Planted 4 Murder

by J.C. Eaton

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 . . .

Praise for the Books of J. C.

“Fun characters, a touch of humor, and a great mystery, the perfect combination for a cozy.” —Lena Gregory, author of the Bay Island Psychic Mysteries on Ditched 4 Murder

“So cleverly written, you won’t guess the perpetrators until the very end.” —Mary Marks, award-winning author of the Quilting Mystery Series on Booked 4 Murder

“A thoroughly entertaining series debut, with enjoyable yet realistic characters and enough plot twists—and dead ends—to appeal from beginning to end.” —Booklist, starred review, on Booked 4 Murder

“Enjoy this laugh-out-loud funny mystery that will make you scream for the authors to get busy on the next one.” —Suspense Magazine on Molded 4 Murder

About the

J. C. Eaton is the pen name of husband-and-wife writing team Ann I. Goldfarb and James E. Clapp. They are the authors of the Wine Trail Mysteries, the Sophie Kimball Mysteries, the Marcie Rayner Mysteries, and the Charcuterie Shop Mysteries. In addition, Ann has published nine YA time travel mysteries under her own name. You can learn more about Ann and Jim at jceatonmysteries.com, jceatonauthor.com, facebook.com/JCEatonauthor, and timetravelmysteries.com.

Genres: Mystery

316 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 28, 2025

About the author

Ann I. Goldfarb
New York native Ann I. Goldfarb spent most of her life in education, first as a classroom teacher and later as a middle school principal and professional staff developer. Writing as J. C. Eaton, along with her husband, James Clapp, they have authored the Sophie Kimball Mysteries (Kensington), The Wine Trail Mysteries (Kensington Lyrical Underground), and coming in August 2018, The Marcie Rayner Mysteries (Camel). In addition, Ann has nine published YA time travel mysteries under her own name. Visit the websites at:
www.jceatonmysteries.com
www.facebook.com/JCEatonauthor/
www.timetravelmysteries.com

James E. Clapp
When James E. Clapp retired as the tasting room manager for a large upstate New York winery, he never imagined he’d be co-authoring cozy mysteries with his wife, Ann I. Goldfarb. Non-fiction in the form of informational brochures and workshop materials treating the winery industry were his forte along with an extensive background and experience in construction that started with his service in the U.S. Navy and included vocational school classroom teaching. Visit the website at www.jceatonauthor.com

Reviews

[Cozybooklady · Rating 5 out of 5]

#Planted4Murder #NetGalley is another fun cozy mystery featuring Phee Kimball.
Phee is once again dragged into a murder investigation when her mom invites her to the community gardens, and her dog finds a human bone.
This series always makes me laugh out loud and I enjoyed this book a lot.

[Karen Stallman · Rating 4 out of 5]

“ Planted 4 Murder " the 15th instalment in the Sophie Kimball Mystery series by J.C. Eaton. I love this series, it always has me laughing at Phee’s mums and Streetman’s antics. When the seniors of Sun City West take over a garden plot, they have no idea they’ll unearth a plot for murder . . .

I found myself engrossed in the story and reading it in almost one day. I love the characters which are well developed. There is plenty of humour and we can’t forget Streetman the chiweenie in the garden causing havoc, digging up bones. I laughed at the chaos he caused.

The mystery is interesting, well plotted as well as full of twists and turns. Always an entertaining, fun read. This is one of my favourite series and I always buy in Paperback as I know I will read again.

I highly recommend this series to all my cozy loving friends.

I requested and received an advance reader copy of this book from Kensington Books and Netgalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

[JoAnne McMaster (Any Good Book) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sophie "Phee" Kimball-Gregory lives in Arizona and works for a private investigator, along with her PI husband, Marshall. Life for Phee is never normal, mainly because her mother Harriet and Harriet's book club ladies seem to find trouble no matter what they're doing.

Today Harriet and her friends are convinced by the men's pinochle group to plant their own vegetables in a community garden. But it's more than dirt they're turning up. Since Harriet brings her chiweenie Streetman with her everywhere, he's of course running wild -- until he pulls up a skeletal hand, and Harriet needs Phee to get it away from him. The only identifying item is a ring on the hand, and it's marked with strange letters that mean nothing to the officers, nor to anyone else.

But the ladies seem to think there's more body parts, even when Phee tries to tell them no. When they're convinced that one of the gardeners (not their book group, of course!) is guilty of murder, it's all Phee can do to keep them out of trouble...temporarily.

But does anyone listen? Nope. Is Phee involved again? Yep. And this time, she sees more of local fisherman Paul Schmidt than she'd like to (who wants fish smell in their office?). But does Paul have information? Is her Aunt Ina going off the deep end while reading Edgar Allan Poe? Are the seniors forming their own investigation? Is Phee at her wits' end?

