The Garden Tender’s Cats

In Lockehart’s novel, when an FBI agent’s widow tries to purchase an old Victorian mansion, she runs up against thieves, con men, and murderers.

Miriam Wheatley is looking to start anew in a small, quiet town in Virginia. After rejecting several properties, she meets again with her real estate agent, Charlie Holmes. They arrive at the final house on his list, an old mansion that needs work but has lots of potential. It has not been lived in for eight or nine years since the previous owner, George Sherwood, died. Dozens of stray cats seem to have made their home on the 9-acre property and in the surrounding woods. Miriam is entranced with it all—this is exactly what she wants. She makes an offer on the spot, and after a price is agreed upon, Miriam writes a check for the deposit. But trouble is brewing; someone begins following Miriam in a pickup truck, and someone else takes a shot at her. When she returns to her hotel, she discovers a man in her room. It is the same person she noticed at the cafe who appeared to be watching her. Enter Scott Morgenstein, an FBI agent who partnered with her deceased husband, Phil, who was killed in action. Coincidentally, the house Miriam wants to buy is located in an area that has been under FBI scrutiny for a variety of financial misdeeds. When dead bodies start to appear, things really heat up. Lockehart’s complicated murder mystery places Miriam at the center of an increasingly expanding web of evildoers. Attempted murders, dead bodies, and a frightening kidnapping episode build the excitement (the tension is occasionally relieved by a budding romance between Miriam and Scott). The easy-flowing prose is detail oriented: “Carved woodwork adorned the fireplace with a custom-tiled interface and a massive marble mantelpiece that proudly introduced it to anyone who entered.” Lockehart has a tendency to repeat facts and details, but the twisty plot, featuring plenty of surprises and some remarkable treasures, ensures the narrative moves at a good pace.

An engaging drama that will keep readers guessing.