Take a beautiful English country house with gardens, add “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”, one of Shakespeare's most well loved plays, throw in a murder complete with some lively well-drawn characters and you have Midsummer Mayhem by Marty Wingate. The clues are sprinkled liberally throughout the book and the pace builds to a satisfying climax. This book has all the requirements of a well-thought out and plotted cozy mystery.

In Pru, you have a thoughtful, amateur detective who is married to a Detective Inspector with the police force. The couple make an interesting pair, both of them simultaneously reaching the same conclusion via separate investigations. Pru’s involvement with the case is presented as such a natural course of events, none of it feels contrived. She and the secondary cast of husband and friends are so likeable it is easy for the reader to buy into the desire to see her have success in solving the murder.

Knowledge of the play, and specifically the various characters in it, can help to keep a rather large cast of characters straight, but it isn’t necessary. The author helps the reader in this endeavor by often referring to the various players by their character’s names, so that there isn’t a need to learn double names for each individual. In addition, although the cast of the play is rather large, the suspect list is limited as some characters move quickly into the background of the book.

While the solution to “who done it” is fairly easy for the reader to ascertain, it is still an enjoyable read in large part because the characters and setting are so engaging. It isn’t necessary to have read any of the previous books in this series before reading this one. There may be repeat characters, however the relationships portrayed here are well-drawn enough the reader is not left struggling to play any sort of “catch-up”.

This book is highly recommended for anyone who enjoys cozy mysteries. If you like theater and gardens, that’s a bonus, but not necessary.

Another terrific installment in the Potting Shed series. I absolute love these books and find myself excited each time a new one comes out. I just love finding out what Pru and Christopher are up to. And this time round, I loved the inclusion of a cast of characters putting on a Shakespearean play in a huge garden. Talk about crazy fun characters to get caught up with, along with all the theatre drama that occurs. Such a great story!!

Enjoyed this as usual. the Potting Shed Mystery series is one of my favorite cozy series.

Marty Wingate always thinks up a fun plot and setting for Pru to get involved in detecting work and this was no exception. The setting here is an outdoor production of A Midsummer Night's Dream done by a ragtag group of performers, some famous and some not. The production is set at a very fancy schmancy private house with an outdoor theater area.

The gardening information sprinkled throughout is always interesting to read even though I have a black thumb!

Another remarkable story and work of art in the series. It was such an easy and delightful read. I just couldn't put the book down. The characters, as always, were perfect. Such a joy to see everything come together for the wonderful set of characters as the story wrapped up. Very touching!

This is another exciting book in the Potting Shed mysteries (book #7). Pru temporarily replaces a gardener who quit at a local private garden. She is very excited to finally see the gardens and Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream is going to be performed there! One of the performers is found dead, but is it an accident or murder? It is an exciting mystery with a lot of potential suspects. At times it is a little tough to keep track of all of the names but the author does a good job. If you like Shakespeare and want an exciting cozy mystery, then you will love this book!

This is a delightful addition to a charming mystery series featuring Prue Parke, an American professional gardener now living in England with her police detective husband Christopher. Prue is asked to take over the set decoration for a production of Shakespeare's Midsummer Night's Dream at a neighboring estate, one which has always been closed to the public and Prue has always longed to see its gardens. Once again a murder takes place on Prue's turf, when Gabriel Gibb, the actor playing Lysander who was a known womanizer is found in a locked room having been stung by numerous bees. With Christopher heading up the investigation and Prue on the scene to ingratiate herself with the cast members who are possible suspects, the due once again is able to figure out who was responsible for the death of the actor. This is a wonderful story filled with interesting, intelligent characters, lots of plant knowledge and the added bonus of some Shakespeare. I thoroughly enjoyed it.