The Woman in the Garden

This book was one that made me want to cut up with a nice blanket and sink into it. They had really great description and really focused on painting a picture with it.

Loved this unusual book and the complex characters. It had me mystified to start with but Eustacia Rose is a fascinating heroine and I was drawn into her strange world. Great writing, very accessible and terrifically put together.

If only I didn't have to sleep. I could have read. ...all night!

"The Woman in the Garden" by Jill Johnson bought two of my loves together..... gardening and reading.

Slowly revealing itself, by the end I found myself trying to work out who did what and how the many characters were linked. What a great old-school idea Eustacua used with the string and sheets of paper to visualise these connections.

The main character Eustacia Rose is quirky, damaged and lives a closed off life, trapped in her love of her deceased father and her secret garden harbouring toxic plants that can kill. Her voyeuristic tendencies, using her fathers telescope to watch the neighbourhood goings on from her rooftop Hampstead garden, coupled with her toxin plant collection, find her in the middle of a international murder mystery.

The author Jill Johnson has studied botany and has lived all over the world so she brings this knowledge to a fascinating delve into exotic Latin named plants and their properties.

This is the third book in the Professor Eustacia Rose mystery series..... I only wish I had discovered them earlier!

Thanks to NetGalley, Poisoned Pen Press and Jill Johnson for my copy.

Stunning! Simply, brilliantly, stunning! I adore this book, what an incredible read! So utterly immersive and resonated deeply into my soul. This book is a keeper and no mistake

Anybody who is socially awkward or introverted will relate to Professor Rose, a botanical toxicologist with an extensive albeit dangerous roof garden. Professor Rose is a character I can get behind, and her experiences and development, written with such clarity and empathy, captivated the very core of my soul

I simply adore this book

Thank you to Netgalley, Poisoned Pen Press and the amazing Jill Johnson for this incredible ARC. My review is left voluntarily and all opinions are my own

I need everyone’s attention…

The Woman in the Garden

Johnson is a front runner for author of the year, 2024. Her twists are so wild and so meticulously delivered that you will never see them coming . Every time I think I have it all figured out this sassy little lady throws me for a curve ball. Johnson, is the queen of the thriller world and the fresh faced author we never knew we needed until she arrived.

I can still remember Johnson’s, debut novel, The Time Before the Time to Come, and the feeling of full body euphoria I got after concluding. I knew right there that she would become a favored and auto buy author.

Lies, deceit and secrets galore… The Woman in the Garden, will keep you up all night.

Don’t believe me? Check out this teaser :


Eustacia Rose is a Professor of Botanical Toxicology with only her extensive collection of poisonous plants for company. Her life is quiet, her schedule is unchanging, and her closest friends are the specimens she tends to. But she does have one other hobby: watching her neighbors through her telescope, taking extensive notes on their lives for "research."

When Eustacia hears a scream one evening, the temptation to investigate proves irresistible. Through her telescope she catches a glimpse of her extraordinarily beautiful new neighbor, Simone, and soon becomes obsessed with her and her life. But who are these four men that orbit Simone? And why does Eustacia get the feeling she needs to protect her from them?

One day, Eustacia comes home to find her precious garden destroyed, and learns that someone close to Simone has been murdered with a rare poisonous plant. As she is drawn deep into the crime, Eustacia's closed-off life begins to crumble, forcing her to break free from the walls of her secret garden and take matters into her own hands. Soon, she's forced to realize that the world is filled with people who are just as toxic as her plants…