Mags Blake, a gardener, enjoys May in Cornwall. She is tasked with leading visitors around Shelter Gardens, a 19th-century landscape garden, during the open house. Everything seems fine—until Mags, curious about the unusual color of the flowers, digs a little too deep in the garden's hydrangea valley and uncovers human bones. It quickly becomes clear that these are the remains of Emily Franklin, the fiancée of Thomas Williams, the future heir of Shelter Gardens. Eight years ago, Emily disappeared without a trace on the night of her engagement party, along with the family's valuable jewelry collection. In this first book of the series featuring gardener Mags Blake, I tell the story of how the young, headstrong woman stumbles into her first murder case. Like all first steps, this one is rather hesitant.