Name: The Body in the Garden
ISBN: 9781643853567

Katharine Schellman

London 1815. Newly widowed Lily Adler returns to a society that frowns on independent women, but she's no stranger to the glittering world of London's upper crust. She's back in town and eager to have a renaissance with friends, particularly with Lady Serena Walter--from their school days--determined to create a meaningful life for herself even without a husband. She expects scandal, gossip, and secrets. What she doesn't expect, as she's visiting Lady Walter is a dead man laying in her garden. Lily happened to overhear the man just minutes before he was shot- young, desperate, and attempting blackmail. When she finds out Lord Walter bribes the investigating magistrate to drop the case, Lily is worried, and becomes the only one with the key to catching the killer. Aided by Navy Captain Jack Hartley and heiress from the West Indies Miss Ofelia Oswald, Lily sets out to discover whether her friend's husband is mixed up in blackmail and murder. The unlikely team sets out to conceal their investigation behind the whirl of London's social season, but the deceased knew secrets about people with power. Secrets that the powerful have desire and influence to keep hidden. Now, Lilly will have to uncover the truth, before she becomes the killer's next target.

A Lily Adler Mystery

The Body in the Garden

Colleen

4 Stars
 
*A solid start to a new Regency mystery series that doesn't overly sanitize the past*


What can I say? I’m a shameless sucker for the Regency period. And I do love mysteries. So of course I had to read The Body in the Garden.

The story is about a woman named Lily Adler who was widowed at a young age and left with little family and nothing to fill her time. Unwilling to fritter her life away with empty society functions, when Lily stumbles across a murder scene that the police seem unwilling to investigate, she takes it upon herself to uncover the killer. Using her attention to detail and her knowledge of the upper class, she stumbles through the dangerous case with the aid of her late husband’s friend Captain Jack Hartley and mysterious debutante Miss Oswald.

The mystery itself was good. It wasn’t genre-defining or anything, but it kept me guessing enough. With the combination of the likeable characters, I stayed invested throughout the story. Lily was ahead of her times but enjoyable because of it. The book was fairly standard as far as Historical Mysteries go with the couple of biracial characters being the only thing that stood out. On that note, this story found a good balance between enjoying the chivalry of a beloved time period while not overly romanticizing or sanitizing it. Racism and classism were deftly pointed out. 


  “The law is supposed to be concerned with truth and justice above all, but it does not always choose to be. And that’s not right.”

Overall, this was a solid debut and a good start to a new mystery series. I look forward to reading the next book.


RATING FACTORS:
Ease of Reading: 5 Stars
Writing Style: 4 Stars
Characters and Character Development: 4 Stars
Plot Structure and Development: 4 Stars
Level of Captivation: 5 Stars
Originality: 4 Stars

RECOMMENDATIONS
If you like this, try:
No Stone Unturned
A Useful Woman

Elaina 

Heather Harrington

**I received a copy via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review**

It's 1815 London, and newly widowed Lily Adler is returning back to a society that frowns upon independent women, but Lily is determined to make a life for herself without her husband. At her first ball back, she expects all the whispers and gossip that usually surrounds the London upper class. What she doesn't expect is stumbling upon an attempted blackmail turned murder in the garden of her oldest friend, Lady Walter.

Because she's a woman, the police don't seem to believe her when she tells them what she's overheard. They especially don't seem to care once the local magistrate is paid off by none other than Lord Walter himself to drop the case. Determined not to let a terrible deed go unpunished, Lily recruits her husband's oldest friend, a charming naval captain, and a mysterious heiress from the West Indies to help her catch a killer. The farther into their investigation the trio goes, the more they uncover a bigger plot, and the more their lives are at stake and it's a race to the truth before Lily becomes the next target.

This book checked all my boxes: Victorian England, check. Take no crap leading lady, check. Witty, smart dialogue, check. Fun mystery, check. It was such a well written story and I was hooked right from the start. I loved how Schellman laid out the mystery and all the details. She really left you guessing as to who was the mastermind behind it all, and I felt really satisfied by the end. There's slight twists that throw you, and subtle clues you pick up throughout. Lily was such a great character, and really holds her own against all these men who try and silence her. I also really liked her co-detectives, Captain Jack Hartley and Miss Oswald, but my favorite secondary character had to be Jem, the wily young urchin who helps them out. If you're looking for a quick, well laid out mystery, check this one out.

Hayley 📖🌈💜🌸

I really enjoyed this! Crime/mystery is not usually my genre, but the writing and plot/twists and turns held my attention from start to finish! 
I listened to the audiobook, and I think I’ll have to reread it soon (as a book) to get the full experience. 

Highly recommend if you like historical crime/mystery, or if you’re just looking for a good read.

