!

[Melody · Rating 5 out of 5]

Diana’s brother Brad has been missing for 8 months. She goes to the last place he was seen disguised as a rose expert and garden planner to see if she can trace his movements. She goes in disguise so as not to alert any potential evil doers that she may be on to them. Serendipity steps in and leaves her in charge of the property where Brad last worked so she can explore and investigate. But when her friend’s ex husband tries to kill her, Diana’s mission changes. Between ghostly encounters and her friends’ assistance she is able to discover what happened to her brother but the results are worse that she ever imagined. Another excellent tale from a master.

[Spinneretta]

Good

When Diana Reed’s brother Brad goes missing, she goes in search for answers.
Undercover as a landscape designer, she finds out where he was last seen; and as past and present collide, she finds herself making new friends and facing dangers she never expected.

Fans of Mary Stewart and Elizabeth Peters (who is actually Barbara Michaels anyway) will enjoy this modern gothic romance/light romantic suspense. It has all the hallmarks of gothic novels: ghostly doings, danger, multiple possible hero/villains, and a mystery at the heart of it all.
An entertaining and enjoyable read.

[McKenzie Rae · Rating 3 out of 5]

There were things I enjoyed about this book, such as the murder mystery, the paranormal elements, and the relationships between the main cast of characters. However, it felt like a good portion of the book got bogged down by mundane conversations and the chores/construction for the mansion. It felt like the author got a little too lost in the weeds of the details that it slowed the story down and allowed the reader's attention to wander. But the ending was good in my opinion, so I would bump my rating up to 3.5 stars.

[Linda R. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gothic roses and harrowing romance

I love a good B Michael's read on a rainy day. Vivid landscapes and emotional descriptive bring you to a place and time apart. Masquerading as a rose expert and landscape artist, Diana has other goals in mind. What she finds is a story rich in friendship and deception from the most unexpected source.

[Maria · Rating 4 out of 5]

Disturbing on some level. I kept hoping Diana was wrong and that there was some other explanation. As usual the relationships are not obvious, and the reader is often thrown a curveball when least expected, but the story is full of suspense and otherworldly possibilities. Expect to learn a lot about roses whether you want to or not.

[Sharon · Rating 5 out of 5]

A tense, taut mystery that slowly builds to an unimaginable ending, with characters so real that you almost expect to see them walking down the street. Even the bit players have personality, rounding out the book's depth. This one is an old favorite rediscovered.

[Sharon · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think I enjoyed the part where she was pretending furiously to be a landscape architect best, because there was more rose stuff. This one is heavy on the camaraderie, lower on the atmospheric creepiness.

[Ygraine]

my dad brought me liquorice comfits midway through, which i used to get at holland & barret and eat hunched over the books i'd borrowed from the much bigger & more exciting library in town, so am feeling almost uncontrollably nostalgic.

[Jocelin · Rating 2 out of 5]

This has been the first (and maybe only) Barbara Michael's book that I didn't like. I had to force myself to finish it. I didn't like any of the characters, and the story really dragged on.