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Back to the Garden
A fifty-year-old cold case involving California royalty comes back to life—with potentially fatal consequences—in this gripping standalone novel from the New York Times bestselling author of the Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes series
The Gardener Estate is one of the most storied and beloved places on the West Coast: a magnificent house in vast formal grounds, home to a family that shaped California—and fought hard to conceal the turmoil and eccentricities within their walls.
And now, just as the turmoil seems buried and the Estate prepares to move into a new future, construction work unearths a grim relic of the estate’s history: a skull, hidden away some fifty years ago.
Inspector Raquel Laing of the SFPD Cold Case Unit has her work cut out for her. Back in the '70s, the Estate was a commune, when its young heir, Rob Gardener, turned the palatial setting into a counterculture Eden of peace, love, and equality. But the '70s were also a time when serial killers preyed on such innocents—monsters like The Highwayman, whose case has just assumed a whole new urgency.
Could these bones belong to one of his victims?
For Raquel Laing—a woman who knows all about hidden turmoil and eccentricities—the Gardener bones seem clearly linked to The Highwayman. But as she dives into the Estate’s archives for evidence of his presence, what she finds there begins to take on a dark reality of its own.
Everything brings her back to Rob Gardener himself—now a gray-haired recluse, then a troubled young Vietnam vet whose girlfriend vanished after a midsummer festival at the Estate, fifty years ago.
But a lot of people seem to have disappeared from the Gardener Estate that summer, when the commune fell apart and its residents scattered: a young woman, her child, Rob’s brother Fort…
The pressure is on, and Raquel needs to solve this case—before The Highwayman slips away, or another Gardener vanishes.
The Gardener Estate is one of the most storied and beloved places on the West Coast: a magnificent house in vast formal grounds, home to a family that shaped California—and fought hard to conceal the turmoil and eccentricities within their walls.
And now, just as the turmoil seems buried and the Estate prepares to move into a new future, construction work unearths a grim relic of the estate’s history: a skull, hidden away some fifty years ago.
Inspector Raquel Laing of the SFPD Cold Case Unit has her work cut out for her. Back in the '70s, the Estate was a commune, when its young heir, Rob Gardener, turned the palatial setting into a counterculture Eden of peace, love, and equality. But the '70s were also a time when serial killers preyed on such innocents—monsters like The Highwayman, whose case has just assumed a whole new urgency.
Could these bones belong to one of his victims?
For Raquel Laing—a woman who knows all about hidden turmoil and eccentricities—the Gardener bones seem clearly linked to The Highwayman. But as she dives into the Estate’s archives for evidence of his presence, what she finds there begins to take on a dark reality of its own.
Everything brings her back to Rob Gardener himself—now a gray-haired recluse, then a troubled young Vietnam vet whose girlfriend vanished after a midsummer festival at the Estate, fifty years ago.
But a lot of people seem to have disappeared from the Gardener Estate that summer, when the commune fell apart and its residents scattered: a young woman, her child, Rob’s brother Fort…
The pressure is on, and Raquel needs to solve this case—before The Highwayman slips away, or another Gardener vanishes.
11 pages, Audiobook
First published September 6, 2022
524 people are currently reading
24263 people want to read
About the author
Laurie R. King
135 books6,841 followersEdgar-winning mystery writer Laurie R. King writes series and standalone novels. Her official forum is
THE LRK VIRTUAL BOOK CLUB here on Goodreads--please join us for book-discussing fun.
King's 2018 novel, Island of the Mad, sees Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes travel from London's Bedlam to the glitter of Venice's Lido,where Young Things and the friends of Cole Porter pass Mussolini's Blackshirts in the streets. The Mary Russell/Sherlock Holmes series follows a brilliant young woman who becomes the student, then partner, of the great detective. [click here for an excerpt of the first in the series, The Beekeeper's Apprentice] The Stuyvesant and Grey series (Touchstone; The Bones of Paris) takes place in Europe between the Wars. The Kate Martinelli series follows an SFPD detective's cases on a female Rembrandt, a holy fool, and more. [Click for an excerpt of A Grave Talent]
King lives in northern California, which serves as backdrop for some of her books.
Please note that Laurie checks her Goodreads inbox intermittently, so it may take some time to receive a reply. A quicker response may be possible via email to info@laurierking.com.
THE LRK VIRTUAL BOOK CLUB here on Goodreads--please join us for book-discussing fun.
King's 2018 novel, Island of the Mad, sees Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes travel from London's Bedlam to the glitter of Venice's Lido,where Young Things and the friends of Cole Porter pass Mussolini's Blackshirts in the streets. The Mary Russell/Sherlock Holmes series follows a brilliant young woman who becomes the student, then partner, of the great detective. [click here for an excerpt of the first in the series, The Beekeeper's Apprentice] The Stuyvesant and Grey series (Touchstone; The Bones of Paris) takes place in Europe between the Wars. The Kate Martinelli series follows an SFPD detective's cases on a female Rembrandt, a holy fool, and more. [Click for an excerpt of A Grave Talent]
King lives in northern California, which serves as backdrop for some of her books.
Please note that Laurie checks her Goodreads inbox intermittently, so it may take some time to receive a reply. A quicker response may be possible via email to info@laurierking.com.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 798 reviews
November 28, 2022
Human bones are discovered on the estate of a now-defunct commune. A detective technically on medical leave is determined to learn if the remains are a victim of a well-known serial killer. Through the information stored in the estate’s archives, the detective investigates whether she is right with her intuition.
I know this is an unpopular opinion, but I just could not get into this book. I found it just as boring as the description I wrote sounds. It winds slowly through the commune’s heyday and avoids discussing much of what I would’ve found interesting (the actual murder and the hunt for the killer), at least before I called it quits on the novel which was about 50+ pages in. Hopefully, I didn’t wimp out on an excellent book, but it just couldn’t keep my attention. Who knows, maybe I’ll come back to it eventually, but for now it was very much a DNF for me. Rating of 1 star (DNF).
