From Publishers Weekly
You don't have to know an echinops from an epimedium to enjoy Ripley's (Harvest of Murder; Death of a Garden Pest, etc.) cast of characters, plucked from every niche of the horticultural world. Louise Eldridge, her ratings for her PBS show "Gardening with Nature" sinking due to sexy newcomer Bunny Bainfield's rival program, "Bunny in the Garden," is dismayed to find her competitor also attending the first lady-elect's Christmas conference emphasizing native plants, held at a restored colonial inn in Alexandria, Va. Gathered in the inn's crowded ballroom are many guests who have reason to hate Bunny or fear her methods and her success: the world's top floral designer, Bunny's glowering sidekick of suspected Stasi origins, a successful garden writer and publisher, a radical environmentalist, a bureaucrat, dignified academics and nursery owners. Bunny's drive to monopolize the nursery business and horn in on the design and publishing fields, her tinkering with America's native stock to make everything bigger and brighter, to say nothing of her nasty manners and brassy sexuality, all portend her demise, courtesy of a glass of poisoned wine. Louise, a sometime sleuth, investigates on her own, with and without the approval of the local police. A second murder adds zest to the puzzle, while the caricatures of national celebrities will raise more than a few smiles. As the cat in the Santa's cap and Christmas tree with death's head snowflakes on the jacket suggests, mystery fans can expect plenty of murderous holiday fun.Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
The country's First Lady invites PBS gardening icon and series sleuth (Harvest of Murder) Louise Eldridge and her garden TV rival, sexy Bunny Bainfield, to an exclusive conference on native plants. Bunny falls victim to murder, though, and Louise begins investigating a handy abundance of suspects. For collections where gardening mysteries are in demand. Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
British gardening doyenne Bunny Bainfield is no shrinking violet. Bawdy, brazen, and belligerent, Bunny is a blight upon the American garden scene, and her ruthless plans for market domination make her a thorn in the side of everyone from the industry's top nurserymen to influential publishers. Now the budding popularity of her HGTV program even threatens the continuation of Louise Eldridge's own PBS gardening show. As the cream of the gardening crop convenes in Washington for a conference hosted by the incoming First Lady, Bunny seizes the opportunity to dig up even more dirt on her competition. When she is poisoned at the opening reception, no one is saddened and all are suspected of plotting her murder. Armed with a fertile imagination, pseudosleuth Eldridge takes it upon herself to weed out the culprit from the field of Bunny's enemies. While interrogating the growing list of suspects, Eldridge unwittingly places herself directly in the killer's path. Ripley's hardy heroine blossoms in this latest Louise Eldridge mystery, her most accomplished yet. Carol Haggas
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

You don't have to know an echinops from an epimedium to enjoy Ripley's (Harvest of Murder; Death of a Garden Pest, etc.) cast of characters, plucked from every niche of the horticultural world. Louise Eldridge, her ratings for her PBS show "Gardening with Nature" sinking due to sexy newcomer Bunny Bainfield's rival program, "Bunny in the Garden," is dismayed to find her competitor also attending the first lady-elect's Christmas conference emphasizing native plants, held at a restored colonial inn in Alexandria, Va. Gathered in the inn's crowded ballroom are many guests who have reason to hate Bunny or fear her methods and her success: the world's top floral designer, Bunny's glowering sidekick of suspected Stasi origins, a successful garden writer and publisher, a radical environmentalist, a bureaucrat, dignified academics and nursery owners. Bunny's drive to monopolize the nursery business and horn in on the design and publishing fields, her tinkering with America's native stock to make everything bigger and brighter, to say nothing of her nasty manners and brassy sexuality, all portend her demise, courtesy of a glass of poisoned wine. Louise, a sometime sleuth, investigates on her own, with and without the approval of the local police. A second murder adds zest to the puzzle, while the caricatures of national celebrities will raise more than a few smiles. As the cat in the Santa's cap and Christmas tree with death's head snowflakes on the jacket suggests, mystery fans can expect plenty of murderous holiday fun. Agent, Jane Jordan Browne. (Oct. 8) Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

Library Journal

The country's First Lady invites PBS gardening icon and series sleuth (Harvest of Murder) Louise Eldridge and her garden TV rival, sexy Bunny Bainfield, to an exclusive conference on native plants. Bunny falls victim to murder, though, and Louise begins investigating a handy abundance of suspects. For collections where gardening mysteries are in demand. Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

Into each life some rain must fall￯﾿ﾽeven such an enviable one as that of Louise Eldridge, the gardening maven and sometime sleuth who lives in Alexandria with her CIA husband Bill and their teenaged daughter Janie. Louise￯﾿ﾽs gardening program on PBS is losing some of its audience to a show featuring sexy newcomer Bunny Bainbridge, who￯﾿ﾽs making inroads into the profitable retail gardening market as well, nearly bankrupting Fenimore Smith￯﾿ﾽs long-established White Flower Farm. Moreover, Bunny is more than a pretty face (and so on); she￯﾿ﾽs guiding rookie First Lady Maud Anderson, a native-plant enthusiast, as she plans a formal dinner and conference for the country￯﾿ﾽs top gardeners. Louise and a slew of experts are on hand at the height of the festivities when Bunny falls to the floor, an obvious victim of poisoning. Alexandria￯﾿ﾽs head of detectives Ron Goheen and Louise￯﾿ﾽs old acquaintance Detective Mike Geraghty (Harvest of Murder, 2001, etc.) duly investigate. Louise￯﾿ﾽs reenactment of the fatal dinner scene is less than a stellar success, and it takes another death, some sitting and thinking, and some high-level risk on Louise￯﾿ﾽs part before the killer is tagged.