Between a Rock and a Hard Place Book Review

Between a Rock and a Hard Place
A Potting Shed Mystery

by Marty Wingate
Random House Publishing Group - Alibi

Description
Perfect for fans of Laura Childs, Ellery Adams, and Jenn McKinlay, Marty Wingate's enchanting Potting Shed Mystery series heads to Scotland as Pru Parke plans her wedding . . . all while a vengeful murderer is poised to strike again.

After her romantic idyll with the debonair Detective Chief Inspector Christopher Pearse culminates in a marriage proposal, Pru Parke sets about arranging their nuptials while diving into a short-term gig at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh. At hand is the authentication of a journal purportedly penned by eighteenth-century botanist and explorer Archibald Menzies. Compared to the chaos of wedding planning, studying the journal is an agreeable task . . . that is, until a search for a missing cat leads to the discovery of a dead body: One of Pru's colleagues has been conked on the head with a rock and dumped from a bridge into the Water of Leith.

Pru can't help wondering if the murder has something to do with the Menzies diary. Is the killer covering up a forgery? Among the police's many suspects are a fallen aristocrat turned furniture maker, Pru's overly solicitous assistant, even Pru herself. Now, in the midst of sheer torture by the likes of flamboyant wedding dress designers and eccentric church organists, Pru must also uncover the work of a sly murderer—unless this bride wants to walk down the aisle in handcuffs.

My Thoughts
This was a hard book for me to really get into because the intro scene is about finding a body so you know there has been a murder but then the book starts out with Pru and her fiance Christopher on holiday. It was over 30% in the book before the murder occurred. I would have preferred this to be classified as fiction instead of mystery.  The only other issue I had with this book was the volume of characters in it. There were just so many people that I had a hard time keeping straight who was who.
I enjoyed the book once I got over expecting it to be a mystery book. I really like the characters of Pru and Christopher and how they interact with each other and are there for one another. I quite enjoyed the middle age romance story. I liked learning about the history of gardening subjects. I just really wish it was not classed as a mystery. I felt deceived because that opening scene was misleading. The boys in the preview are never heard of again. I dont' think that later on when the murder really occurs, the boys are even mentioned as having found the body.

I received one or more products mentioned above for review purpose. No other form of compensation was received. My opinions are my own. Your opinion may vary from mine. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.