The Poison Garden

by A J Banner

Lake Union

Elise Watters returns home to idyllic Chinook Island off the Washington coast expecting a joyful reunion with her husband, Dr. Keiran Lund, in time for their first anniversary. When she finds him in bed with another woman Elise’s world turns upside down. Keiran tries to make amends, but Elise suffered an abusive marriage before. Her friend and neighbor Chantal helps her where she can, but she’s grieving the loss of her daughter. Elise wishes she could turn to her late mother who ran the island herbal supplies store Elise now owns.

. . . leaves the reader second guessing all the way to the end.

Matters take a strange turn when Elise fears she’s sleepwalking again due to stress. Why does her sleeping mind take her to work in the herbal store? When her former husband Brandon shows up willing to help, she’s reluctant to trust him. What’s behind his offer? Can an abuser really change? One of her mother’s herbal recipe books contains a disturbing message about Keiran. Is the good doctor guilty of a shocking abuse of his profession? Keiran won’t give up on their marriage, and his obsessiveness verges on gaslighting when he plays up Elise’s sleepwalking fears. And then there’s the role played by the Juliet, a beautiful plant with strange herbal properties that her mother both liked and feared. Unexpectedly pregnant and emotionally under siege, Elise must decide who she can truly trust when everyone seems to have an agenda—before it costs her her life and that of her child.

The Poison Garden is a real page-turner of a mystery that leaves the reader second guessing all the way to the end. An ideal summer read that won’t disappoint.