We have come here together this month, in order to celebrate the honorable art of gardening, miniature sized. In this blog post, I have a few things to note on the impact of miniature gardens, and their fairy counterparts.
In the words of author Sarah Rose, cited from her novel entitled For All the Tea in China, "a gardener is an artist: His canvas is land; his medium, plants." This statement is part of a larger paragraph in describing the man deemed the best plant hunter in history, Robert Fortune. She continues on to say that not only is a gardener's work three dimensional, referring not just to the varying heights of plants, but that it also pierces into a fourth dimension of time. If you are interested in reading more up on the history of tea and how botanist Mr. Fortune altered our world forever with his discoveries, you can find the information you will need from the citation located at the bottom of this posting.
The reason I wanted to include the above small excerpt, is not only because I really enjoyed the book, but also because it is a statement I readily agree with and why I wanted to do a post on the miniature world of gardening. Not only has this tiny world infiltrated our crafts and lives (there are crafters on Etsy who sell miniature gardens), it has also entered into our reading world of murder mystery as well. And since my website is both artsy and bookish, what a more perfect subject to talk about?
Disclaimer: Here is the part where you run away. (Not really) But I would like to mention that the companies mentioned or pictured are owned by their respective people and or organizations. In no part, large or small, am I claiming any ownership or association with them.
Midsummer Murders Season 21, Episode 2
In 2019, the hit British television show did an episode on the world of miniatures where a man is killed by an antique gun hidden inside a miniature house replica at a charity fundraiser. This episode went all the way with one of their suspects being a artisan of miniature works and her shop full of supplies and custom made orders of replicas for people from all over the world. If you are interested in watching this episode, it sure to be one of detail, so keep your eyes peeled to see if you can guess who the killer is. And how the murderer got rid of the weapon in a most genius way.
And while there is not a miniature garden specifically featured in this episode, this show does have others where gardening is promptly the theme of the murder.
Jenkins, Helen. “The Miniature Murders.” Midsummer Murders, performance by Nick Hendrix, and Neil Dudgeon, season 21, episode 2, Filmrise, 2019.
The Miniature Mystery Series by Margaret Grace
This cozy mystery series extends through nine books as you follow Geraldine Porter, a retired woman who never thought being chairwoman of a Dollhouse and Miniatures Fair would be deadly dangerous.
From teaching crafts at a retirement home, to trying to keep her neighbor off the hook for murder, to helping an old classmate from being arrested, and babysitting her granddaughter through it all, Geraldine's life is anything but boring. And that is only the first half of the series! That granddaughter has an awesome grandmother.
For more on the author's books in this series, check out the series on GoodReads
A Fairy Garden Mystery Series by Daryl Wood Gerber
Are you into fairies as much as the main heroine of this cozy mystery series? Courtney Kelly lost the magic when her mother passed away in her childhood, but she has rekindled it after leaving her father's business in order to open up a fairy garden and tea shop business of her own. And of course, murder is afoot in this small town in California.
The fourth installment of this series, A Flicker of a Doubt, was released last month and we can't wait to see if Courtney and her sleuthing fairy friend, Fiona, can solve the case in time!
Wishing to know more about the author and her books? Check out her website.
Mysty Haven Mystery Series by Casey Cardel
Okay, so there are no miniatures in this series; at least, not yet anyway. But there are gnomes in a paranormal town where an older gentleman asks the assistance of Bob McLarney to find a missing gnome. The poor man just moved into this bizarre town with a degree in journalism and not everyone is a fan of his column on trying to locate Bigfoot.
Now, with his job gone, the sheriff thinks he is the thief and as Bob continues on with his investigations, his findings lead him into the mystical secrets of the town he now calls home.
Dying to know more about this gnome-tastic mystery? Check out the author's website here.
What could be a better ending to a post on gardening mysteries that that?
(Try to top it Bigfoot!)
Anyway you slice it, or garden the landscape, gardening is certainly in our lives and fantasies. Fictional murder mysteries, or in real life, plants are an in important feature that can be as whimsical and fun as the real thing. (or the murder weapon?)
#gardening #gardener #mystery #murdermystery #gnomes #fairies #fairygarden #miniatures #dollhouses #cozymystery #author #mysterybooks #reader #mysteries #tbr
Citation for the excerpt used in the beginning of this blog post:
Rose, Sarah. For All the Tea in China: How England Stole the World's Favorite Drink and Changed History. Viking, 2010.