Even though I didn't fall in love with this book, I'm always glad to have a new historical murder mystery series.

Lily comes back to London as a new widow. The day she arrives she gets invited to her friend's ball where she discovers a dead body literally in the garden. After seeing her friend's husband bribe the police not to take the case, she decides to investigate. Helping her is a navy captain and an heiress from the West Indies.

I really liked the inclusion of minorities. The navy captain is half Indian and passes for white while the heiress is half black and doesn't pass for white. The book goes into how people treat them differently. There is a wall around the heiress because of this treatment and Lily has to get through them in order to find out the truth of everyone surrounding her.

Lily is a fine leading character but she does have some room to grow. There's a point when she becomes too stubborn to prove herself and doesn't think about the consequences.

I found this book to be a sweet cozy mystery, full of detail, history and charm. Very enjoyable, and very nicely done!

A Lily Adler mystery that while slow in the beginning picks up to a satisfying conclusion i recommend for Victorian mystery lovers

«The Body in the Garden» was unfortunately a miss for me.
The pace of the book was quite slow in the beginning and I need a story to grasp my interest immediately if I am to be invested in it. Even though the mystery started right away, I found that I could not care about the genesis of it all.
I was not able to connect with neither the story nor the characters.
I can, though, acknowledge that the story might please others.
The female lead is a strong character after all; she has a fierce temper and is very clever. She is quite modern in that sense, taking into account that the story is set during the 19th century.
I very much enjoyed the historical setting of the novel, quite refreshing from the usual mysteries I tend to read.
Still, the plot was too slow and turned out to be too politically driven for my liking.
It was well written but there was not enough plot twists to keep me interested or on the edge of my seat. Even the ending fell flat to me.
The novel does read fast though and that is always a good point!

Re-entering society after the death of her husband, Lily Adler soon finds herself embroiled in a murder mystery.

A delightful historical novel, with twists and turns galore, this story will delight many and have then desperate for the next instalment.

Newly widowed Lily Adler is returning to society in London 1815. Society frowns on independent single women. Despite that, she is determined to have a meaningful life. She attends Lady Walter’s ball and is ready for scandal, gossip and secrets but not the dead body in her garden. When Lord Walter bribes the magistrate to drop the investigation, Lily is determined to find the killer herself. This historical novel has many twists and turns. When Lily, Miss Oswald and Captain Hartley continue to investigate on their own, things become very dangerous. Society is much more difficult in the early 1800’s and someone doesn’t want them to figure it out. A good read for those who like historical fiction.

This is a good start to a new series and combines historical fiction and mystery. I love the setting of London during the social season. The cast of characters adds to the story and I look forward to reading more about them.
Many thanks to Crooked Lane Books and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

Widowed Lily Adler has returned to London to reenter society following a period of mourning for her young husband. During a ball, she has the misfortune to overhear a blackmail attempt that ends in murder. As was common in the time period, the magistrates are bribed to NOT investigate the murder, and Lily, who has an unusual sense of justice for her time period and social standing, sets out to investigate with the assistance of her late husband's friend, Captain Jack Hartley. While there are many historical mystery series set in Regency England, and several feature young widows of good background reentering society, Ms. Schellman introduces us to some interesting supporting characters, an Anglo-Indian sea captain and a mixed race West Indian heiress. While historically we know that the British population included such individuals, we seldom encounter them in popular fiction, especially as such engaging and sympathetic characters. Thank you to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for access to the eARC in return for an honest review. I look forward to a sequel!

An enjoyable and believable read, full of gorgeous descriptions and phrasings. Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC egalley.

An enjoyable historical mystery, featuring a widowed protagonist in Georgian-era London. As Lily tries to figure out what to do with her life following the death of her beloved husband, she finds herself investigating the murder of a young man from the West Indies, after it becomes clear the authorities have been paid to sweep the whole thing under the rug. She is assisted in her endeavors by her late husband's best friend (a half-Indian naval captain on leave), and by an heiress from the West Indies who knew the victim as a child. The inclusion of people of color into the story is both refreshing and historically accurate (and the book comes with extensive sourcing at the end for those interested in learning more). I look forward to reading future books in this series!

Mention of Tasha Alexander sold this book to me. I loved Tasha's heroine as if she was my best friend. Lily Adler from The Body in the Garden is an amazing heroine as well. She is smart, independent, thorough and very much a lady.
The Body in The Garden is a story of murder at the ball. Well, it is the murder in the garden of the estate. But it happened during the ball. London season has just began and this is the first scandal of the season.
The host wants to hush up the murder. The predecessor of Scotland Yard want to do away with murder and put it among 'cold cases'. Everyone seems to be very interested in hushing the murder but Lily Adler, a young widow who just arrived to London after period of grieving and found herself unwilling attendant of this ball.
Katharine Schellman has done an amazing job in recreating London, sexist attitudes, the divide between upstairs and downstairs. The concept of widowhood through the eyes of sociallites of those times was an eye-opening.
Lily Adler fights the crime, the society, even her friends to uncover the murderer. She succeeds. She 'makes her own bed' for herself. Will it be soft and restful or prickly and lonely? The Time will tell and so will next books in the series.

"The Body in The Garden" is the debut novel of Katharine Schellman and the first book of the "A Lily Adler Mystery" series. And YES, it's marvelous! The book tells the story of Lily Adler, a young widow who just lost her husband and it's coming back to London to try to keep on with her life. But, as she expected, the void that Freddy left is too much and too hurtful to fill with lonely days and balls at night.

To Mrs. Adler, London is very dull and pretty much the same as when she'd left… Well, until the moment she overhears a peculiar conversation followed by a shot and a dead body in the middle of her best friend's garden.

