The Body in the Garden is Katharine Schellman’s debut novel and the first book in a new mystery series. Set in London in the early 1800s, the series follows a young widow, Lily Adler. Wanting to create a meaningful, independent life for herself, Lily navigates London’s high society and all its demands with gentle determination.
Title: The Body in the Garden
Author: Katharine Schelman
Series: Lily Adler Mystery #1
First Published: April 7, 2020
Publisher: Crooked Lane Books
Categories: Historical Fiction, Mystery
Acquired: from the publisher via NetGalley
*** Thank you to the publisher, Crooked Lane Books, for providing me with an advanced e-copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review. ***
Lily is no stranger to the glittering world of London’s upper crust but but returning to a society that frowns on independent women is harder than she thought. She’s only 26 but isn’t ready to marry again. It has been two years since her beloved husband, Freddy died and Lily is determined to make it on her own, even though her kind in-laws advise her to find someone new.
At a ball thrown by her oldest friend, Lady Serena Walter, Lily expects the scandal, gossip, and secrets. What she doesn’t expect is the dead body in the garden. Lily overheard the victim just before he was shot but she’s willing to leave the matter to the local constables. But when Lord Walter bribes the investigating magistrate to drop the case, Lily realizes it’s up to her to catch the killer.
An interesting cozy mystery plot
The author, Katharine Schellman easily transports the reader into the early 1800s in London. Her glittering description of the party at the Walters gives us a crash course in decor, fashion and etiquette. There’s just enough information to make place the reader in the right mindframe, but not too much that it feels like information overload.
While there were a few moments when Lily’s righteousness and stubbornness were a bit annoying, for the most part, she is a lovely character. She’s very aware of her place in society, but at the same time she has her own mind and has a bit of a rebellious streak and wants to live on her own terms.
Lily stumbles upon the murder when she accidentally overhears a young man blackmailing someone. As she tries to slip away unnoticed, she hears a gunshot and then finds the dead body. At first, Lily is almost convinced to let the police handle it, but when she inadvertently finds out that Lord Walter has paid the police to look the other way, she refuses to let the case drop. The victim is a young man from the West Indies who has come to London looking for an heiress, Ofelia Oswald.
A large cast of characters
As Lily continues her investigations, she’s assisted by several interesting characters:
- Captain Jack Hartley – a charming captain who is of mixed-race (his father is English, his mother is Indian) and was Freddy’s childhood best friend
- Ofelia Oswald – a rich heiress, also of mixed-race (her father is English, her mother is from the West Indies)
- Simon Pace – a Bow Street Runner (policeman)
There’s also Lily’s loyal and protective servants, Mr. and Mrs. Carstairs (butler and housekeeper) and Anna, Lily’s maid.
On top of that, there’s a TON of minor characters throughout the story (I had to take notes to keep track and I still got confused!
Of all supporting characters, Captain Jack is definitely the most interesting. As Freddy’s old friend, he’s naturally protective of Lily, but I sense that there may be something more in the future. I really like him as a character – he’s supportive of Lily but also a bit frustrated with her independent streak. He also might have some competition for Lily’s future affections from Simon, but we’ll see what happens in future books!
A great start to a new historical mystery series
The mystery is well plotted and Lily makes a great amateur investigator. While she does a great job pursuing leads and working out problems, she does have some flaws, like being stubborn and trying to do everything by herself.
At times, the pacing was a bit slow, but I kind of liked it that way. It felt right for a period mystery and gave this historical mystery a nice, cozy feel.
I’m really looking forward to the next book in this series. It will be great to find out how these characters develop and see how they handle their next adventure.
Read The Body in the Garden for yourself
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