Petals and Poison: A Garden Gate Mystery 1

by H.E. Harper

Lily Gardner is proud to enter her rare “Midnight’s Bloom” orchid in Willowbrook’s annual flower show, a quiet village celebration of local gardens and rare plants. As part of her Aunt Flora’s legacy. But just as her chance at a prize seems within reach, disaster strikes when local gardener Rupert Dyer is found dead. The village quickly descends, into a flurry of rumors, and suspicion falls on Lily.

Determined to clear her name and protect The Garden Gate, her beloved greenhouse, Lily sets out to uncover the truth along with the truth of her beloved Aunt Flora’s death. But what begins as a search for answers soon reveals that the gardening world in Willowbrook is full of rivalries and secrets as twisted as the vines in her greenhouse. As Lily digs deeper, she discovers that Rupert’s death might be rooted in far more than petty jealousy—and she may have uncovered a mystery more dangerous than she ever expected.

With only her wits, green thumb, and loyal golden retriever, Basil, and best friend Martha, by her side, Lily must navigate a world of dark secrets and deceit if she hopes to clear her name. Will she solve the mystery before someone else uproots her future for good?

307 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 3, 2025

Reviews

[Karen Brooks - TheTxLitChic · Rating 5 out of 5]

Petals and Poison - A Garden Gate Mystery
- H.E. Harper

Petals and poison is a contemporary cozy mystery with a bit of psychological thriller shoveled in just for good measure to make the story really bloom!

Harper utilizes the preface to cultivate a solid back story on how Lily came to live with her aunt Flora at the age of nine upon the death of her parents. With this, Lily had to learn to overcome her grief, allow healing with the guidance of her aunt through her newfound love of all things that grow, open her heart to new friends with finding Martha (best friend) and growth by going to college to earn her botany degree. Along with a few other surprises all in just those first dozen or so pages preparing us for a thrill ride into the mysteries surrounding The Garden Gate.

After that, you have another 300’sh pages FULL of gripping, thrilling, page turning adventure that left me unable to put the book down because I just HAD to know what was going to happen. I literally read this book in about 3 1/2 hours (between interruptions of my dogs thinking they needed outside to bark at the sounds of night in the country) and tried to put it down a couple times to go to bed and finally gave up and pushed on to finish it and was so glad I did.

From one chapter to the next I was changing my mind on who did it and how and why Lily was in their sights. By about 75% in I was hot on the trail of who the murderer was but boy howdy I did NOT expect the HOW.

Harper does an amazing job with digging up emotions all across the garden in this one - there is trauma/loss, heartache, love, murder, twists, mystery, detective work, and do I sense a hint of a love story developing Ms. Harper?

I foresee a bright future for The Garden Gate community and Lily Gardner, as well as H.E. Harper and look forward to being a part of its growth!

Thank you H.E. Harper for allowing me to be an ARC reader and receive an advance copy of the book. As always, all opinions and reviews are of my own volition. I have not been promised any compensation by the author, present or future, for my review.

[Emily Pennington · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Dangerous Investigation . . .

Aunt Flora had taken in 9-year-old Lily Gardner when her parents died. Working with flowers had gotten Lily through those painful deaths and helped her to heal, as well as cultivating a love for growing things. With Lily’s college graduation so close, Aunt Flora had organized a small gathering to celebrate. The next day, Lily got up early and headed for the greenhouse to help Aunt Flora. It was unusually quiet as she called for her. Seeing her on her knees by a flower fed, she approached before she realized her Aunt was slumped over, her face pale and bloody, and she had no pulse. It was assumed she tripped and fell, hitting her head against the workbench. Once again, caring for the plants gave Lily the strength to keep going. She even found a thin, trembling puppy on the roadside and brought Basil home. He was good company for Thyme. Yet Lily still wondered what had really happened to Aunt Flora that day.

As a tribute to her Aunt Flora, Lily is eagerly ready to offer as her entry for Willowbrook’s flower show her exquisite “Midnight’s Bloom” orchid. She seemed certain that she would win. But everything was disrupted when a local gardener, Rupert Dyer, was found dead. When fingers point at Lily, she knows she must clear her name or lose everything. But getting closer to the truth also brings danger closer to her. Will she find the answer to Rupert’s death? Will she uncover more about Aunt Flora’s death? Or has she just put a bigger target on her own back?

[Merry Chapman · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful beginning to a new series that keeps you turning pages until the end, and then we have a cliff hanger. Oh no, we need book 2. In this book it is time for the annual Willowbrook flower show and Lily Gardner is proud to enter her Midnight’s Bloom orchid a tribute to her Aunt Flora. But that is not to be when gardener Rupert Dyer is found dead. To make matters worse, she becomes a suspect. So obviously, Lily has to investigate to clear her name. And with her smart, golden retriever, Basil, and best friend Martha, she delves into the secrets and deceit that seems to be a part of the gardening world and at the same time try to find the truth out about her Aunt Flora's death. Can she find a murderer? Can she find out what actually happened to her Aunt Flora. We are guessing along the way and when we get to the cliff hanging ending. I can't wait to see what will happen next! I received an ARC of this book but the opinions expressed here are strictly my own.

[Lynda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lily Gardner takes over her Aunt Flora's greenhouse and business when she dies unexpectedly and is now ready to show a plant that she nurtured from something that her Aunt had started. It was a special orchid called "Midnight's Bloom" and was a very rare plant. It is damaged by someone at the show but there is also a murder of a man that wasn't exactly an honest businessman. She is blamed for his death and is now working to solve his murder and clear her name. The investigation takes a lot of twists and turns but it is solved in the end.

[karin whitehead · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a charming story, intrique, hearts ,and mystery. Can Lily Gardener (cute reflection of what's t come.) Salvage her prize bloom, solve the case f murder, or will she fail and end up behind bars? Fast paced, well written, and great character development. I got this novel as an ARC and this is my review

[Barbara · Rating 5 out of 5]

When will the next book be available? This was a great start to a new series. The story is intense, there are few clues to the villain is, and what is Lily--a suspect or another victim? Well-developed MC's. Recommend reading.

[Lauren Heiy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Petal and Poison: A Garden Gate Mystery 1

A flower show, sabatoge, A murder and an innocent framed. As Lily gets to clear her name a deeper mystery is found and she is threaten by unseen others. Can she solve this or be harmed herself.

[Genesia · Rating 5 out of 5]

The first book in a new series. Lily inherited her aunt Flora's business. At the flower show, she admitted her new hybrid, the Midnight Orchid. At the show, there's a lot of rivalry between the contestants, and one of them is murdered. Because the police found a trace of the substance that was used to kill him, on the Midnight Orchid, Lily became a suspect. With the help of her friend Martha, she is adamant to prove her innocence. Detective Calter follows all the leads he finds to also prove that Lily is not a murderer.
I enjoyed the book very much; it's a real page-turner; I couldn't put it down; I read it in one go.
Thanks to the author for providing me with an advance copy. I'm leaving this honest review voluntarily.