Erin 

It's no secret to the people around me that I adore the Her Royal Spyness series. I honestly never stop talking about it or recommending it. So when I was told that this book is perfect for fans of Rhys Bowen, I jumped on it. It's probably because of those high expectations I put on it that I came out feeling disappointed. Yes, it is about a member of high up society (not titled, but nearly) solving a murder mystery in a time where women definitely shouldn't be doing it. And yes, there's a slight suggested potential romance that stems from having to begrudgingly work together to figure out clues. There's also a best friend who is aloof and pompous at the best of times, and a character who you don't know if you can trust but you're forced to for the sake of the story. Who turns out to be fine, anyway. The main difference is that The Body in the Garden takes place in 1815, right after the end of the War of 1812 (not that it feels like that in any way shape or form because there's hardly any reference to it). That's fine, but it does mean that the independence of the main character is thwarted exponentially and her reliance on men is astronomical. Not to mention the society-bred misogyny that is the underlayer of 80% of the dialogue between characters. I got a ton of literary whiplash in the treatment of our main character, Lily Adler. One moment she's strong and worth listening to, and the next she's a silly little girl who doesn't know anything. Okay, which is it? Which am I supposed to believe? Lily herself doesn't help matters at all and doesn't present herself as likable much to begin with. She's independent and and unafraid and daring, but she also presents herself as *~different from other girls~* and frankly, it's very irritating and makes it hard to root for her in the first place. She's so uppity and entitled and doesn't really think about others, despite the fact that on the scale of nobility that presents itself in the book, she's actually pretty low on it herself.

Lily Adler has a bit of a tragic backstory to begin with in that her husband was killed in the war, and now she's widowed and alone in the world. And I get it, she misses her dead husband and working constantly with people who knew him can't help matters. But if I have to continually hear about how she misses a man's touch, I might have to hurl. Really, 1815 is just not a great time period to set your book if you want a super independent woman. She can't do a n y t h i n g by herself. Or at all, sometimes. Which is where the main male character comes in, whose name I cannot remember but by all means does not insinuate he is forgettable. He's the one who knew Lily's husband before he died and has apparently taken it upon himself to "protect" her, which he does by suggesting women are weak and also telling her she shouldn't do things, which is a bit of a weird way to get into someone's heart, if you ask me, which is clearly what is supposed to happen. Either they were going to get together at he end, which I hated, or he was going to die and only after he dies would she realise that she's fallen in love with him, which I also hated. I was never going to be pleased with the outcome of their relationship, honestly. 

The writing doesn't really support this book, either. It's 1815, not 2020, and certain words just didn't exist back then. You can't tell me that "washroom" was in the common vernacular. And remember that character whiplash I was talking about? Very present throughout the entire book. It hardly even felt like the same character the entire time. I have just as many grudges against Ofelia, who is unnecessarily mysterious and doesn't amount to anything. If you're going to build up to some big reveal, can it at least be something other than she's in love? Not to mention the fact that we don't even get to know her first name until about 3/4 of the way through the book, which is very strange considering how closely Lily considers her a friend (sometimes - other times she is a complete stranger, of course). She's also the token POC (along with the main male character, who has an Indian mother that is mentioned one (1) time in order to tick that box). 

You may have noticed that I have yet to mention the actual plot of the story, the actual mystery, the Body in the Garden, as one may say. Well, it is actually quite forgettable and if I may be frank, quite boring. The entire plot revolves around shipping manifests, which is terribly boring. It also is quite difficult to make shipping manifests interesting at all, and the parts that I imagine were supposed to be chapter cliffhangers were just rather disappointing. The mystery is weak and unfortunately, I found the characters struggled to pick up the slack. I may read the next in the series anyway, to see if it improves, but overall, my heart is slumping in a disappointed breeze that means I'm gonna have to go reread Her Royal Spyness to make up for it.

I received an advanced copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Marissa

Perfect for fans of Tasha Alexander and Rhys Bowen, Katharine Schellman's debut novel is sure to delight. London 1815. Though newly-widowed Lily Adler is returning to a society that frowns on independent women, she is determined to create a meaningful life for herself even without a husband. She's no stranger to the glittering world of London's upper crust. At a ball thrown by her oldest friend, Lady Walter, she expects the scandal, gossip, and secrets. What she doesn't expect is the dead body in Lady Walter's garden. Lily overheard the man just minutes before he was shot: young, desperate, and attempting blackmail. But she's willing to leave the matter to the local constables--until Lord Walter bribes the investigating magistrate to drop the case. Stunned and confused, Lily realizes she's the only one with the key to catching the killer. Aided by a roguish navy captain and a mysterious heiress from the West Indies, Lily sets out to discover whether her friend's husband is mixed up in blackmail and murder. The unlikely team tries to conceal their investigation behind the whirl of London's social season, but the dead man knew secrets about people with power. Secrets that they would kill to keep hidden. Now, Lily will have to uncover the truth, before she becomes the murderer's next target.

The Body in the Garden A Lily Adler Mystery