Marguerite By The Lake by Mary Dixie Carter

 

My thoughts

This is the second book I've read by this author. I believe this is her second book. Though it was fairly good, it was also a bit of a let down for me. Not bad, but not one that wowed me either. It kept me turning the pages and guessing what was coming though. That was a good thing.

I totally disliked the main character, Phoenix. She may have known flowers and other plants but was sorely lacking when it came to people. I didn't care for Marguerite either. She was to self-centered and came across as the "I'm better than you", type. She could be so condescending and obnoxious. Especially towards Phoenix. I understand why partly but not when Phoenix saved Marguerite's husbands life. Was she not grateful to the young lady? I didn't like him, Geoffrey, either. He seemed like the type that just used people to get what he wanted. I guess the only one I really liked was Taylor, the Gray's daughter. She at least seemed to care about people. She didn't much care for Phoenix though and I fully understand that.

This book was well written though it left a few things unanswered. For me at least. If I say what though it will give away some things that are important to the story. I did not like the ending. To me it did not sum up anything to well. I wanted some answers. I also wanted to see someone pay for what happened to Marguerite. 

This book had some horror overtures going on. Maybe a little gothic in the living picture. lol It didn't make me cringe though. It was just part of the story. Phoenix was losing her ever loving mind. What she stayed for is beyond me. But stay she did. And at the end I was just a bit confused. Did she burn the trees or herself. Or maybe herself and the trees. 

Thank you to the publisher for this ARC. 

About

From Mary Dixie Carter comes an atmospheric, tense novel about the death of a wealthy garden designer, her lonely widower, and the scrappy young gardener who smoothly steps into her life.

Marguerite Gray is a lifestyle icon known for her garden parties, high-end business ventures, and being the muse behind the famous Serge Kuhnert painting, Marguerite by the Lake. Her presence is overpowering, her taste, legendary. For the last few years, Phoenix has been the gardener on the famed Rosecliff grounds, home of the Gray Marguerite and her husband Geoffrey. Phoenix came from humble beginnings, and now she works hard to craft the landscape that underpins Marguerite’s brand.

When a storm threatens the launch party for Marguerite’s latest book, it’s Phoenix who spots the danger to the guests and rushes to Geoffrey’s side to save him from a falling tree. Geoffrey is grateful—perhaps too grateful. Marguerite is . . . jealous. Phoenix senses the danger of being drawn deeper into their lives but can’t resist the attention, becoming embroiled in an affair that could destroy her career.

But soon after the affair begins Marguerite falls to her death, from the same high point at Rosecliff where she posed for Marguerite by the Lake. Now Phoenix has another secret, one that haunts her even as Geoffrey invites her to move into the manor with him. A secret that Detective Hanna and Marguerite’s daughter—her spitting image—are circling closer and closer to. Phoenix tries to put it all behind her and find her rightful place at Rosecliff. But as every gardener knows, nothing stays buried forever.