Considering that the authorities seem to have no interest in finding out who killed the unknown young man, Lily sees herself forced to take the matter into her own hands. And if there's someone able to solve this murder case, it's Mrs. Adler with her brilliant mind.

"London society has never been known for letting women be their true selves.."

In this first book, we follow our protagonist as she tries to cope with her beloved husband death. She's not exactly thrilled to go back to London but she thinks this is the perfect opportunity to have the control of her own life. As a widow, Lily has more freedom than she ever had and plans to make the best of it.

The story is incredible! The descriptions, the scenarios, and also the secondary characters are amazing and interesting (and person of interest o.o) and they made me feel like "The Body In The Garden" was one of the best books I've read recently.

Schellman's writing is a masterpiece and I can't wait to see what she does next!!! "The Body In The Garden" is set to be released on April, 7th, and I'm already in need of the next installment ASAP!

"And I hope that after this, you will be able to spend your evenings doing only the sort of things frivolous young widows do."

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.

A good read from a new author who shows lots of promise. Set in an era where women did not assert themselves or run households, the main character is a young widow who will not be pushed into society's idea of a "proper" widowhood. Lily takes on the investigation of a murder when the police will not. Her efforts will take her many places and introduce her to many people that she would not have met otherwise. As the story progresses, Katherine Schellman adds to our heroine's story and gives the story a couple of twists that you will not see coming.

3.5 stars. I liked this Regency mystery and am looking forward to seeing what the author does with these characters next. I didn't LOVE it because I found the mystery aspect of the story (which heavily involved shipping manifests) to be a bit dry and confusing at times, and I wasn't quite sure how everyone involved in the crime knew that Lily and the gang were investigating (though it did manage to keep me reading late into the night, so perhaps my exhaustion by the end can be blamed for that.) I also got annoyed with Lily at times for being so angry that Jack wanted to protect her even when someone had just tried to shoot her while she was asleep in bed. Overall this was a good, engrossing story that I'd recommend to anyone who likes historical mysteries and a nice set-up for a series.

I appreciated the diverse cast of characters (Jack is half Indian, and Ofelia is from the West Indies with an English father) and am interested to read more about how their backgrounds play into their lives in the time period, and also more about Lily's marriage. While she's clearly still grieving, I loved that she was a widow, because it's the perfect time to give a woman maximum freedom to go poking around in murders during this time period.

I am a fan of historical novels. This takes place in Victorian era London. Lily, a young widows returns to Town at the behest of her in-laws who believe it’s time to get on with her life and marry again. Typical advice for the times. She reconnects with old friends and finds herself overhearing a blackmail scheme, argument and eventual gun shot at a party she is attending. Lily if an independent and very bright woman and is easily pulled into solving a mystery due to her moral standard; everyone deserves justice regardless of class. Unfortunately I found the dialogue redundant, the plot development too slow and cumbersome. My favorite character was the urchin Jem. This is to be the first in a series and the first historical novel for the author. I hope she improves with experience. I am grateful to Netgallery, Crooked line books/Quick Brown Fox for an advance copy of this book for an honest review.

Victorian feminist and sleuth Lily Adler has recently become a widow and has been thrust back into London Society, much to her chagrin. The excitement begins when a man is found dead in the garden of Lily’s friend ,Lady Walter. The murder is being swept under the rug by the powers that be, however that isn’t going to happen on Lily’s watch.

Lily is a wonderful addition to the Victorian-style female detective. A slight difference from some other novels, Lily is a widower who was able to marry for love and then lost her husband from illness, so if you are someone who only reads your cozy mysteries with romance you might be disappointed. That being said, I really thoroughly enjoyed not having romance mix in with this excellent story telling..

I took a really long time to read this one. I'm not too sure what went wrong with this, but it barely kept my interest up. Still, I believe this to be a pretty good read, with realistic characters and a strong plot.

Lily Adler, recently widowed, finds herself back in the midst of London society. She hardly misses any of it, except to be back in the companionship of her friend, Lady Walter. But things take a turn when, in the very garden of Lady Walter's household, a young man is shot dead. Lily heard discussions of blackmail before the murder happened, and is happy to leave it to the constables to solve the mystery, until Lord Walter decides to bribe the constables to drop the case. She then decides to take it upon herself to bring the murderer to justice with the help of a navy captain and a West Indies heiress. Secrets are revealed one by one, and this book takes us on a gripping chase as Lily tries her hardest to find the murderer before she becomes their next target.

I really like the author's writing style. Other than the fact that she repeats 'she lifted her chin' one too many times, it reads and flows easily. There is obvious planning in the plot, and readers will be sure to be left with multiple red herrings and twists. My suspicions were all wrong, to be honest, and to be able to find out who it really was at the end took me by surprise.

Characters included in here are also realistic. Lily may be smart and independent, but she is not perfect and the author makes sure she showcases her flaws for all to see with wonderful descriptions. Our heiress, Ofelia, too, is strong and determined, but she also has her insecurities, afraid of losing the one she loves most. And dear Jack, the navy captain, finds himself at war between his heart and mind as he is forced to accept that there are other ways to support a friend. How their friendship tie together really makes it a heart-warming read, and, inevitably, they grew on me.

As much as I'd like not to do so, I unconsciously compared this to the Lizzie Hardwicke series by Georgina Clarke. The more I did that, the more I find that the overall storyline is pretty... dull for this one. This might be the reason why I took almost three weeks to finish reading, but it doesn't mean this book isn't any good. I actually do look forward to reading about subsequent cases Lily will solve. It would also be very interesting to see how Lily and Jack's relationship will develop (or not).

This was a really great historical mystery, and it was refreshing to have an independent female character who wasn’t interested in finding a husband (maybe in the 2nd, 3rd book?) I look forward to reading more books in the is series.