Reviews

The Serpent in the Garden by Janet Gleeson

pineapplestitches's review against another edition

4.0

Set in London 1795. The protagonist is Joshua Pope, eminent portrait painter of the time commissioned to paint a marriage portrait of Sabine Mercier and Herbert Bentnick. Sabine has a mysterious past and an exotic emerald necklace fashioned after a serpent. Joshua is pressed into service to solve not only the theft of the necklace but the death of an unknown man in the pinery (hothouse for pineapples).

A good solid historican murder mystery with a few twists. The atmosphere believeable and the characters well drawn.

juliembode's review against another edition

2.0

Gleeson's story follows the mysterious deaths that occur on an estate when an artist comes to paint an engagement portrait in the 1700s. The plot was somewhat entertaining, but I found the story implausible in that the painter becomes a self-proclaimed detective, interrogating everyone around him.