Review: The Dead Man in the Garden (Aggie Morton, Mystery Queen #3)

Title: The Dead Man in the Garden (Aggie Morton, Mystery Queen #3)
Author: Marthe Jocelyn, Isabelle Follath (illustrations)
Genre: Middle Grade, Mystery, Historical Fiction
Publisher: Tundra Books
Source: Publisher via NetGalley
Format: Ebook
Release Date: September 7, 2021
Rating: ★★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

For young detective Aggie Morton and her friend Hector, a spa stay becomes a lot more thrilling when TWO dead bodies are found in this third book in the Aggie Morton, Mystery Queen series, inspired by the life of Agatha Christie as a child and her most popular creation, Hercule Poirot.

Aspiring writer Aggie Morton is ready to enjoy an invigorating trip to a Yorkshire spa, where her widowed mother can take the waters and recover from a long mourning period. Having solved yet another murder and faced extreme peril with her best friend Hector over Christmas, Aggie’s Morbid Preoccupation is on alert when rumors abound about the spa’s recently deceased former patient . . . and then another body appears under mysterious circumstances. Together with Grannie Jane, and often in the company of George, a young patient at the spa, Aggie and Hector take a closer look at the guests and staff of the Wellspring Hotel, and venture into the intriguing world of the local undertaker. Has there been a murder–or even two? As Aggie and Hector ignite their deductive skills, their restful trip takes a sudden, dangerous turn.

Review:

Aggie Morton goes on a trip to a spa in Yorkshire with her recently widowed mother, grandmother, and friend Hector Perot so that her mother can recover from her mourning period. When they arrive, Aggie and Hector learn that a woman who was staying there died the previous week. As they start investigating that death, another client of the spa dies under mysterious circumstances. Aggie and Hector join together with their new friend George to investigate these deaths and figure out what is going on at the spa. 

This was another great Aggie Morton mystery! Aggie Morton is like a young Agatha Christie. Her friend, Hector, is similar to Christie’s character Hercule Poirot, and Aggie’s grandmother is like the Christie character Miss Marple. I love seeing these nods to her classic characters. 

This mystery kept me guessing until the end. The answer was right there the whole time, but it was someone who I didn’t suspect. I’m always pleased when the solution to a mystery surprises me. 

The Dead Man in the Garden is a great middle grade mystery! 

Thank you Tundra Books for providing me with a digital copy of this book.

What to read next:

Other books in the series:

• The Body Under the Piano
• Peril at Owl Park
• The Seaside Corpse

Have you read The Dead Man in the Garden? What did you think of it?