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The Dead Man in the Garden by Marthe Jocelyn Review

 Hello Friends :)

I pray today finds you all doing well, and I want to thank you for joining me today here on The Preppy Book Princess.

I wanted to take a moment before diving into today's review to thank each and every one of you who chooses to take time out of their day to read my bookish ramblings.

I appreciate each of you guys so much, and I love getting to have a creative space to share my love of books since I don't get to do too much of it in my everyday life otherwise.

I've seen so many booktubers, bookbloggers, and bookstagrammers choose to leave the book community as the seem to almost grow out of their love of reading, and I never want that to be me. I've definitely changed a lot of my reading preferences over the years, but I continue to love losing myself in amazing stories, and I'm thankful to have "met" so many of you guys that feel the same.

I thank you and appreciate you, and I hope to share many more bookish posts with you all in 2022!

And now for today's review:

I'd previously read the first two books in the Aggie Morton Mystery Queen series, and you can check out those reviews below:

The Body Under the Piano

Peril at Owl Park

Today I'm going to be sharing with you all about the third book in the series, and I hope you'll keep on reading below for my full review.


The Dead Man in the Garden by Marthe Jocelyn:



Source: Libby App

Publisher: Tundra Books

Publication Date: September 7th, 2021

Genre: Middle Grade/Historical Fiction/Mystery

Series: Aggie Morton, Mystery Queen


Synopsis:


For young detective Aggie Morton and her friend Hector, a spa stay becomes a lot more thrilling when TWO dead bodies are found in this third book in the Aggie Morton, Mystery Queen series, inspired by the life of Agatha Christie as a child and her most popular creation, Hercule Poirot.

Aspiring writer Aggie Morton is ready to enjoy an invigorating trip to a Yorkshire spa, where her widowed mother can take the waters and recover from a long mourning period. Having solved yet another murder and faced extreme peril with her best friend Hector over Christmas, Aggie's Morbid Preoccupation is on alert when rumors abound about the spa's recently deceased former patient . . . and then another body appears under mysterious circumstances. Together with Grannie Jane, and often in the company of George, a young patient at the spa, Aggie and Hector take a closer look at the guests and staff of the Wellspring Hotel, and venture into the intriguing world of the local undertaker. Has there been a murder--or even two? As Aggie and Hector ignite their deductive skills, their restful trip takes a sudden, dangerous turn.

(synopsis from goodreads)


My Review:

While I wouldn't say that the Aggie Morton series has become a new favorite for me, I enjoyed the first couple of books enough to want to continue on with reading the third title.

The Body in the Garden finds Aggie, Hector, Aggie's mother, and Granny Jane vacationing at a wellspring hotel for her mother to experience some treatments and find her way back to health and happiness. Of course, Aggie and Hector manage to stumble onto something nefarious, and soon find themselves wrapped up in what they are sure is two murders connected to the Wellspring hotel, even if the local authorities do not agree.

I really enjoy the idea of the stories, and it's a hoot to see Aggie and Hector as child characters in a book series. However, I still continue to personally think that they're a tad too morbid for the age range they're marketed towards, and that they're better suited for adult or young adult Agatha Christie fans, rather than middle grade readers.

I've noticed a trend throughout all three books that some of the associations the children make throughout the course of the series put them in strange spots, and I wasn't a fan of how certain characters really seem to take advantage of their childlike trust in the process. This kind of rubbed me the wrong way, and I didn't like how it was basically just brushed off.

I also have to say that I didn't personally think the mystery in this one was quite as well done as it has been in the previous two books, and I'd pretty much pieced together the majority of the mystery fairly early on in the story.

Overall it was definitely still an enjoyable read, and I loved the main characters and the setting of this one in particular. It was really interesting to find out that the author was inspired by a particular event in Agatha Christie's life that led to the setting of this story. However, it wasn't a story I truly ended up loving, and I don't think the further books in this series would be a huge priority for me personally.

Final Rating: 3/5.

Thanks so much for reading guys! Have a great rest of your day :)

This is not a sponsored post. All thoughts and opinions are my own. The photo does not belong to me, and all rights to the respective owners. 

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