The Herb Gardener by Maris Morton

The Herb Gardener Reviews

• 
  Clare O'Beara

  Arriving with her six-year-old daughter to her new boyfriend's outback station, Joanna, a Home Economics teacher, is struck by the sheer remoteness of the location.
  
  A few weeks spent providing food for Chris, and for his stockmen and builders, seems more challenging than Joanna first expected. The heat and dust are relentless, the men are largely misogynistic and rowdy, the neighbours are - let's say, keen to call and see what they make of her. One of the pleasant young building workers never returns from a date - then is found dead in his parked car. Someone wished him ill, as the police discover, and Joanna starts to feel apprehensive for herself and little Mia.
  
  The characters are varied and well-drawn, while the principal characters are immediately likeable and we become immersed in seeing life from Joanna's viewpoint. She's using herbs from an established herb garden to spice up the bland food, but the lack of any entertainment so far from anywhere drives some people to further extremes. I liked the account of trees being planted as crops now - olives, lemons and such - because sheep farming is not working. Tree roots not only draw water up from deep in the soil, they provide channels down which rain runs rather than run off the dry land, and they hold the earth together to reduce topsoil eroding as dust or muddy watercourses.
  
  The tension builds gradually through this atmospheric story which never fails to convince. I'll be looking out for more by this author.
• 
  Robyn Koshel

  
  
  I am a big fan of Australian fiction and this book exceeded expectations. It was the perfect blend of mystery and romance. From the start you are dropped right in the middle of the action. Slowly you get to know these characters by deed and reaction; It is very refreshing not always to have to be told.
  
  The countryside is beautifully described and comes alive on the page. It made me want to look up Berricap on a map to see if that town really exists.
  
  The Herb Gardener is one of those book that the sub plots are so tightly knitted together that everything mergers with the main plot and keeps you riveted right until the end. It is really hard not to give anything away, but this book has one of the most unique endings I have ever read before.
  
  This is an undiscovered gem of Australian fiction, as well as being a great mystery that will keep you guessing until the end.
  
• 
  Annie

  4 stars, review to come...:)
  
  It was the last page that pushed this to a 4 star book and gave me a good laugh to boot. The language was a lot of fun just trying to figure out what the heck things were that they were talking about, lots of tongue twisting and quirky Australian words, sayings and phrases!
  The story starts with Joanna and her daughter Mia driving down a dirt road in the country looking for an address or driveway to a farm, they are on Holiday and will be staying with Joanna's new boyfriend Chris. Chris has inherited the family farm and is making renovations so he needed some help and Joanna offered to come and cook to help feed the workmen who will be on the job, Joanna being a city girl and a teacher by trade, has her doubts about how things will go.
  From the first page the story just jumps right in. There is no lengthy or tedious backstory and I found that extremely refreshing because you get to know the characters as the story unfolds.
  Joanna finally finds the driveway to the farm with some help from a hunky guy she meets along the road named Jessie, who as it turns out also just happens to be working for Chris. Unfortunately for Jesse he turns up dead from poisoning which has everyone who knew and liked him wondering who and why would somebody do this to him?
  Was it his secret girlfriend or maybe her short tempered husband? Maybe it's one of the towns people who are growing pot on their land? Could it be the sex crazed town whore or maybe her husband?
  The Chief of police, his wife along with Joanna, her daughter Mia, Chris and some unusual & quirky friends try to solve the mystery of who killed him and why. This mystery might or might not be solved to everyone's satisfaction.
  For me the best parts of the book were the descriptions of the countryside and all the wonderful and strange food Joanna cooked and the great characters in this book. An all around great read. however, I was upset with Joanna and how she handled the Charlie and the chocolate thing...really?
  
• 
  Sue

  This was quite a challenging book in parts, but I stuck with it and ended up liking it a lot.
  It was the dialogue which made me have to re read in parts, but I LOVED that, as it makes it more real. I love Australian based books g'day to ya!
  
  Once I got the hang of it I was well away.
  
  The opening pages were good, because I'm a bit shallow, if I have to struggle in the first few chapters I get bored easily, I have to be honest, but this one kept me turning the pages.
  
  Leaving her big hometown with her daughter in the back of the car and heading for a small little place in the Country, well, its a quite a bit of a challenge wouldn't you agree? and she has more than one challenge as she and Chris the farmer hook up, but all is not as it seems, as any true love romance, not always does things go to plan. But this is more than that, someone's death puts a spanner in the works which could ruin everything.
  
  Yes, this book kept me well entertained. I liked it.
  
  Thank you to Odyssey Books for allowing me to read this book
• 
  Karen

  Another romantic suspense novel, THE HERB GARDENER combines a rural setting, a new love, and a dead young worker.
  
  City girl Joanna moves, with young daughter Mia, to a farm to be with her new boyfriend Chris on his farm. Learning to deal with the remote location is complicated considerably by the suspicious death very near to the station. Alongside the investigation elements of this book, there's little gems of life on farm as well, including the complications of changing crop / farmy style in a time of changing climate and markets.
  
  Whilst obviously it's another example of crimance, and therefore not this reader's preferred tipple, another local book which would be worth a read if you're a fan of this sub-genre.
  
  
  http://www.austcrimefiction.org/revie...
• 
  Betty

  After a messy divorce Joanna with her daughter Mia moves from a large city to the small town of Berricap. There she meets Chris, a sheep farmer and agrees to a 2 weeks move to his Frank see if she would like the change. As Home Ex teacher she will do the cooking at the farm for the builders. The night she and her daughter arrive they meet a young man, Jesse. He is later found dead. The story is mostly about Chris and Joanna growing romance. The mystery of how Jesse died and the police hunt for cannabis being growing in the area. The subplots are nicely woven together. The ending is unique. The descriptions of the Australia wildlife, flora and landscape gives a picture of the area. This a new author for me and I will read more books by her.
  I received a free copy for n honest review
• 
  Mary Brown

  This was a good mystery and an enjoyable read. The language was at times challenging to figure out what was being talked about, but that was ok. The characters were well developed and you began to feel like you knew them. The descriptions of the setting were very thorough and made it feel like you were there. There were a couple of mysteries throughout the book that weren't resolved until the end and not figured out until they were revealed at the end. The editing was good. This was a new author to me and I will definitely read more. I would recommend The Herb Gardener to any one who likes a good mystery and likable characters.
• 
  Gladys Quintal

  This book has it all: murder, mystery, intrigue and a bit of romance thrown in as well. I could relate to Joanna; a city girl wishing to hold onto her independence, but still willing to take a chance on starting a new life with quiet, reserved, country boy, Chris. She is searching for her ‘happily ever after’ and after her first marriage ended in divorce, is hoping that she has found love again with him. Starting to enjoy country life after her initial shock, she seriously considers moving out to the farm permanently – if she can survive long enough and not succumb to the mystery killer, that is!
• 
  Ann

  This is a love story, murder mystery, outback ranch story. A good read with some wonderful characters. Chris need a cook to help out and Joanne and her young daughter move out to his ranch to help out. The crews are happy with the improved meals but when a neighbor is found poisoned and then the ranch dog dies, they figure someone isn't happy about the budding romance. Well written and great interaction.
• 
  Eileen Hall

  A very well written story with convincing characters.
  I was given a digital copy by the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest unbiased review.