Murder at the Gardens

This is the first book that I've read in Lisa Cutts' Belinda Penshurst series, but it won't be the last! I jumped at the chance to review this because I love M.C. Beaton's Agatha Raisin series, and I was not disappointed here.

Belinda has used her connections at Brabourne Gardens, a local zoo, to help her tenant and possible love interest Harry get hired on there as a security guard (unbeknownst to Harry). Harry's first day starts off with a bang, when a rather obnoxious zoo patron is found murdered. To make things even more interesting, Belinda's ex, Ivan, is unexpectedly in town, there to see what can be done about competing groups of protestors at the Gardens, one wanting to keep the elephants there, one wanting to see the elephants rewilded. Ivan keeps popping up in close proximity to the crimes, and he seems unusually interested in Estelle, the owner of the Gardens. Could he be the murderer?

Murder at the Gardens was a really fun read! The interaction and chemistry between Belinda and Harry is wonderful – I am totally Team Harry, not Team Ivan. Doesn't matter that they seem to be in different social strata (Belinda, who's come into some money and lives in an actual castle, and Harry, the former police officer), they just click. I was hoping Belinda and Ivan didn't get back together. (Spoiler: they didn't. Huzzah!) I also liked the fact that Belinda and Harry are a little older than the main characters in many books. I'm a little older than I used to be, and it's nice to read stories where the characters are close to my age.

Misdirection abounds. There are animals – sometimes on the loose, sometimes not. There's humor, and intrigue, and that spark of romance I mentioned previously. This book has a little something for everyone. The plot was just twisty enough that the murderer's identity came as a bit of a surprise.

Highly recommended if you're a fan of cozy mysteries, particularly those of the British variety. I can't wait to read more of this series!