I know this is an unpopular opinion, but I just could not get into this book. I found it just as boring as the description I wrote sounds. It winds slowly through the commune’s heyday and avoids discussing much of what I would’ve found interesting (the actual murder and the hunt for the killer), at least before I called it quits on the novel which was about 50+ pages in. Hopefully, I didn’t wimp out on an excellent book, but it just couldn’t keep my attention. Who knows, maybe I’ll come back to it eventually, but for now it was very much a DNF for me. Rating of 1 star (DNF).
July 19, 2022
Laurie R. King's book Back to the Garden has a mysterious setting that draws you into the book. What if you had a magnificent estate with a breathtaking garden full of famous artwork with human remains discovered beneath it? Inspector Raquel Laing is called to the site to solve a fifty year old case. Who is the victim, and even better, who is the murderer?
Back to the Garden has an intricate murder plot with a lot of outlying factors. The writing alternates between the time of the murder and the search for answers now. Although the story takes a bit to get into, my interest was piqued which kept me turning pages. This is my first Laurie R King novel and I was impressed. There is room for a sequel and I'm hoping it will happen.
Back to the Garden by Laurie R. King is available on September 6th.
Thank you, NetGalley and Random House - Ballantine, for allowing me to review this e-book. I look forward to reading more from the talented Laurie R. King.
Back to the Garden has an intricate murder plot with a lot of outlying factors. The writing alternates between the time of the murder and the search for answers now. Although the story takes a bit to get into, my interest was piqued which kept me turning pages. This is my first Laurie R King novel and I was impressed. There is room for a sequel and I'm hoping it will happen.
Back to the Garden by Laurie R. King is available on September 6th.
Thank you, NetGalley and Random House - Ballantine, for allowing me to review this e-book. I look forward to reading more from the talented Laurie R. King.
October 10, 2022
How could such an interesting premise turn into this booooring,flat,silly,predictable book?
Just awful.
Just awful.
July 8, 2022
As readers of my reviews will know, I've been disappointed by many of King's more recent Russell/Holmes books. So I thought perhaps a stand-alone with new characters would be better. Alas. King gives her protagonist many of the same attributes as her earlier characters--she's queer, she's disabled, she breaks professional rules--but without any charm or appeal. Other characters are paper-thin and created for single uses, it seems: the agoraphobic sister with the big true crime internet network, the love interest who blushes a lot, the older wise woman on staff, etc. King also gives her protagonist the ability to read micro-expressions, a technique that pushes the book into SFF space, making everything about the book a bit unwieldy. They mystery itself is fine, the idea of a commune taking over a mansion a great setting and device, but the wit and erudition of King's previous work is still very much MIA.
June 7, 2023
I have read a couple of books by Laurie R. King (two of the Mary Russell/Sherlock Holmes novels) and enjoyed them, so when I saw she had a standalone novel, I wanted to read it.
Back to the Garden is a dual timeline story, the earlier story revolving around a commune in California on the grounds of a mansion in the late 1970s. The modern story involves a detective working on cold cases, partly at least due to a knee injury (which is never explained) and partly because of some trouble she’d gotten herself into with the San Francisco Police Department (also never explained). She’s working on a cold case involving a serial killer dubbed The Highwayman, who was active in the late 1970s, when bones are discovered on the grounds of the former commune.
Unfortunately, I found the book rather boring. This was almost a DNF for me, but I skimmed and got to the end that way.
Thank you to NetGalley and Bantam for the opportunity to read an advance readers copy of this book, even though I’m quite late to it. All opinions are my own.
Back to the Garden is a dual timeline story, the earlier story revolving around a commune in California on the grounds of a mansion in the late 1970s. The modern story involves a detective working on cold cases, partly at least due to a knee injury (which is never explained) and partly because of some trouble she’d gotten herself into with the San Francisco Police Department (also never explained). She’s working on a cold case involving a serial killer dubbed The Highwayman, who was active in the late 1970s, when bones are discovered on the grounds of the former commune.
Unfortunately, I found the book rather boring. This was almost a DNF for me, but I skimmed and got to the end that way.
Thank you to NetGalley and Bantam for the opportunity to read an advance readers copy of this book, even though I’m quite late to it. All opinions are my own.
May 28, 2022
Thank you Random House for Advanced Reader Copy of book to be on sale 9/6/22. All lovers of Laurie King's writing have a treat in store with this standalone featuring a lively and very interesting cast of characters in 1970's California.
Most of the action is based in a mansion reminiscent of the Hearst Castle. Rather than being populated with Hollywood stars the mansion and grounds are taken over by members of the countercultural movement as permitted by the sons who inherit the property. The sons had rebelled against the plans their father had promoted for them, so the property underwent a dramatic change when he died. The oldest son served in Vietnam and came home, as many did, a different person.
Interesting governance plays out in the management of a growing population living communally bringing us to a present day investigation by one SFPD officer determined to link the remains of a female on the property with a serial killer she is investigating.
With the investigator as our guide through the decades of the commune's activities the story is riveting. Highly recommend!
Most of the action is based in a mansion reminiscent of the Hearst Castle. Rather than being populated with Hollywood stars the mansion and grounds are taken over by members of the countercultural movement as permitted by the sons who inherit the property. The sons had rebelled against the plans their father had promoted for them, so the property underwent a dramatic change when he died. The oldest son served in Vietnam and came home, as many did, a different person.
Interesting governance plays out in the management of a growing population living communally bringing us to a present day investigation by one SFPD officer determined to link the remains of a female on the property with a serial killer she is investigating.
With the investigator as our guide through the decades of the commune's activities the story is riveting. Highly recommend!
