The Child Garden

by Catriona McPherson

Overview

Eden was its name. "An alternative school for happy children." But it closed in disgrace after a student's suicide. Now it's a care home, the grounds neglected and overgrown. Gloria Harkness is its only neighbor, staying close to her son who lives in the home, lighting up her life and breaking her heart each day.

When a childhood friend turns up at her door, Gloria doesn't hesitate before asking him in. He claims a girl from Eden is stalking him and has goaded him into meeting near the site of the suicide. Only then, the dead begin to speak—it was murder, they say.

Gloria is in over her head before she can help it. Her loneliness, her loyalty, and her all-consuming love for her son lead her into the heart of a dark secret that threatens everything she lives for.

Praise:

"A tale that shivers with suspense."—The New York Times

"A terrific stand-alone that is complex, haunting, and magical."—Library Journal (Starred Review)

"A stunning combination of creepy thriller and classic mystery."—Kirkus Reviews (Starred Review)

"One surprising plot twist after another leads to a shocking ending."—Publishers Weekly

"Catriona McPherson spins webs of intrigue so beautiful and intricate she puts spiders to shame. With The Child Garden, she once again proves why she has rapidly become a star in the thriller genre...This is a book you will absolutely devour."—William Kent Krueger, New York Timesbestselling and Edgar Award-Winning Author of Ordinary Grace

"An enchanting brew of mystery, poetry, legends, and dreams, Catriona McPherson's The Child Garden is also an elaborate shell game that will keep readers guessing up until the very end."—Hallie Ephron, New York Times Bestselling Author of Night Night, Sleep Tight

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781410484253
Publisher:	Gale Group
Publication date:	02/24/2016
Edition description:	Large Print
Pages:	431
Product dimensions:	5.60(w) x 8.60(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Catriona McPherson was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, and is the author of several standalone novels for Midnight Ink. She is a four-time winner of the Lefty Award, three-time winner of the Macavity Award, two-time winner of the Agatha Award, and two-time winner of the Anthony Award. Additionally, she has been a finalist or shortlist honoree for more than a dozen major awards. Catriona also writes the Dandy Gilver historical mystery series (Minotaur/Thomas Dunne Books). She is the past president of Sisters in Crime and a member of Mystery Writers of America. She lives in Davis, California.

 

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Editorial Reviews

McPherson writes with the firm but delicate touch of a spider testing the strength of its web. Her account of what happens when good little children tell big, bad lies is a tale that shivers with suspense and more than a touch of horror.

The New York Times Book Review - Marilyn Stasio

07/06/2015
Civil servant Gloria Harkness, the narrator of this disturbing standalone from Edgar-finalist McPherson (Come to Harm), receives an unexpected visitor one rainy night at her secluded Scottish country house: an old primary schoolmate of hers, Stephen “Stig” Tarrant, who’s still haunted by the drowning of a boy at Eden, the boarding school the then-11-year-old Stig attended. The drowning occurred while Stig, the dead boy, and several other classmates were out camping together. Eden, forced to close down by the scandal, was turned into the same institution where Gloria’s 15-year-old son, who suffers from a neurodegenerative disease, lies in a vegetative state. After Gloria and Stig happen to uncover the corpse of a classmate of Stig’s, Stig becomes the police’s prime suspect. Gloria decides to undertake her own investigation and discovers that a number of the students present on the night of the drowning have either killed themselves or suffered hardships. One surprising plot twist after another leads to a shocking ending. Agent: Lisa Moylett, Coombs Moylett Literary Agency. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly

Praise:

"A tale that shivers with suspense."—The New York Times

"A terrific stand-alone that is complex, haunting, and magical."—Library Journal (Starred Review)

"A stunning combination of creepy thriller and classic mystery."—Kirkus Reviews (Starred Review)

"One surprising plot twist after another leads to a shocking ending."—Publishers Weekly

