Harvest Of Murder

Gardening Mysteries #6

by Ann Ripley

When Dr. Peter Whiting, a strange old biologist who knows a formula for doubling life expectancy, is brutally murdered, Louise Eldrige--television gardening show host, mother, and wife--attempts to uproot the killer and uncover a conspiracy. Reprint.

Genres: Mystery, Cozy Mystery, Thanksgiving, Fiction

304 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2001

About the author

A former newspaperwoman, Ann Ripley now spends her time organic-gardening and writing mysteries. She lives with her husband, Tony, in Lyons, Colorado. Her first novel, Mulch, won the Top Hand Award from the Colorado Authors' League. She is now at work on her fifth gardening mystery.

Reviews

[Vixxi · Rating 5 out of 5]

i love everything about this book . this is the first book i have read by this writer . i like ann ripley writing because she makes a great mystery book . i also like the fact that this book is gardening . i was able to know who killed the dr. peter whiting early on in the book . but the that was the only part of the mystery that i know . i will have to read more books by this writer in the future. i like how the book ended .

[Jan · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bit thin in plot and character development...and gardening advice. My sympathy for Louise and her over-eager plans for Thanksgiving was non-existent and those plans were too obvious as a plot device. And, I must be really jaded right now, but the basic plot hook of pharma companies and "magic beans (plants)" just didn't work for me. I am an amateur gardener so I did like the earlier format of garden tips and advice.

[Sandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the first book I've read by this author.

Generally the mystery was interesting but the main character left something to be desired. She invites 15 people to a Thanksgiving dinner when she is a poor cook and doesn't even like cooking.

The summary of the mystery was very convoluted even though I had read the previous chapters.

Perhaps the next book in the series may be better.

[Hanani · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've read this book 6 years ago.

And I can only remember being somewhat...bored by it. I guess the book is all right. There's not much to say, other than it doesn't really stand out that much among the plethora of books available for your reading pleasure.

[Barbra · Rating 2 out of 5]

One more book in my TBR stack and then I am done with this series, I think it has run it's course. For some reason I was unable to really get into this book, the series is a little too unbelievable at times for me.

[Luanne Coachman · Rating 2 out of 5]

The mystery part of this book is fine, but I get impatient with the protagonist and the superficial dropping of botanical and other scientific trivia, some of which is inaccurate. There’s also a certain over the top melodramatic cast that I find off putting.

[Betty · Rating 2 out of 5]

Though the culprit was not who I expected, I found this book to still be typical.

[april Galloway · Rating 2 out of 5]

Could not get started on this book. Couldn't sink right into it

[Rosyel Sawali · Rating 3 out of 5]

Done rereading. Story development was a bit slow at the beginning, but it progressed pretty fast towards the end. Overall a fun book to read.

[Diane · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 - Good

[B Shelton · Rating 2 out of 5]

Another gardening mystery, but this time with the added twist of big pharma.

[Catherine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice cozy read.

[Nann · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm bingeing the series. It's a good entry but what I've noticed is the constant references to every character's hair.

[Kirsti · Rating 3 out of 5]

I jumped straight into this cozy mystery series with book six, after finding a number of these for sale at my local op shop. This was the earliest book I picked up, and I figured most cozies you can read out of order. This one felt a little off from other mysteries though, because it did reference previous events and characters that I had zero clues about. Oh well.

Still, I got into the mystery in the end, and enjoyed what I could. The gardening theme is one I can be amused with from afar; I kill every plant I touch. I'm truly that gifted. I remember with fondness a High School growing experiment, where we were all given the same seed and had to do different things to it; mine and my best friend's plants were the only two in a class of 30 to never sprout; I got all excited one class to see something happening to it, but it was just mould forming on it. Oops.

The writing is clear, the characters distinct and amusing. I'll definitely have to read more of this series, hopefully I can find some earlier novels to sink my teeth into. Three stars.

[Lauri · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very interesting tale complete with a hint of biology, chemistry and the Amazonian jungle! Our amateur sleuth, Louise, has stumbled onto murder yet again, this time right in her own neighborhood! She strikes up a dog walking friendship with an older male professor. When he is brutally murdered, she just can't help but investigate. His lab and seemingly magical fountain in of youth discovery may have something to do with his untimely demise. Louise has a maddening habit of putting herself in harm's way that upsets her family and probably most readers. I found myself speaking to her out loud, warning her not to do certain things! All in all, you will find her charming and endearing with a wacky family and supporting cast. This episode also features a quirky Thanksgiving feast with a bunch of new cast members.

[Carol · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was the first of the series that I read.-- I was really looking forward to this series thinking it would be on par with the China Bayles series but that was not the feel I got... this is only the second book of the series but all the people around the main character treat her with kid gloves and think she is just being flighty and a busy body.
There also was not nearly enough gardening trivia..other than being located in a plant propagation lab.

[Ed · Rating 3 out of 5]

#6 in the Louise Eldridge series. A disappointing entry in the series about an organic gardener and the bodies she seems to dig up.

Louise Eldridge has a 3 month break from her PBS gardening show and plans a big Thanksgiving feast. After her dog walking companion, an elderly plant scientist, is brutally murdered, she gets a temporary job as a plant handler in his company and proceeds to investigate the swarm of unlikeable characters until one tries to kill her. Disjointed.

[Lori · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book, but since this was the first book I had read in this series I kept feeling I was missing character information. I will definitely get more books by this author and try to read the series in sequence.

[Elliott · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's a shame the writing isn't better, because the premise is interesting. Almost all of the characters are unlikable, and their behavior is often unbelievable to such an extent that it's detrimental to the narrative.

[Tammy]

Not particularly interesting and 2nd book in a series so I had a hard time knowing who was who. So I didn't finish it.

[Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

a fun, light-hearted Thanksgiving murder mystery.

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

corporate espionage enters the picture of public tv gardening show host/part time sleuth Louise Eldridge.

[Laura · Rating 2 out of 5]

kinda nice

[Cindy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found this very slow and it wasn't until the last 3 chapters that I really became interested.

[MaryAlice · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have a quote from a 2021 document from >i>Harvest of Murder by Ann Ripley. That is why I am adding a 2021 read date.

[Nancy]

Reread August 2009

[Pat · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good book in series.