Giveaway, Guest Post, Mysteries

Guest Chick: Deborah J. Benoit

Spring has sprung, and if you are a gardener–or someone who appreciates gardens–do we ever have the perfect guest with the perfect book for you (and she has kindly agreed to give away an autographed copy to one lucky commenter)! Please help us give a warm welcome to Deborah J. Benoit, author of  The Gardener’s Plot…

Anyone who knows me knows that two of my favorite things are plants and writing, so it surprised absolutely no one that the main character in my debut novel, The Gardener’s Plot, is an avid gardener.

In The Gardener’s Plot, Maggie Walker returns to her hometown in the Berkshires, intent on starting over, reconnecting with old friends, making new ones, and restoring her late grandmother’s garden. When she’s invited to help establish a community garden, she accepts, because nothing makes a gardener happier than sharing the joy of gardening—except maybe discovering the resident deer dining on weeds instead of the hosta (hey, I can dream).

Putting a community garden at the center of my novel’s plot gave me the perfect opportunity to share my own love of gardening. More than that, the act of gardening inspires my writing.

For instance, putting in a new garden bed means digging up a crazy number of rocks ranging from fist-sized to bowling ball. Anything bigger can stay where the glaciers left it at the end of the last Ice Age. More than once, I’ve wondered about mysteries where someone buries an inconvenient body in the garden. That’s not likely here—not without some heavy machinery, a group effort, or a whole lot of time.

Once in a while, I find something unusual, like the little bottle, caked in dirt but in perfect condition, that fit in the palm of my hand. It looked like something from a hundred years ago. What was it doing there, a foot beneath the surface? Maybe it fell out of someone’s pocket, but what if it was something more sinister? What if that little bottle contained poison that was used to kill someone, and the perpetrator was escaping and tossed the evidence into the tall grass that grew there all those years ago as he (or she) ran into the woods at the edge of the property, unseen?

Even when there’s no mystery to ponder, gardening provides time to think, to dispense with frustration (take that, weeds!), and to drink in the natural world around me. There’s nothing like the sight of my witch hazel in full bloom while there’s still snow on the ground in early March or the scent of lilacs in May.

Admittedly, nothing I’ve dug up in my garden is as suspicious as the boot Maggie uncovers at the community garden in The Gardener’s Plot. I also readily admit that I’m not as curious or as brave as Maggie. I prefer my own sleuthing to involve tracking down who’s eating the blossoms off my newly planted coneflowers (prime suspect:  the groundhog) or what critter was digging in the mulched beds (still working on that one). For human crimes, I’ll do my sleuthing on the page.

Readers, are you a gardener or a black thumb?

Deborah J. Benoit’s debut novel, The Gardener’s Plot, won the Minotaur Books/Mystery Writers of America First Crime Novel Competition. Born and raised in the Berkshires of western Massachusetts, there’s no place she’d rather call home (even in winter). Deborah loves sharing her knowledge of gardening, through articles she’s written, in person, and on social media. When not writing or digging up plots in her garden, she can be found working on her latest fiber arts project. Learn more about Deborah at https://penpaperplant.com/.

Find The Gardener’s Plot here.

35 thoughts on “Guest Chick: Deborah J. Benoit”

  2. Deborah, what a beautiful post! Congratulations on winning the Minotaur award. That’s a huge honor.

    I adore flowers and plants but am not a gardener. I admire anyone who is! But I’m proud to say that I’ve kept two houseplants alive for over 15 years!

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    3. Thank you, Ellen. Winning the Minotaur Books/Mystery Writers of America First Crime Novel Award was a thrill–and an amazing experience. I recommend any mystery writer who hasn’t had a novel published (yet) check out the annual competition.

      By the way, I think keeping those two houseplants alive for over 15 years makes you a gardener, one who chooses to garden indoors. Who says all gardeners have to garden outdoors or on a larger scale?

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  3. I dream of having a beautiful garden. Unfortunately, I’m somewhat of a brown thumb. Between that and the deer, I stick to petunias. Easy to care for and the deer don’t like them.

    Although the plants I put in our herb and vegetable garden are doing well and I think I even see sprouts from some of the seeds. Fingers crossed my sunflowers come up!

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      1. I have the herbs in what a friend of mine calls a “gutter garden.” Think a garden around the edge of a fence and at least three feet off the ground. It’ll keep the rabbits away. But birds? Forget it.

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    2. Hi Liz. I hear you. Between weeds and visiting critters, gardening can be a challenge. The first year I moved into this house I put in a row of tulips, anticipating their beautiful colors the following spring. The deer had other ideas. One morning I went out and every set of leaves along the row had a crescent-shaped bite taken out of them. Luckily, the flower buds hadn’t opened and the stems were still low enough that they escaped the browsing deer. They opened and were lovely, but the leaves sure looked funny.

