The Girls in the Garden

This was very good, but it was probably my least favorite Lisa Jewell book (so far) but a mediocre Lisa Jewell book is still a worthwhile read! This reads more like a cozy mystery. A woman and her two daughters have just moved into a seemingly wonderful new community. The homes all face a communal garden square, the children run wild, the neighbors are all friends and hang out together, etc. The perfect, safe spot to raise children. Or so Clare (the mother) thought. We are introduced to several families in the neighborhood. There’s the social worker who neglects her daughter. The mixed-race boy with the unstable older brother. The (seemingly) perfect bohemian couple, homeschooling their children and acting as an open door for everyone in the community. A curmudgeonly old man who’s just had his foot amputated. And then one night (this is actually how the book opens), pre-teen Pip discovers her thirteen year old sister lying unconscious and bloodied in the garden. What happened to her? Who is responsible!? Are any of these people who they say they are?