Monday 10 January 2011

 

Review: The Poison Garden by Sarah Singleton

My edition: Paperback, published in 2009 by Simon and Schuster UK, 282 pages.

Description: Thomas has inherited a magical box from his dead grandmother, which provides entry into a mysterious garden where her ghost warns him she was poisoned. For once she belonged to an arcane guild, whose members each cultivated a garden and mastered the arts of poison, perfume and medicine. The remaining guild members jostle for power as, one by one, they are murdered. Can Thomas solve the mystery before he in turn is threatened?

Review:

I started reading The Poison Garden with very little expectations and already on the first page I was vastly impressed by it. The novel is written wonderfully with elaborate and vivid descriptions of plants and layouts of the various gardens central in the book, drawing the reader into the orchards and flower beds until you almost think you can smell the flowering blossoms.

Most surprising however was that the story rapidly turned into an Agatha Christie whodunit with elements of a fantasy novel woven into it. And while about midway The Poison Garden it becomes quite apparent 'whodunit' the enchanting descriptions and fantastical story of the history of the gardens make the book exciting and enthralling till the final page.

8/10

2 comments:

  1. this one sounds cool!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I really recommend it! It was better than I thought it'd be and it's not a very thick book either, so easy to read when not having a lot of free time.

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