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  4. Descendent of farmers, can barely keep a cactus alive! Love plants and flowers but am death for most living plants. Look forward to reading about Maggie’s adventures. Congrats on the new book!

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  5. I plant a summer vegetable garden every year, but the dratted gophers are always a problem–even when I use cages for the plants. Sigh… (So if there’s a murder afoot, it will likely involve them….)

    Thanks so much for visiting the Chicks today, Deborah, and congrats on the Minotaur award–huzzah! The book looks terrific!

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    1. Thank you, Leslie!

      Squirrels tend to be my nemesis when I plant veggies. There’s nothing so frustrating as watching a tomato ripen only to find it on the ground with a single bite out of it on the day I planned to pick it.

      I get my revenge (short of murder). I have a squirrel proof bird feeder system and take great pleasure watching their frustration as they try to get to the feeders.

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  7. Yay for The Gardener’s Plot, and thanks for being our guest today! Have a black thumb here, though I’ve managed to keep a bamboo plant and a few succulents alive. And I’m starting over with a new money tree. We’ll see how that goes. But the maternal figures in my life all are amazing gardeners, so whenever I want to be surrounded by lush flowers and vibrant plants, I go to them!

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    1. Hi Jennifer. Good luck with the new money tree! You have no idea how many plants have died on me over the years! (lol) I just keep trying with those that give me the most pleasure. I’ve moved plants or bought replacements and put them in a new location hoping they’ll be happy there.

      I tried for a few years to grow hellebores (a/k/a Lenten rose) and couldn’t understand why they never came back the next year. They’re supposed to be “easy to grow.” Ha! I finally found a place they love. Not only are they surviving the winter, they’re spreading.

      My philosophy is do what makes you happy in the garden. That doesn’t have to mean gardening. Some days I just sit back and drink it all in. I’m glad you have places to go that make you happy in the garden.

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  8. Deborah, thanks so much for visiting Chicks today, and huge congrats on The Gardener’s Plot! I went to school in the Berkshires–what a perfect locale for your gardening. My husband calls me RoundUp. But I have a few small triumphs. So far–not really in a “gardening” sense–my survivors include the potted shamrocks on my windowsill (more added each year at Paddy’s), hydrangea, potted Norfolk pines I’ve adopted over the years (when I lived down South, people decorated them for Xmas and I didn’t have the heart to leave them behind–they’ve now grown almost to the the ceiling), 2 succulent favors from my daughter’s wedding, and the peace lily my fellow Chicks gifted me in 2016 in memory of my mom. (In the cold NH winters, it lives in my powder room).

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    1. Lisa, thank you.

      My curiosity is piqued, so I just have to ask: which school?

      I have to confess, I long ago gave up trying to keep Norfolk Island pines alive past the holidays. I think it’s the dry air in the house over winter that does them in. I love plants with memories attached to them.

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      1. I did notice as I was typing my comment that the only plants I’m successful with are the ones attached to fond memories! Those Norfolk pines have been through Hades but now they’ve taken over the sunny plant room. We had trouble making space for our giant Xmas tree. And I went to Williams in Williamstown. My oldest daughter was born in North Adams.

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  10. First, I want to thank everyone at Chicks on the Case for the chance to visit today and for the warm welcome. I’ll be heading out to the garden shortly to put in a new garden bed in a shady spot. It’s going to include several of one of my favorite plants, one that can have colorful leaves and grows in well-behaved mounds low to the ground. Its tiny, bell-shaped flowers are on delicate stalks that reach above the foliage. Anyone know what plant I’m referring to? (Hint: I’m in Zone 5B and this plant will grow in shade or sun.)

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  11. Congratulations on your novel, Deborah! When I managed to kill a cactus during my teen years, I decided tending plants isn’t for me. I leave the flower-related tasks to my wife. It’s safer for all that way.

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    2. I used to have a little cactus garden on my desk at Random House. Even after I warned office vistors, they just couldn’t help reaching out to test those teensy spikes!

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  12. Hi Deborah! Nice to know you and your books and your passion for garden. I am sort of in between gardener and a black thumb.. Hubby and I love planting tomatoes when spring come, and we have pretty good harvest of tomatoes. Various flowers make my garden colorful! However, there are (so far) two plants that we always kill them – basil (can’t plant it outdoor) and orchid. Hope you have some advice. Thank you in advance. – Emily

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    1. Some plants just don’t try hard enough and some–like basil–take pride in being fussy. Basil likes warm weather and sun. The fussy part comes in when watering. It likes consistent moisture but doesn’t like soggy feet. As for orchids, I think more die from overwatering than underwatering. They should be planted in bark chips or a potting mix specifically for orchids. Water when the mix feels almost dry, letting the water run through the pot, allowing it to drain. Good luck with your problem plants!

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