Crime in the Garden by Catherine Moloney

Crime in the Garden, A Detective Markham Mystery, by Catherine Moloney
Published by Joffe Books on 26 August 2025

You can find the book on Amazon, Goodreads and Storygraph

📝 Review Note:
This review is provided as part of the Virtual Book Tour hosted by Zooloo’s Book Tours which runs 26 August until 1 September 2025. Follow along, with the Book Tour Schedule.

Thank you to Catherine Moloney, Joffe Books, NetGalley and, of course Zooloo’s Book Tours for including me on this book tour and for providing a copy of the digital edition of this mystery novel to read and review.

As always, this review reflects my honest thoughts.

About the book

Two brutal murders.
One glass house with a sinister past.
And a ruthless killer who’s ready to throw the first stone . . .

To step into Hollingrove Palm House is to step into another world, filled with tropical blooms, lush foliage and six ancient stones. Flash tycoon Tony Pardoe, the house’s owner, doesn’t believe the old wives’ tales that swirl around these stones. A mistake he won’t live to regret.

Pardoe’s body is found, sprawled across the stones like a sacrificial offering.

Now it’s up to Detective Markham and his team to solve the twisted puzzle of Pardoe’s killing. The only clue? Another mysterious death, under the same roof. Thirty years ago, little Mary Priddy suffered a fatal fall among the stones. Markham doesn’t believe in that kind of coincidence. But the roots of these murders are buried deeper than he could ever imagine . . .

While Markham’s grappling with his own, more personal demons, a third body falls.

Can he unravel the mystery — more tangled than the palm house foliage — before the killer escapes into the shadows a second time?

About the Author

Catherine Moloney is a Liverpool writer of Irish-American heritage. After graduating in Jurisprudence from Jesus College (University of Oxford), she was called to the Bar at Gray’s Inn. Despite qualifying as a barrister, her first love was English; this led to a PhD in English Literature at Birkbeck College (University of London).

In her academic career, she lectured and published widely on the subject of tuberculosis and nineteenth-century literature, but somehow managed to avoid contracting galloping hypochondria and turned her attention to crime fiction.

Find out more… catherinemoloney.com

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My Review

Crime in the Garden is my very first read by Catherine Moloney, and also my first time meeting Detective Markham and his team. Jumping in mid-series can sometimes feel daunting, but I found this story stood well on its own, and I quickly settled into the rhythm of Moloney’s writing.

The setting instantly caught my attention – the Hollingrove Palm House is eerie, atmospheric, and so vividly described that it felt like another character within the story. The six ancient stones at its heart bring a sense of foreboding and legend, giving the case a darker, almost gothic edge that made it stand out from the usual police procedural.

The investigation itself is well layered, tying the present-day murder to a mysterious death decades earlier. I enjoyed the way past and present intertwined, with each new revelation making me second-guess what I thought I knew. Moloney’s plotting is sharp and clever, keeping me turning pages to see how everything connected.

Detective Markham is a compelling lead—driven, thoughtful, and clearly burdened by his own personal struggles. Even as a newcomer to the series, I could sense his depth and complexity, which made me curious to go back and learn more about him from the beginning.

A tense, atmospheric police procedural with a unique setting and a mystery that kept me guessing. As my introduction to Catherine Moloney’s work, it was a strong 4-star read, and I’d happily explore more of the Markham books in the future..

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DISCLOSURE: I received an advance or review copy of this book. As always, my thoughts are honest and my own.
DISCLOSURE: I received a review copy of this book via NetGalley/Zooloo’s Book Tours. As always, my thoughts are honest and my own.
DISCLOSURE: I purchased this book myself. As always, my thoughts are honest and my own.

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