A plant-hunting expedition haunted by tragedy leads Kingston on a perilous trail of greed, larceny, deceit and murder. Has the man who plunged to his death on a mountain in China come back to life? Which of the expedition members is hiding an explosive secret? Why are some being targeted for murder? Clever and chilling.  My fourth novel in the award-winning, Lawrence Kingston, English Garden Mystery series. Released in April 2009       Excerpt Church graveyards had always fascinated Kingston and St. Mary’s did not disappoint. Ancient headstones, crosses and monuments jutted at tortured angles from the grassy sod, having come to rest after 300 odd years of settling and weathering. Here and there a sprinkling of humble bouquets, a few limp and dying, added a touch of wistful color. Most of the epitaphs and markings were so worn as to be indecipherable. He was attempting to read a particularly elaborate inscription when he heard his name spoken. It was the voice of a child. Momentarily confused, he turned to see a freckle-faced boy no more than 10 years old dressed in a school uniform: gray blazer with matching shorts, socks sagging to mid shin, and a navy emblazoned cap. He held a white envelope in his hand. “Are you Mr. Kingston?” he mumbled. Kingston looked down at him and nodded. “I’m s’posed to give this to you,” he said, offering the envelope at arm’s length. Kingston reached forward and took it. Before he could thank him, to ask the boy who had given it to him, the lad had turned and sped away. Kingston watched, bewildered, as the boy disappeared into the park. He sat down on a nearby bench, avoiding the bird droppings, and opened the plain white envelope, noting that it was identical to that in which the first letter had been delivered. Not coincidence, he thought. He was right. He pulled out a sheet of notepaper and placed the envelope on the bench. He recognized the printed handwriting immediately.

Professional Reviews
By Harriet Klausner, Amazon
Recently returned from a horticultural visit to China, Peter Mayhew is driving his motorcycle when he is run off the road. The other driver does not stop and Peter is rushed to an Oxford hospital in critical condition, The victim rambles incoherently about the Asian journey so a colleague ask retired botanist Lawrence Kingston to talk with Peter and see if he can make sense of what the man is saying.

Kingston learns the expedition was seeking wild roses, but soon afterward someone murders Mayhew in his hospital room. Thames Valley Detective Inspector Sheffield leads the police investigation into the homicide while Kingston interviews the other people who accompanied the victim to China. However, the cops and Kingston are stunned when Mayhew's half-sister Sally comes to to the morgue to identify her brother only to insist that the cadaver is not him; she also says Peter allegedly died in a fall in China. As the retiree digs through the mud, he begins to uncover fraud, double crosses and murder as more members of the quest die.

The fourth English Garden mystery (see THE WATER LILY CROSS, THE BLUE ROSE and LOST GARDENS) is an engaging amateur sleuth that showcases the world of historical botanist hunters seeking obscure exotic plants around the globe; mindful of Darwin's trip on the Beagle. The story line is fast-paced once Sally makes her assertion and never slows down although the ending seems to easy and intermittently Kingston's life intrudes on the plot. Still this is a fun modern day meeting of Darwin and Agatha Christie in And Then there Were None.




By Barbara Bibel, Booklist
Retired botany professor Lawrence Kingston (The Lost Gardens, 2006) is helping a friend restore his garden when he gets a call from his former colleague Clifford Attenborough, now curator of horticulture at Kew Gardens. It seems that a patient in critical condition at an Oxford hospital has been muttering strange things about a plant-hunting expedition. Attenborough asks Kingston to look into it, and Kingston jumps at the chance to visit Oxford. The few available clues lead to a convoluted tale about a plant-hunting expedition in China. The members of the expedition seem to be meeting untimely ends in unexplainable accidents. As Kingston continues to explore, he turns up evidence of theft and murder among the British aristocracy. The complex case full of garden lore and Asian antiquities will keep cozy aficionados turning the pages.

By Karen Treanor, New Mystery Reader
The death might have been written off as a tragic accident, but for the fact that the motorcycle fatality involved a man already dead in a previous tragic accident.
Once again, Dr Lawrence Kingston finds himself playing detective in a garden mystery, providing his specialized knowhow to the police. Inspector Sheffield is being pushed to investigate the death of Peter Mayhew on a botanical collecting expedition to rural China. The person pushing him is Sally Mayhew, Peter’s sister, a woman of charm and determination. Sheffield asks Kingston to help by speaking informally with some of the expedition members, a task that gets more difficult by the day as they are killed off by an undiscovered assassin.
As Kingston treks back and forth across southern England and Wales in search of information, author Eglin gives us glimpses of some horticultural gems, including the often overlooked Museum of Garden History and its quaint surrounds. It’s not all fun for Kingston, however: somewhere out there is a killer who may just decide he’s getting a bit too close to the real reason for the deaths.
This is a gentle, rambling story full of side trips into historical and horticultural lore. If you’re looking for a freeway to murder, try elsewhere; but if you enjoy a quiet country lane with pretty views around every corner and some surprising hairpin turns, this will not disappoint.

Reader Reviews for "The Trail of the Wild Rose"

Reviewed by Zach McClure	2/20/2009
The Trail of the Wild Rose" sounds like a riveting read. Your excerpt peaked my curiosity and made me want more. I could see Kingston and this ten-year old boy as if I were standing beside them. Superbly done! ~Zach

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