"Catriona McPherson spins webs of intrigue so beautiful and intricate she puts spiders to shame. With The Child Garden, she once again proves why she has rapidly become a star in the thriller genre...This is a book you will absolutely devour."—William Kent Krueger, New York Timesbestselling and Edgar Award-Winning Author of Ordinary Grace

"An enchanting brew of mystery, poetry, legends, and dreams, Catriona McPherson's The Child Garden is also an elaborate shell game that will keep readers guessing up until the very end."—Hallie Ephron, New York Times Bestselling Author of Night Night, Sleep Tight

"Deeply resonant, utterly original, compelling, and satisfying, Catriona McPherson's The Child Garden is the work of a master—of character, tone, setting, and plot—writing at the thriller-most top of her form."—John Lescroat, New York Times Bestselling Author

"I loved this book so much I can barely speak. From page one, it's seamlessly told, beautifully original, and the voice, well, the voice is proof that Catriona McPherson is a powerful force and major talent in crime fiction. And the last page? I cried."—Hank Phillippi Ryan, Agatha, Anthony, Macavity, and Mary Higgins Clark Award-Winning Author

"Weaving strands of literary mystery, horror, and magical realism, The Child Garden is a twisting, now-you-see-it-now-you-don't tale about the ripple effect of tragedy."—Jenny Milchman, Author of Cover of Snow, Ruin Falls, and As Night Falls

"McPherson takes the reader on a suspenseful journey with Gloria Harkness, a devoted mother torn by doubt, love, and loyalty. A riveting, page-turning read; I did not want it to come to an end."—G.M. Malliet, Agatha Award-Winning Author of the St. Just and Max Tudor Mysteries

From the Publisher

★ 07/01/2015
On a stormy night driving back from visiting her invalid son at his care home, Gloria Harkness is almost run off the road by a man she has not seen in over 30 years. Stig of the Dump, as he was called, is really Stephen Tarrant, who's being stalked by April, a former classmate from the alternative school known as Eden. The facility shut down after a student drowned. When Glo and Stig find April's body, and Glo discovers several other students are all dead, the question becomes: Who is killing the children of Eden? VERDICT Better known for her "Dandy Gilver" cozies, McPherson has written a terrific stand-alone that is complex, haunting, and magical. Readers who appreciate Kate Atkinson or Audrey Niffeneger for their intricate plotting and character development will be sure to pounce on this stunning title.

Library Journal

★ 2015-06-17
A divorced woman with a severely disabled teenage son gets sucked into a mystery that will change her forever. Gloria lives in a farmhouse on the remnants of a large Scottish estate. For the owner, who lives in the nursing home created out of the main house, her most important job is rocking the ancient stone in the garden 12 times a day to prevent the devil trapped inside from escaping. In addition, she takes care of the house and its dog and cats. In return, she can afford to keep her son, Nicky, in the same home. Stephen "Stig" Tarrant, a grade school pal, turns up on her doorstep saying he's being stalked by April Cowan, one of his fellow students from Eden, an alternative high school once based on the estate, and asks Gloria to go with him to a meeting April demanded. When they find April dead in a small stone hut on the estate, Stig slowly reveals a terrible story about the death of a boy at the school. He was found floating in the nearby river the night of Beltane, when the students had a cookout and slept outside—all but Stig, who claims he was sick after eating undercooked sausages and knows only parts of the story. Although the death was ruled an accident, the school was closed, the headmistress's reputation ruined, and the students scattered. April's body vanishes before they decide to tell the police, and Stig becomes a person of interest, hiding in Gloria's house and cooking gourmet meals while Gloria sleuths. Believing Stig's story of being set up, Gloria, whose job as a registrar gives her access to private information, starts to search for the other students and soon learns that most of them were apparent suicides. She's horrified to realize that her ex-husband was one of them, one of the few still left alive. McPherson's newest stand-alone (Come to Harm, 2015, etc.) is a stunning combination of creepy thriller and classic mystery with a startling denouement.

Kirkus Reviews