December 30, 2022
3.5 stars
July 14, 2025
During that summer of 1979, someone placed a dead body in a hole that was about to be filled with concrete, and there it had sat for over 40 years....Waiting to be uncovered.
The Gardener Estate was once one of the residences of California’s rich and famous. Then it was turned into an almost equally famous commune by an heir. Years have passed and it has become a tourist attraction, known for its eclectic history, its beautiful gardens, and its collection of feminist artworks by a once famous artist. One of those artworks, a statue showing the three faces of Eve, has been hiding a grave. As the statue begins to topple, conservators rush to save it and to keep it from falling on any of those tourists whose money keeps the place financially solvent.
That’s where Inspector Laing comes in. She’s been working on a cold case that has just become much too hot for the police departments in Northern California. A serial killer that was known to be operating in the 1970s, who was not only never caught but was never even thought to be anything more than an urban legend. They called him "The Highwayman". His real name was Michael Johnson. When cancer caused him to need paid care his terrible secrets were at last uncovered. Now with him dying, Laing needs for him to give her the details about all his victims so that their families can have their closures. The body under the statue might be one of the "Highwayman’s" victims and if it is, it might help close the biggest cold case that Laing has ever worked.... or it might just open an entirely new case.
The story is told in two timelines...the 1970s past and the 2020s present. Laing needs to solve this case as her career is hanging by a thread....so she uses her sister, who has her fingers in the "Dark Web", to try to gather information that is not available on police files. What makes this story so compelling are all the unanswered questions from the past. She may not actually know who was buried under the statue, but she does know when it happened because of the date the statue was erected.... the late 70's. A picture begins to emerge of the body's those final days. A picture that brings 1979 back to life in all of its drug-hazed glory...and tragedy. Laurie King does a beautiful job of not only bringing this decade alive but also teasing us that remembers this decade, with remnants of a few memories from our past.
The Gardener Estate was once one of the residences of California’s rich and famous. Then it was turned into an almost equally famous commune by an heir. Years have passed and it has become a tourist attraction, known for its eclectic history, its beautiful gardens, and its collection of feminist artworks by a once famous artist. One of those artworks, a statue showing the three faces of Eve, has been hiding a grave. As the statue begins to topple, conservators rush to save it and to keep it from falling on any of those tourists whose money keeps the place financially solvent.
That’s where Inspector Laing comes in. She’s been working on a cold case that has just become much too hot for the police departments in Northern California. A serial killer that was known to be operating in the 1970s, who was not only never caught but was never even thought to be anything more than an urban legend. They called him "The Highwayman". His real name was Michael Johnson. When cancer caused him to need paid care his terrible secrets were at last uncovered. Now with him dying, Laing needs for him to give her the details about all his victims so that their families can have their closures. The body under the statue might be one of the "Highwayman’s" victims and if it is, it might help close the biggest cold case that Laing has ever worked.... or it might just open an entirely new case.
The story is told in two timelines...the 1970s past and the 2020s present. Laing needs to solve this case as her career is hanging by a thread....so she uses her sister, who has her fingers in the "Dark Web", to try to gather information that is not available on police files. What makes this story so compelling are all the unanswered questions from the past. She may not actually know who was buried under the statue, but she does know when it happened because of the date the statue was erected.... the late 70's. A picture begins to emerge of the body's those final days. A picture that brings 1979 back to life in all of its drug-hazed glory...and tragedy. Laurie King does a beautiful job of not only bringing this decade alive but also teasing us that remembers this decade, with remnants of a few memories from our past.
May 27, 2022
I would like to thank Emma Thomasch at Random House for recommending this book to me.
Back to the Garden by Laurie R. King is a stand-alone thriller/mystery/suspense/romance/serial-killer etc. novel that seems at its surface to be about the hunt for the serial killer/urban legend the Highwayman whose true victim count is unknown, but there is also an overtone of the First Murder and Murderer. We have Eve, the Garden, and a murder--how and if it ties into the Highwayman is part of the fun and mystery of the novel.
The main character, Inspector Raquel Laing, is likable and seems fleshed out rather well--I at times got a strong Clarice Starling vibe from the character--but Raquel has her own strength and foibles. I would have liked some of the supporting characters--Dee and Jen to be have been developed a little more(perhaps in a future installment if it comes)--hint.
The novel is multifaceted and to write a spoiler-free review I won't say much more about the overall mystery in the tale except to say that it unfolds through multiple points of view moving from the 1970s and the fading hippie culture to the present day.
I have to say that this is the first book by Laurie R. King that I have read ,but it wont be the last.
Thank you to #NetGalley, Emma Thomasch at #RandomHouse and #LaurieRKing for the ARC of #BacktotheGarden.
Back to the Garden by Laurie R. King is a stand-alone thriller/mystery/suspense/romance/serial-killer etc. novel that seems at its surface to be about the hunt for the serial killer/urban legend the Highwayman whose true victim count is unknown, but there is also an overtone of the First Murder and Murderer. We have Eve, the Garden, and a murder--how and if it ties into the Highwayman is part of the fun and mystery of the novel.
The main character, Inspector Raquel Laing, is likable and seems fleshed out rather well--I at times got a strong Clarice Starling vibe from the character--but Raquel has her own strength and foibles. I would have liked some of the supporting characters--Dee and Jen to be have been developed a little more(perhaps in a future installment if it comes)--hint.
The novel is multifaceted and to write a spoiler-free review I won't say much more about the overall mystery in the tale except to say that it unfolds through multiple points of view moving from the 1970s and the fading hippie culture to the present day.
I have to say that this is the first book by Laurie R. King that I have read ,but it wont be the last.
Thank you to #NetGalley, Emma Thomasch at #RandomHouse and #LaurieRKing for the ARC of #BacktotheGarden.
