Divorcee Gloria Harkness lives a dull, lonely life in a house in the woods near the secluded care home where her disabled son Nicky resides. The home's building and surrounding grounds used to be an experimental school for young children, oddly named Eden, until chilling events there closed it down almost 30 years ago. Now those past events have come back to haunt the woods -- and Gloria's life -- when one of the children involved in the tragic incident tries to find out if it was suicide or murder.

When an old childhood friend of Gloria's, Stephen (Stig) Tarrant from Castle Douglas, turns up at her door late one night, Gloria cannot believe the tale he tells her. He was one of the students at Eden and a female classmate from there has been stalking him to pursue the truth about what really happened that dark, mysterious night all those years ago. Gloria is surprised at how resourceful she can be as she's drawn into the search for the truth. However, what she uncovers, and how it will change her life, is more shocking than she could have ever imagined.

A bit slow at the start, Catriona McPherson's THE CHILD GARDEN soon takes off at a fast pace with spellbinding suspense to a riveting ending. Characters are complex and believable in an intriguing Scottish locale with a tightly woven and unique plot. This is the first book I've read by Catriona McPherson, but it won't be the last. She's a distinctively talented author.

Book Summary

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, its grounds neglected and overgrown. Gloria Harkness is its only neighbor, staying close to her son who lives there 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 her at 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.

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