The Savage garden |Mark Mills

I picked this one up because I loved “The Information Office” by Mills as well. If I like a book I tend to read as many as I can by the same author. Savage garden didn’t disappoint! It’s quite cerebral and bookish, with loads of references to classical writing, but he’s skilled at taking the reader along with him in this story that has a bit of everything in it.

If you don’t know your classics, it won’t matter, really, as Mills has set up a situation where the main character is a young student, Adam Strickland, who learns as he goes, thus educating us without looking down on the undereducated reader! The learning process is quite enjoyable.

Adam finds himself in Tuscany trying to figure out the puzzle of an ancient garden set out with deliberate care by the Docci family in the 1500’s. The garden reveals family secrets and Adam has to deal with the revelations of an old murder and a more recent Dicci family murder which has been kept hidden.

I really enjoyed this book. The others by Mills are also worth reading.

Mark Mills is a British author and screenwriter.