September 18, 2022
Laurie R. King’s Back to the Garden follows two timelines: one, the modern-day investigation by Inspector Raquel Laing of a 50-year-old murder on the Gardener Estate, the fabled mansion and grounds of a thinly veiled version of the Hearsts; the other, the three years in which the hippie scion of the family, Rob Gardener, established a commune there in the early 1970s.
I couldn’t get enough of the sections dealing with Laing, a woman injured both inside and out — by what readers don’t yet know. Unfortunately, the bulk of the novel rambles very, very slowly through the commune heyday. During that time, someone killed a woman and buried her where a very heavy statue was to be placed. So for 50 years, no one even suspected. Laing so reminded me of King’s Kate Martinelli, a San Francisco homicide inspector. I enjoyed that series very much — although not as much as the inimitable Mary Russell series, which shows what a gifted writer King is.
Not that readers will catch more than glimpses of that here. King devotes the bulk of the novel to recounting the minutia of day-to-day living at the Gardener Estate commune that I finally couldn’t make myself care enough to stick with it to find out who the victim was, what became of the commune or how Laing came to be who she is. I’m heartbroken about abandoning this novel halfway; I kept waiting, sure that the pace would finally pick up, but, alas, it never did. I’m such a stan of King’s Mary Russell series, that it pains me to admit how much I disliked this novel. I wish I could have spent more time with Inspector Laing, but not at the price of wading through the tedium of The Commune.
In the interest of full disclosure, I received this book from NetGalley, Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine and Bantam in exchange for an honest review.
I couldn’t get enough of the sections dealing with Laing, a woman injured both inside and out — by what readers don’t yet know. Unfortunately, the bulk of the novel rambles very, very slowly through the commune heyday. During that time, someone killed a woman and buried her where a very heavy statue was to be placed. So for 50 years, no one even suspected. Laing so reminded me of King’s Kate Martinelli, a San Francisco homicide inspector. I enjoyed that series very much — although not as much as the inimitable Mary Russell series, which shows what a gifted writer King is.
Not that readers will catch more than glimpses of that here. King devotes the bulk of the novel to recounting the minutia of day-to-day living at the Gardener Estate commune that I finally couldn’t make myself care enough to stick with it to find out who the victim was, what became of the commune or how Laing came to be who she is. I’m heartbroken about abandoning this novel halfway; I kept waiting, sure that the pace would finally pick up, but, alas, it never did. I’m such a stan of King’s Mary Russell series, that it pains me to admit how much I disliked this novel. I wish I could have spent more time with Inspector Laing, but not at the price of wading through the tedium of The Commune.
In the interest of full disclosure, I received this book from NetGalley, Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine and Bantam in exchange for an honest review.
December 7, 2022
Laurie R. King rarely disappoints, and this book, the first in a new series, is no exception. Loosely connected to her Kate Martinelli series from 20 years ago, Back to the Garden introduces Raquel Laing, an SFPD Inspector with a meticulously honed talent for observing telling behaviors in the suspects she interviews.
There is a dual timeline, with flashbacks to events 50 years ago on a Hearst Castle-like estate south of San Francisco. Reinvented as a back-to-the-earth commune by its Vietnam war veteran heir at that time, the Gardener Estate is now a museum and public gardens. Linking the two eras is The Highwayman, a newly identified serial killer active in the area 5 decades ago. Was the body just discovered under a statue on the estate one of his victims? He is near death, lending an urgency to the investigation.
Given her demonstrated ability for rendering other times and places (especially in her Holmes/Russell series), it’s not surprising that King’s recreation of the 70’s counterculture rings very true. It’s a walk down memory lane for those of us who dressed in patched jeans and patchwork skirts and naively (and obviously stupidly) hitchhiked, even if only around town.
Oh, and the plot is clever and kept me engaged until the end, which foreshadows the series to come.
There is a dual timeline, with flashbacks to events 50 years ago on a Hearst Castle-like estate south of San Francisco. Reinvented as a back-to-the-earth commune by its Vietnam war veteran heir at that time, the Gardener Estate is now a museum and public gardens. Linking the two eras is The Highwayman, a newly identified serial killer active in the area 5 decades ago. Was the body just discovered under a statue on the estate one of his victims? He is near death, lending an urgency to the investigation.
Given her demonstrated ability for rendering other times and places (especially in her Holmes/Russell series), it’s not surprising that King’s recreation of the 70’s counterculture rings very true. It’s a walk down memory lane for those of us who dressed in patched jeans and patchwork skirts and naively (and obviously stupidly) hitchhiked, even if only around town.
Oh, and the plot is clever and kept me engaged until the end, which foreshadows the series to come.
September 6, 2022
Happy publication day!
I mean, it's Laurie R. King, so this would have to have something spectacularly wrong with it to outweigh the guaranteed wonderful writing. And I don't think I could find a thing wrong with this book.
It all starts with a statue being moved, and bones being found under it. Human bones, of course. "The day had been going so well, until the bones turned up." Whose are they? How did they get there? Who put them there? It's a very cold case, and it lands in the hands of Inspector Raquel Laing.
She's a wonderful character. It felt as though she's been around forever, and this was just another installment in her case files. I wish it was. Any time Ms. King wants to explore more of her investigations, I'm there. She has a fascinating back story, told beautifully - and I loved her sister, too.
Through rabbit holes and red herrings and serial killers and all manner of other livestock, the story winds back and forth to knit together the past and the present of the great estate on which the bones have been found, on which a long-ago murder happened. The past is the bright-colored 70's, when hair was long and living was communal, and selling out was the ultimate evil. And the present is filled with people who really don't want to talk about the past ...
Just writing about the book makes me want to pick it up and start over.
My thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an advance copy.
I mean, it's Laurie R. King, so this would have to have something spectacularly wrong with it to outweigh the guaranteed wonderful writing. And I don't think I could find a thing wrong with this book.
It all starts with a statue being moved, and bones being found under it. Human bones, of course. "The day had been going so well, until the bones turned up." Whose are they? How did they get there? Who put them there? It's a very cold case, and it lands in the hands of Inspector Raquel Laing.