With Marshall and their boss Nate out of town on a cat kidnapping caper along with her uncle Louis (who does not want to be around Ina during her week of Poe), they may need him for information for themselves. Which leads Phee to be on her own... and trying to stay alive. Because when a killer discovers that Phee just might know who they are -- they aren't going to want to let her breathe...

I have read all of this author(s) Sophie Kimball mysteries, and I have been entranced by all of them. Phee somehow manages to keep sane during her mother's imaginative scenarios, which usually turn out to be true (to an extent). She's trying to do her job and still keep the women in line, which isn't easy. And her mother manages to foist Streetman the Maniac Dog on her if she can.

This book is no different than the others. It is funny, witty, delightful, full of mystery (what cozy wouldn't be?), and hilarious characters that make you glad you don't live anywhere near them. Harriet is a hoot, along with Herb; and Ina is a throwback hippie who thinks she has it all together (she doesn't). I don't want to say anything else about this book that will spoil it for anyone else, but trust me, it's worth the trip to Sun City to see how it all turns out. Highly recommended.

I was given a copy of this book from the publisher and NetGalley but this in no way influenced my review.

[June Price · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely adore this series. It's one of the most entertaining around, even if I'm usually totally lost on whodunit until the end. It isn't that the story isn't well written, it's just that there are so many wild things going on, usually due to the intervention of Phee/Sophie's mom and the Sun City bunch. I get so busy rolling my eyes and laughing at their antics and wild conspiracy theories that the actual investigation becomes, well, secondary. Even better, I'm loving every minute of it and hate to see it end.

So, needless to say, I'm not going to even attempt to detail the plot. It's a clever one, of course, involving many twists and turns and dead ends, pun only half intended. Like what, you ask? Well, lets start with the men's pinochle club deciding the want to get involved in the local community garden. Seems solar flares may destroy the earth or something akin to that and, well, they don't want to starve to death. None of them seem to have any gardening experience but, well, lack of experience or even knowledge has never stopped them before. Next thing you know, they've talked the ladies of Sun City into joining them and that's where Phee gets pulled into the chaos. Her mother, Harriet, has that ability to talk her into doing just about anything using the threat of her having to spend more time with Streetman, the woefully disobedient, snappy dog of Harriet's heart. Then Streetman discovers a skeletal hand, one with several rings still attached, rings that turn out to be a gimmel ring, and the story is off and running. Nope, you'll have to read to find out what a gimmel ring is. And, that's just the beginning.

What else can you expect? Let's see, stolen cats, sneaking into garages, mounds of dirty laundry, garden sabotage, dead fish, pranks, a skull in garden for real, poisoning, potatoes, and, well, much, much more. This was a new murder weapon to me, I must admit. The characters, even the most annoying, are actually mostly quite likable and entertaining. There are also periodic book mentions, something I always enjoy, with Alice Castle's "The Murder Garden" getting a prominent mention for obvious reason. As for whodunit, I had no real clue until the reveal. Needless to say, the reveal is a chaotic, mix of humor and anxiety. And, fun, lots of fun. Thanks #BeyondThePage for letting me drop into Phee's chaotic world again for an early peek. I had to chuckle when I realized I was waiting for that inevitable trip to the dog park with Streetman. Grin.

[Susan Johnston · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sometimes when I am reading this series I wonder why several of the characters, including Phee’s mother and her public menace of a dog,, Streetman, are not put away somewhere for their own good. I am sure the thought has gone through Phee’s mind once or twice. But then, they do something that has me laughing out loud and all is forgiven. Phee is a nice normal woman who works in her husband’s detective agency. The back stories are full of some great bit about their relationship and how she ended up so close to the senior’s complex where her whacky mother and her even whackier friends live.

As usual, a body is discovered. This time it starts off with a dismembered hand and then a full corpse appears in the community garden where Harriet and her cohorts are going to grow their own food. The two local detectives could not find their noses and rely heavily on the two detectives to solve their cases. But they are off around the country following leads to an exotic cat ring.. The seniors need no encouragement when they decide they will sort out the killer and bring him or her to justice. Meanwhile, try as she might, Phee knows she is going to get dragged into whatever capers her mother and her friends can concoct.

The bad guys do get caught in both cases but there will be lots of shenanigans before that happens. I often wonder who is loonier. Harriet and her ladies or Phee who can never say no. But I do come back so that is saying something. Maybe Phee and I have something in common. Four purrs and two paws up.

