Leap Day Special: Gardening Can Be Murder, Marta - McDowell

Cultivating Place: Conversations on Natural History and the Human Impulse to Garden

Most gardeners know the somewhat gruesome pleasure of working in the garden – with a sharp tool, or a poisonous plant, or ankle deep in a juicy scene of decomposition – and thinking to yourself, “oh, this would be a great scene for a murder mystery.” Writer and gardener Marta McDowell is with us this week for our Leap Day Special - sharing more about her newest title Gardening Can Be Murder: How Poisonous Poppies, Sinister Shovels, and Grim Gardens Have Inspired Mystery Writers, in which she delves into the literary history of mysteries and crime fiction being long inspired by life and death in the garden. It’s an oddly fun romp into the overlapping worlds of mystery and crime fiction with gardens and gardeners. Join us! All images courtesy of Marta McDowell, illustrations by Yolanda Fundora, all rights reserved.