She's a wonderful character. It felt as though she's been around forever, and this was just another installment in her case files. I wish it was. Any time Ms. King wants to explore more of her investigations, I'm there. She has a fascinating back story, told beautifully - and I loved her sister, too.
Through rabbit holes and red herrings and serial killers and all manner of other livestock, the story winds back and forth to knit together the past and the present of the great estate on which the bones have been found, on which a long-ago murder happened. The past is the bright-colored 70's, when hair was long and living was communal, and selling out was the ultimate evil. And the present is filled with people who really don't want to talk about the past ...
Just writing about the book makes me want to pick it up and start over.
My thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an advance copy.
December 16, 2022
3.5 rounded to 4 stars.
This is my first book by Laurie King. I am reading this book as a bookclub giveaway from Goodreads. We are reading this book as our book of the month selection.
Back to the Garden is a stand-alone mystery set on the grounds of the magnificent Gardner Estate, filled with beautiful gardens. Home to many artists who visited. It has two time lines current day and the 197O. As excavations begin in current day a skull is found underneath a statue. Could this be the work of “The Highwayman”, known stalker and serial killer.? Michael Johnson is dying of cancer in a hospital. Will he reveal the truth?
Inspector Raquel Laing, working on cold cases thinks there is a connection to Michael Johnson. She has a secret past herself. As she investigates she discovers that Rob Gardner heir to the estate turned the palatial gardens into a hippie commune in the 1970’s. Many of the residents of the commune disappeared on the last summer night never to be heard from again.
Although this book had an interesting concept, it just was too slow moving for me. It had a good ending that I didn’t see coming. I would have liked to known about Raquel’s past. Possibly a sequel.
This is my first book by Laurie King. I am reading this book as a bookclub giveaway from Goodreads. We are reading this book as our book of the month selection.
Back to the Garden is a stand-alone mystery set on the grounds of the magnificent Gardner Estate, filled with beautiful gardens. Home to many artists who visited. It has two time lines current day and the 197O. As excavations begin in current day a skull is found underneath a statue. Could this be the work of “The Highwayman”, known stalker and serial killer.? Michael Johnson is dying of cancer in a hospital. Will he reveal the truth?
Inspector Raquel Laing, working on cold cases thinks there is a connection to Michael Johnson. She has a secret past herself. As she investigates she discovers that Rob Gardner heir to the estate turned the palatial gardens into a hippie commune in the 1970’s. Many of the residents of the commune disappeared on the last summer night never to be heard from again.
Although this book had an interesting concept, it just was too slow moving for me. It had a good ending that I didn’t see coming. I would have liked to known about Raquel’s past. Possibly a sequel.
September 22, 2022
When old bones are found under a statue on the grounds of a fabulous mansion with a colorful history, a cop on probation wonders if there is a tie to the infamous The Highwayman serial killer from the same period in history.
Laurie R King has been a favorite author since I first devoured the, then released Mary Russell series, Harris Stuyvesant, and the Kate Martinelli series books. King can set up the world of a story and do a deep dive into the personhood and background of her main characters while serving up a steadily paced march to that big suspenseful moment like few others. I was eager to read this latest which I hope doesn’t turn out to be a standalone.
Raquel is a San Francisco police detective who is good at what she does, but stumbles on the social complexities which gets her into trouble so that when the story opens she’s home on leave. She is put on the Highwayman serial killer case that has been unsolved for fifty years. While working that case, a stunning and intriguing investigation turns up when a hippie festival on the grounds of an old hippie compound that was once the Gardener Estate is capped by the finding of skeletal bones under a statue. Raquel gets pulled to work this new investigation that she privately wonders if it has ties to her serial killer. But even she couldn’t predict the outcome once she follows the evidence to the truth of that time in the past.
Back to the Garden is a split time line mystery with Raquel’s investigation in the present and the Gardener brothers and their choice to turn their inheritance into a commune back in the 70’s Robert Gardener had a bad war and came back from Vietnam different which makes him suspect when his girlfriend disappears. But others at the commune go missing when something breaks it up and slowly but surely the answers come for Raquel and the reader. I vaguely remember this period, but I felt the author nailed it and made me feel a tad nostalgic.
I am used to the author’s books sometimes starting slow and ponderous, but it’s been a while since I read one that had the introduction of a new world and characters. I found myself struggling to be interested at times. I did enjoy the cold case investigation skills going on with the police and meeting some of the huge cast of characters. Raquel was okay. I found her imperviousness to social cues made her interesting. Sadly, I was only semi-interested in the past situation though I thought the author wrote the 70’s and the fading hippie culture well. I preferred to stick with the present day investigation mostly because it paced out more swiftly and seemed more relevant at least in the first half.
But, before I have everyone thinking I didn’t like the book, let me say that it picked up for me as it went along. By the end I was figuratively biting my nails and tense enough that I couldn’t put the book down until I made to the surprising finish. I got a big surprise over the statue body and somewhat of a surprise about the serial killer. This was a complete mystery though abrupt, but I could see where this could become a series and wouldn’t mind that in the least. If readers haven’t tried the author or her mysteries in the past, I recommend this one for a chance to see her stuff and already fans won’t want to miss this one.
My full review will post at Caffeinated Reviewer Sept 21.
Laurie R King has been a favorite author since I first devoured the, then released Mary Russell series, Harris Stuyvesant, and the Kate Martinelli series books. King can set up the world of a story and do a deep dive into the personhood and background of her main characters while serving up a steadily paced march to that big suspenseful moment like few others. I was eager to read this latest which I hope doesn’t turn out to be a standalone.