[April · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sophie “Phee” Kimball is back and her mother and friends have cooked up a new scheme. Herb is behind this one, roping Harriet and some of the book club ladies into gardening in a community plot with the agricultural club.
Streetman finds the bones of a severed hand and chaos ensues.
I read this book to my parents, and I noticed different things this time. The book is highly humorous. But I noticed that at least in this book Phee is snarky. There are a lot of asides written in that she is thinking in her head. Don’t get me wrong her mother and friends are pretty out there doing crazy things and coming up with wild plans, but I’d never noticed such a sarcastic bent to the tone of the book. In the past, I’d felt sorry for Phee because Harriet treated the dog so much better than her own daughter.
Perspective is a good thing, and it is possible that this book had a slightly different tone than other books in the series.
Something else that was different was that all the different subplots didn’t connect at the end of the day. The cat napping cases seemed to be a way to clear the decks of the private investigators in the business, so that Phee would be front a center in solving the mystery. I missed Marshall.
This series has always been a hoot and I will be interested to see where any additional stories take us.
Thanks to Netgalley and Beyond the Page Publishing for the opportunity to read this book.

[Acantha · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an utterly insane, delight of a book.

We're back with 'Phee' and her family. This is the second book I've read in this series so I was vaguely familiar with the characters but I don't think you need much understanding. The characters are presented in broad strokes and don't go into too much detail, but manage to convey what sort of person they are. From the utterly insane mother and her pup, to the fish obsessed angler to the array of gardening suspects who seem to think of produce and little else.

When Phee's mother and her friends decide to take up gardening, it isn't long before parts of a body show up. And then an actual body. Are the two related? Is the first one even a crime? And just how many times can you kill a person?

There is so much going on. Too much at times, and I do kind of wish we could have followed the cat ring story a little more closely - there was Vegas and mobsters and Mounties and all sorts! Also completely off the rails and I wanted to see more of that.

The murders themselves didn't really add up when you stop to think about it, but that isn't the point of these kind of books. Its the journey that is important and boy was this journey a wild, entertaining one.

~Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC in return for an honest review~

[Vicky · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a hilarious addition to the series. The seniors at Sun City West are at it again - much to Phee's dismay. Her mother's hijinks are laughable and her mother's dog? That dog (and maybe her mother!) really needs a trainer. In this book, the seniors have taken over several plots in the community gardens. When the dog digs up a human hand, Phee has no idea what they're all in for. One of my favorite parts of the book is when Phee's aunt's literary group is doing a reading of Poe's "The Raven" at a local restaurant. They are dressed in black dresses and veiled hats - and a patron misunderstands. And calls in a SWAT team and Homeland Security for the "terrorists"!

This is a good addition to the series. The characters from Sun City West and Phee and her friends are all here and up to their usual shenanigans.

Recommended.

Disclosure of Material: I received a final and/or advanced reader copy of this book with the hope that I will leave my unbiased opinion. I was not required to leave a review, positive or otherwise, and my opinions are just that… My Opinions. I am posting this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising”

[Jan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another delightful laugh riot of a cozy mystery! Phee (Sophie) gets tangled up with her mother, her senior friends, and mother's incorrigible Chiweenie which starts out fairly simply but rapidly gets disastrous when said Chiweenie digs into one of the gardens and comes up with a skeletal hand wearing an odd ring. Husband is chasing himself from Arizona to Chicago to Las Vegas in search of the pet cat of a wealthy client, so (separately) Phee and her mother's gang of seniors dig in to find out whose wrist, more about the ring (and the later found rare stone which had came loose), and more because the local law tends to take the easiest route and need prodding to do the right thing. Tons of verbal and situational humor!
I requested and received a temporary uncorrected digital eGalley from Beyond the Page Publishing via NetGalley. NOT an unbiased review as I love this fun series!
#Puzzled4Murder by @j.c.eaton #SophieKimballMysteriesBk15 #BeyondThePagePublishing
#NetGalley @goodreads @bookbub @librarythingofficial ***** Review #thestorygraph #murder #bookshop_org #bookshop_org_uk #bookshop_org_ca #teamwork #ChiWeenie #laughyoursoxoff #retirementcommunity #cozymysteries #familymadness #forensics

[Teresa · Rating 2 out of 5]

PLANTED 4 MURDER by J.C. Eaton is a cozy mystery series taking place in a community garden in Sun City West, Arizona. The characters have been established through the previous stories, but I had no problems following the story itself.

Phee is an accountant and has, the luck or misfortune, to be close to her mother and her retired friends. They decide to give the community garden a try and grow a few vegetables of their own. Once they get their plots, it's not long before a hand is found and police are involved. Phee and the retirees are well known to the police through previous adventures.

