With their deadly plants, razor-sharp shears, shady corners, and ready-made burial sites, gardens make an ideal scene for a murder mystery.  Join Marta McDowell, a writer, gardener, and avid mystery reader, in exploring the many ways in which writers—from Edgar Allen Poe and Wilkie Collins to Agatha Christie and some of today’s top crime fiction authors—have found inspiration in the sinister side of gardening.

Marta McDowell teaches landscape history and horticulture at the New York Botanical Garden and is a popular lecturer and writer. Her latest book is Gardening Can Be Murder, about the horticultural connections to crime fiction. Timber Press also published Unearthing The Secret Garden, Emily Dickinson's Gardening Life, The World of Laura Ingalls Wilder, New York Times-bestselling All the Presidents' Gardens, and Beatrix Potter’s Gardening Life, now in its ninth printing. She was the 2019 recipient of the Garden Club of America's Sarah Chapman Francis Medal for outstanding literary achievement.

Register at: https://bit.ly/GardeningismurderAHML

This program will be recorded and available on AHML's YouTube channel. 

This event was made possible in partnership with the following Illinois public libraries: Algonquin, Clarendon Hills, Cook Memorial, Crystal Lake, Des Plaines, Elmhurst, Fossil Ridge, Fox River Valley, Gail Borden, Grays Lake, Lake Villa, Morton Grove, Naperville, Palatine, Palos Heights, Plainfield, Schaumburg, St. Charles, Thomas Ford, Town and Country, Vernon Area, Wauconda, and Winnetka-Northfield.

We strive to host inclusive, accessible events that enable all individuals, including individuals with disabilities, to engage fully. To request an accommodation, please call 847.392.0100, text 847.665.1491 or email us at accessibility@ahml.info   

Click to learn more about our accessible resources and services