Raquel is a San Francisco police detective who is good at what she does, but stumbles on the social complexities which gets her into trouble so that when the story opens she’s home on leave. She is put on the Highwayman serial killer case that has been unsolved for fifty years. While working that case, a stunning and intriguing investigation turns up when a hippie festival on the grounds of an old hippie compound that was once the Gardener Estate is capped by the finding of skeletal bones under a statue. Raquel gets pulled to work this new investigation that she privately wonders if it has ties to her serial killer. But even she couldn’t predict the outcome once she follows the evidence to the truth of that time in the past.
Back to the Garden is a split time line mystery with Raquel’s investigation in the present and the Gardener brothers and their choice to turn their inheritance into a commune back in the 70’s Robert Gardener had a bad war and came back from Vietnam different which makes him suspect when his girlfriend disappears. But others at the commune go missing when something breaks it up and slowly but surely the answers come for Raquel and the reader. I vaguely remember this period, but I felt the author nailed it and made me feel a tad nostalgic.
I am used to the author’s books sometimes starting slow and ponderous, but it’s been a while since I read one that had the introduction of a new world and characters. I found myself struggling to be interested at times. I did enjoy the cold case investigation skills going on with the police and meeting some of the huge cast of characters. Raquel was okay. I found her imperviousness to social cues made her interesting. Sadly, I was only semi-interested in the past situation though I thought the author wrote the 70’s and the fading hippie culture well. I preferred to stick with the present day investigation mostly because it paced out more swiftly and seemed more relevant at least in the first half.
But, before I have everyone thinking I didn’t like the book, let me say that it picked up for me as it went along. By the end I was figuratively biting my nails and tense enough that I couldn’t put the book down until I made to the surprising finish. I got a big surprise over the statue body and somewhat of a surprise about the serial killer. This was a complete mystery though abrupt, but I could see where this could become a series and wouldn’t mind that in the least. If readers haven’t tried the author or her mysteries in the past, I recommend this one for a chance to see her stuff and already fans won’t want to miss this one.
My full review will post at Caffeinated Reviewer Sept 21.
September 11, 2022
BACK TO THE GARDEN is a twisty stand-alone Murders (plural) mystery from Laurie R. King, strongly rooted in Seventies' counterculture and flavored with Hollywood upper crust of the 20's and 30's, leavened throughout with Art, always acknowledging the "outside world": Vietnam, hitchhiking, serial killing in an Era when victims could disappear without being missed.
In the present day, a dedicated but "odd," intuitive cold case Investigator races to uncover clues of a serial killer active in California in the 1970's, a man just recently identified who is literally nearly on his deathbed. Entrapped in the investigation is a commune formed in Oregon, later moved to a Glorious family estate on the Central California Coast.
In the present day, a dedicated but "odd," intuitive cold case Investigator races to uncover clues of a serial killer active in California in the 1970's, a man just recently identified who is literally nearly on his deathbed. Entrapped in the investigation is a commune formed in Oregon, later moved to a Glorious family estate on the Central California Coast.
July 7, 2023
4.5 stars. I can't recommend this without a content warning, because it's about a '70s free love cult and a serial killer/rapist. We don't see any of his crimes onscreen, but we do see him boast about them afterwards. Nevertheless, I found the story extremely engaging and finished it in a single day (which is RARE for me, hence the high rating). Beautifully immersive prose, especially the descriptions of the garden and the estate. I did think some of the plot threads could have been resolved better, especially Raquel's developing relationship with Jen. I wanted to see them kiss, dangit!
October 7, 2022
Solid mystery!
A body found under a Gaddo statue in an old hippie commune. What relationship does it have to Inspector Raquel Laing, SFPD, Cold Case Unit, working on squeezing information about where the bodies are from an inmate dying of cancer, aka The Highlander? The death of young, long-haired blonde women are attributed to Michael Johnston. Stretching out the truth about where his victims are buried is part of his pleasurable game. How to get this lowlife to give ease to families across the nation.
Raquel’s investigations take her back to the 1970’s, to Rob Gardener and his inheritance of a Californian mansion from his very estranged father, to the current times and the now famous feminist artist Gaddo and her sculptures on the property.
How it all fits together is legendary in scope and puzzling in the extreme.
An intriguing cold case that reaches into today and an exciting beginning to a new series.
A Random House- Ballantine ARC via NetGalley.
Many thanks to the author and publisher.
A body found under a Gaddo statue in an old hippie commune. What relationship does it have to Inspector Raquel Laing, SFPD, Cold Case Unit, working on squeezing information about where the bodies are from an inmate dying of cancer, aka The Highlander? The death of young, long-haired blonde women are attributed to Michael Johnston. Stretching out the truth about where his victims are buried is part of his pleasurable game. How to get this lowlife to give ease to families across the nation.
Raquel’s investigations take her back to the 1970’s, to Rob Gardener and his inheritance of a Californian mansion from his very estranged father, to the current times and the now famous feminist artist Gaddo and her sculptures on the property.
How it all fits together is legendary in scope and puzzling in the extreme.
An intriguing cold case that reaches into today and an exciting beginning to a new series.
A Random House- Ballantine ARC via NetGalley.
Many thanks to the author and publisher.
January 6, 2023
4.5 stars for this engrossing, well-constructed mystery.
The author steps aside from her popular Mary Russell/ Sherlock Holmes series to craft a stand-alone mystery set in modern-day California. Inspector Raquel Laing, SFPD is working a cold case, possibly connected to a recently arrested serial killer, when she learns of a body discovered under a toppled statue. The way the body was concealed matches the method used by the serial killer, so Raquel maneuvers her way to investigate this fresh discovery, even though it is in another jurisdiction. The site is on the grounds of a famous estate that, at one time in its history, had been a 'hippie' commune.
Our story weaves its way back and forth, alternating between the present day, and the 1970s.
I was fully invested in both story lines, with the author doing a superb job of building the tension in both timelines. I am reluctant to say more, for fear of spoilers.