As I mentioned, I had no problems following the story lines themselves, however because I have not read any of the previous books, to me, the characters were just there. They didn't take me away and pull me inside the story itself.
The story was a bit busy, for me, as the author had catnappers on the loose with the PIs, the retirees at the garden and the third one with Phee attempting to deal with her mother and her shenanigans, as well as work as an account at the same time. However, I didn't see the killer until they were revealed in the end.

[Tzia · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a brilliant, hilarious, chaotic book which I thoroughly enjoyed.

I haven't read any of the previous books in this series, or indeed by this author - but to be honestly that doesn't really matter. There's a baffling and endearing array of characters, all of whom get pulled into investigating the murder of an allotment owner and the possibly related discovery of a skeletal hand. There is the 'cozy murder mystery and fishing' radio show, Macedonian oligarchs, a cat fanciers convention, literary circles, and gardeners - not to mention the murder itself and the truly staggering amount of food references. All of which I am here for by the way.

The main reason for the rating is that the investigations and the murder itself didn't really stack up. There are a couple of logic leaps which don't quite work and there are times when the chaos created by the characters overshadows the plot.

Nevertheless - brilliant fun, genuinely funny - and the exasperation of the main character dealing with her family honestly makes it worth a read.

- Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review -

[LittleRead · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Sun City West retired group takes up, gardening only to find a severed hand in the dirt. That sets off the sleuthing and means that Phee needs to step in and keep some level of sanity among her mother and her friends as well as keeping them safe from a killer who may, or may not, still be around.

Is the hand bone connected to an arm bone? Is the killer connected to the community garden? These are all things that the book club ladies and tends to find out. But can they do it without being plowed under themselves? That’s what
Phee is hoping to help them manage.

This is a fun series and I absolutely adore the relationship that Phee house with her mother and the book club ladies. It’s both sweet and endearing and annoying all at the same time. I can relate. I did a Chiweenie who managers find himself in the middle of every single murder and you have got yourself a fun read. I am sorry to hear that half of this writing you passed away. My condolences to his wife, and I look forward to future books that you worked on storylines and plots together over the years. Jim will be missed by all of us.

[M Steinbrink · Rating 5 out of 5]

Planted 4 Murder is the latest Sophie Kimball mystery by J.C. Eaton. I really enjoy this series and this book was not different. Phee and her mom and all the mom’s quirky senior citizen friends are back and there is a new crime town, actually two new crimes. There is both a skeleton and a fresh dead body at the local co-op garden and Phee’s mom and her crew can’t wait to solve the mysteries and drag Phee into the middle of it. This series is always so funny and I always enjoy another visit with these wonderful characters. The mystery was fun to figure out and I also love it when Streetman gets right in the middle of things. The only drawback of this book is that I missed having Phee’s husband and boss right in the middle of the action too. I hope in the next book they will be back in the thick of things. I recommend this book as a great escape from real life and a chance for a few good chuckles.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this book. All opinions are my own.

[Kathleen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoy the Sophie Kimball Cozy Mystery series. This is a standalone read. Phee is often dragged into investigations by her mother, her book club, and the men’s clubs. Phee is an accountant for Williams Investigations.

The plots are often hilarious but in spite of all the help she doesn’t need and her mother, they stumble through the murders to reveal who did it.

Nate and Marshall have their plates full with an exotic international catnapping ring. They can’t provide much help for the killing in the community garden. Phee gets sucker in and the resolution leads to an unbelievable turn of events.

I enjoyed the story. It was well plotted and thought out. I especially enjoyed the note by Ann Goldfarb. She addressed the passing of her husband and partner in this series. My heart goes out to her and her family at the loss of a loved one.

I received an advanced reader copy by Netgalley and these are my opinions.

[Amary Chapman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ms. Eaton pens a delightful tale of a sane female bookkeeper married to a detective, surrounded by her mother's friends, who live nearby in a retirement community. Her mother and friends are eccentric to say the least, a handful and seem to be intent on driving Phee crazy, Throw in mom's crazy misbehaving chi-weenie for more color. There's plenty of humor and mystery and I highly recommend it.
I requested and received a Net Galley ARC gratis and offer my opinion in the same.

[Tari · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another hilarious adventure with the seniors and Streetman the chiweenie in Sun City West—and Phee of course riding herd on all their mayhem. That dog gets into some of the funniest situations! Once again Phee was pulled into her mom’s book club antics and found herself once more involved in a murder investigation. Hilarity and laughter followed closely.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an ARC of this book provided by Beyond the Page via NetGalley, and my opinions are my own.

[Helen · Rating 5 out of 5]

this is my very favorite series!!

[Randee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Streetman and Harriet always makes me laugh. Marshall may be the most boring character in literature.

[Moira · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my absolute favourite series and this installment did NOT disappoint!