Eglin's writing effectual, capturing your attention.

Featuring a rose as a point of interest in the narrative is original and educational. Lush descriptions almost allow you to inhale the scent of this remarkably stunning
extraordinaire flower. Braiding three individual stories together performed with ease by Eglin. Wonderful historical events and places validate Eglin's immaculate research. The mystery aspect well done, speculating until the very end, at least for this reader.

Delightful mystery, thoroughly piquing my interest for other books in the series with a smart and intriguing botanist professor and honorary amateur sleuth - Lawrence Kingston, quite the English gent you'll want to stroll gardens with, stopping to smell the roses.

Wonderful character and content worthy of notice, how this capable author has slipped under my radar until now will remain the ultimate mystery. Highly recommend. ( )

It's a shame that there isn't more of an online following for the Lawrence Kingston mystery series, or maybe there is but not in America. I would have loved to have stumbled upon this series sooner! I love good ol' murder mysteries, especially English ones, and this one is very reminiscent of Ellis' Peters' Brother Cadfael series. Not in the same time period obviously, and our main character isn't a monk, but they both seem to be wrapped up in mysteries that involve flowers or fauna. Which may sound lame but is actually kinda cool.

Lawrence Kingston is a respected botanist and acclaimed amateur sleuth. When a thirteen year old girl approaches him asking if he'll look into her mother's disappearance several years prior he can't refuse. What starts off as a simple cold case of a missing person rapidly evolves into a murder mystery, followed by the discovery of a once thought extinct rose on Alcatraz Island. Kingston discovers that many loose threads might actually be connected and he find himself trekking all over England and across the sea in America.

I may not be very good at predicting mystery endings, but this one left me doubly stumped. I would never have figured it out on my own had I not read all the way through. I look forward to reading the rest in this series. For fans of English murder mysteries.

I received this book for free from the author in return for my honest, unbiased opinion. ( )