The author keeps the focus tight on the overlapping cases, barely giving us a glimpse of the private Raquel. The author plops us down in Raquel's life, giving us just the bare bones of her career with the San Fransisco Police Dept. She currently uses a cane; we never learn why. She's on probation; we never learn why. She lives with her sister, Dee, who is probably an online vigilante, and possibly agoraphobic. We never learn more about Dee. That didn't bother me at the time, though it left me with the feeling that I had, perhaps, stumbled into book 2 of a series.
If this is all we readers see of Raquel, that would be okay. However, I would gladly welcome another book featuring her.
The author steps aside from her popular Mary Russell/ Sherlock Holmes series to craft a stand-alone mystery set in modern-day California. Inspector Raquel Laing, SFPD is working a cold case, possibly connected to a recently arrested serial killer, when she learns of a body discovered under a toppled statue. The way the body was concealed matches the method used by the serial killer, so Raquel maneuvers her way to investigate this fresh discovery, even though it is in another jurisdiction. The site is on the grounds of a famous estate that, at one time in its history, had been a 'hippie' commune.
Our story weaves its way back and forth, alternating between the present day, and the 1970s.
I was fully invested in both story lines, with the author doing a superb job of building the tension in both timelines. I am reluctant to say more, for fear of spoilers.
The author keeps the focus tight on the overlapping cases, barely giving us a glimpse of the private Raquel. The author plops us down in Raquel's life, giving us just the bare bones of her career with the San Fransisco Police Dept. She currently uses a cane; we never learn why. She's on probation; we never learn why. She lives with her sister, Dee, who is probably an online vigilante, and possibly agoraphobic. We never learn more about Dee. That didn't bother me at the time, though it left me with the feeling that I had, perhaps, stumbled into book 2 of a series.
If this is all we readers see of Raquel, that would be okay. However, I would gladly welcome another book featuring her.
October 5, 2022
I typically enjoy Laurie King’s writing, but this was not a favorite for me. I didn’t find anything appealing about any of the characters and therefore read passively. There was never really any tension either; it just seemed like things would be ok eventually and they were.
October 3, 2023
Wellllllll. I liked the characters, the setting, the dialogue, just not so much the plot & especially not the ending. I’ll leave it at that.
October 14, 2022
Back in the 90s one of my my favorite series was Laura King's Kate Martinelli. So my expectations were high when I realized she had written a new standalone contemporary book. And what a tightly plotted and intriguing one it turned out to be. When a body is found underneath a statue at a palacial California estate, the police suspect it might be another of the Highwayman's victim. Told in two timelines, the current day and when the estate was a commune during the 70s. Raquel Laing, the detective, talented and fascinating character, drives the contemporary story. While Rob Gardiner, heir to the estate, and his partner, Meadow, anchor the other. Can't rave highly enough about the complexity and nuances of all the characters, plus the mystery itself is exceptional.
September 3, 2022
After reading Back to the Garden, I was disappointed to see that it was listed as a standalone thriller. Then I read author Laurie R. King's blog and learned that it's the first in a new series featuring Raquel Laing. My initial disappointment turned to happiness. Raquel Laing is just too good a character for one book; readers deserve to see more of this maverick police officer who walks with a cane and is a whiz at reading people's facial expressions. Laing is the type of police officer who believes in responsibility over compliance: if something is the right thing to do, she's going to do it rather than obey some pencil pusher's request to cater to the rich and shameless-- even though she knows she may lose her job. Now... that's my kind of character.
Just as much as I enjoyed Laing's character, I also loved the setting. Back to the Garden switches back and forth between the present day and the 1970s when Rob Gardener turned the estate into a commune. Even if you're not old enough to remember the 1970s, the setting will come to life as Laing interviews people and reads the documents that Mrs. Dalhousie finds for her. This book is an excellent "whose body?" and "whodunit?" that kept me wondering and guessing from beginning to end.
Many writers of long-running series need a break from those characters, and I am so glad that Laurie R. King has decided to introduce us to Raquel Laing. If you've read and enjoyed Michael Connelly's Renée Ballard mysteries, you really need to meet Raquel Laing. Bring on Raquel's next investigation!
(Review copy courtesy of the publisher and Net Galley)
Just as much as I enjoyed Laing's character, I also loved the setting. Back to the Garden switches back and forth between the present day and the 1970s when Rob Gardener turned the estate into a commune. Even if you're not old enough to remember the 1970s, the setting will come to life as Laing interviews people and reads the documents that Mrs. Dalhousie finds for her. This book is an excellent "whose body?" and "whodunit?" that kept me wondering and guessing from beginning to end.
Many writers of long-running series need a break from those characters, and I am so glad that Laurie R. King has decided to introduce us to Raquel Laing. If you've read and enjoyed Michael Connelly's Renée Ballard mysteries, you really need to meet Raquel Laing. Bring on Raquel's next investigation!
(Review copy courtesy of the publisher and Net Galley)
June 30, 2023
I enjoyed this very unique stand alone murder mystery novel about some old unsolved serial killings and a recently found human skull unearthed on the grounds of a magnificent California estate house which for a period of time was converted to a commune in the 1970’s by the owner’s Grandson.
Laurie R King, the award winning mystery author, is of a certain age ( I can say this because I am too) and I think this one will be enjoyed most by those who listened to CSN and Y and Joni Mitchell albums on a turntable or “ record player” back in the day.
4 stars- BOMC choice
Laurie R King, the award winning mystery author, is of a certain age ( I can say this because I am too) and I think this one will be enjoyed most by those who listened to CSN and Y and Joni Mitchell albums on a turntable or “ record player” back in the day.
4 stars- BOMC choice
June 23, 2022
Big thanks to Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, and to NetGalley, for the opportunity to read and review an early copy of Back to the Garden.
