Divorced after twenty-three years, garden designer Liz Clarke returns to Greenwich, Connecticut, expecting to find the haven of her childhood. Her nostalgic memories are interrupted when her pregnant goddaughter discovers the bloody body of the garden tour chairwoman and hysterically calls Liz rather than 911. Liz shifts her focus from dirt to detecting to save Melissa from suspicion. The kitchen garden she designed for the annual tour gives Liz access to the world in which the social-climbing victim, Staci Hooper, made enemies. With help from her Irish lover, country music fan Sean Healey, Liz digs into motives and alibis. Was Lawrence Hooper planning to replace his current trophy wife with an even younger version - the cross-country rider, Deb Norcross? Or did his lover's sister, Jean, whom Staci displaced in the garden club, want revenge? Maybe Staci's own lover, Franco Rizoldi, needed to quiet her in order to safeguard his marriage. The killer continues his deadly attacks, terrifying those Liz needs to protect, and she vows to root out the evil invading her garden. When waiting for the police to find the murderer feels slower than watching grass grow, Liz sifts through the clues and uncovers a very nasty snake in the garden indeed - one that will kill again if necessary.