Fifty years ago, the Gardener Estate's young heir, Rob Gardener, turned his palatial home into a counterculture commune of peace, love, and equality. However, a lot of people seem to have disappeared from the estate that summer, when the commune mysteriously fell apart. Inspector Raquel Laing is trying to solve the Highwayman cold case when bones are uncovered underneath a famous statue in the beautiful estate's garden.
I really enjoyed Back to the Garden!! (Partly because I grew up during the hippie/commune era.) It was a NEVER boring book. The story was in dual timelines but each chapter had a Then or Now chapter heading so was easy to keep straight. Also, there was a bit of a large cast of characters but I found them easy to keep track of.
The main character, Inspector Raquel Laing, is very likable and well fleshed out. Now that I think about it, I liked all of the characters! In fact, I would love to see this book become the first of a series.
#BacktotheGarden #NetGalley
Fifty years ago, the Gardener Estate's young heir, Rob Gardener, turned his palatial home into a counterculture commune of peace, love, and equality. However, a lot of people seem to have disappeared from the estate that summer, when the commune mysteriously fell apart. Inspector Raquel Laing is trying to solve the Highwayman cold case when bones are uncovered underneath a famous statue in the beautiful estate's garden.
I really enjoyed Back to the Garden!! (Partly because I grew up during the hippie/commune era.) It was a NEVER boring book. The story was in dual timelines but each chapter had a Then or Now chapter heading so was easy to keep straight. Also, there was a bit of a large cast of characters but I found them easy to keep track of.
The main character, Inspector Raquel Laing, is very likable and well fleshed out. Now that I think about it, I liked all of the characters! In fact, I would love to see this book become the first of a series.
#BacktotheGarden #NetGalley
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December 31, 2022A standalone from King, and a compelling visit to a 70s commune, mixed with a current-day serial killer investigation.
Kept my attention throughout. Both the police detective and one of the characters (Rob) came across as really interesting people.
Kept my attention throughout. Both the police detective and one of the characters (Rob) came across as really interesting people.
February 7, 2023
I liked this a lot! It made me wonder why there isn't more fiction about fake 70s serial killers and the podcasters (okay cops) who are trying to hunt them down, but maybe there is and I just haven't found it yet. If you have recs for things in that vein, I would take them.
October 17, 2022
an engrossing story, beautifully written. most enjoyable.
November 6, 2022
I accidentally stayed up all night long to read it from start to finish. So . . . yeah.
June 24, 2022
Homicide detective Raquel Laing, now on cold cases, has her work cut out for her. Fifty years ago, the heir to a California estate, Rob Gardener, turned his home into a counterculture commune to spite his oppressive grandfather. But that was also a time the now-captured and dying serial killer The Highwayman was at work.
And now, as the Estate is preparing for a new future, a human skull is discovered. A lot of people disappeared from the Gardener Estate the summer when the commune fell apart: a young woman, her child, and Rob’s brother, Fort. And back then Rob Gardener was a troubled Vietnam vet whose girlfriend vanished after a festival that summer. .
This cold case mystery is a clever police procedural, but not a page turner for me until close to the end. I’m a huge fan of King’s Mary Russell series so I was eager to try this standalone, but Raquel doesn’t stand out the way Mary does. We didn’t spend a lot of time in her POV in the beginning and it took a while for me to get familiar with her, her situation, and relationships.
It has a dual timeline between the present and the 70s. Some parts were slow, especially with the exposition in the beginning and some of the descriptions of the house and art. I didn’t feel like the pace picked up until 2/3 into the story. But then the last third and the final solution of the victim and the perpetrator was great and I couldn’t stop reading.
3.5 stars. I received an arc from NetGalley
And now, as the Estate is preparing for a new future, a human skull is discovered. A lot of people disappeared from the Gardener Estate the summer when the commune fell apart: a young woman, her child, and Rob’s brother, Fort. And back then Rob Gardener was a troubled Vietnam vet whose girlfriend vanished after a festival that summer. .
This cold case mystery is a clever police procedural, but not a page turner for me until close to the end. I’m a huge fan of King’s Mary Russell series so I was eager to try this standalone, but Raquel doesn’t stand out the way Mary does. We didn’t spend a lot of time in her POV in the beginning and it took a while for me to get familiar with her, her situation, and relationships.
It has a dual timeline between the present and the 70s. Some parts were slow, especially with the exposition in the beginning and some of the descriptions of the house and art. I didn’t feel like the pace picked up until 2/3 into the story. But then the last third and the final solution of the victim and the perpetrator was great and I couldn’t stop reading.
3.5 stars. I received an arc from NetGalley
February 5, 2023
Back to the Garden tells about two time periods- the 70's and current time period. It features the Gardener Estate and a skeleton found under a statue that was installed in the 70's. The then portion of the book takes us back to the 70's when the estate was turned into a commune. The now portion features a serial killer dying in a hospital. Inspector Raquel Laing is in an a cold case unit that is investigating this man. He has been dubbed the highwayman. The skeleton was put under the concrete during the time period that the highwayman was active. Raquel is assigned to obtain names and identification from the highwayman.
The book is difficult for me to rate and review due to it was uneven for me. It could be slow especially when we went back into the 70's commune life. However, whenever the book went back to Inspector Raquel Laing, it picked up and I liked it. As I mentioned, it could be slow but I stayed up after midnight to finish the book. I did not have the identification of the skeleton and murderer figured out so that is a plus. I would read the next book due to the character of Raquel Laing as I can see there is much yet for us as readers to learn about the character.
The book is difficult for me to rate and review due to it was uneven for me. It could be slow especially when we went back into the 70's commune life. However, whenever the book went back to Inspector Raquel Laing, it picked up and I liked it. As I mentioned, it could be slow but I stayed up after midnight to finish the book. I did not have the identification of the skeleton and murderer figured out so that is a plus. I would read the next book due to the character of Raquel Laing as I can see there is much yet for us as readers to learn about the character.
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