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The Savage Garden | 
 enlarge | Author: Mark Mills
Publisher: Berkley Trade
Category: Book
List Price: $14.00
Buy New: $5.86
You Save: $8.14 (58%)
New (3) Used (4) from $4.82
Avg. Customer Rating:  37 reviews
Sales Rank: 214890
Format: Bargain Price
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 352
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.9
Dimensions (in): 8 x 5.4 x 1
Dewey Decimal Number: 813
ASIN: B001H31NGO
Publication Date: May 6, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
Young Cambridge scholar Adam Banting is in Tuscany, assigned to write a scholarly monograph about the famous Docci gardena mysterious world of statues, grottoes, meandering rills, and classical inscriptions. As his research deepens, Adam comes to suspect that buried in the gardens strange iconography is the key to uncovering a long-ago murder. But the ancient house holds its own secrets as well. And as Adam delves into his subject, he begins to suspect that he is being used to discover the true meaning of the villas murderous past.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 32 more reviews...
 The Savage Garden November 29, 2008
I received the book quickly in time to read it for my book club. The book was also in good condition.
Two Murders 400 Years Apart November 27, 2008
Normally I'm not drawn to this sort of mystery, being more inclined to read historical novels with mysteries based on real life characters, but I spotted this title in a bookstore and was drawn to it for several reasons. I have visited Tuscany and Florence and am familiar with the sort of garden described here, also the late 1950s is a time period which interests me quite a bit.
Adam Strickland is young English student at Cambridge looking for a suitable subject to research. A professor suggests he investigate a strange garden in an isolated villa outside of Florence. When Adam arrives at the villa he finds evidence that two deaths four hundred years apart may be linked, and that he himself is in danger from people or forces unknown. There are many characters, nearly all of them (even the villains) likeable enough, and the story of Adam's investigations and of his various entanglements, romantic and otherwise, are quite satisfying. While it helps to have some knowledge of Dante and of Machiavelli (which I do) it is not essential to understand and enjoy the plot.
Mark Mills is a good writer and I intend to read his first book Amagansett soon. He should have a long and creditable writing career ahead of him.
The Savage Garden October 30, 2008
Gripping story; the ending, however, did not please in its simplicity and "pleasing the reader"-way. The story was intriguing but a classical antique-scholar might have some objections. I myself "forgive" the writer, because this is not a "real" academic study, but fiction. As a teacher in art history, I'm actually thinking of advising my students to read the story - but I doubt any of them will actually solve a problem this complex in a week!! It is nevertheless an example of how things can be done - in the 1950s...
Wonderful!! October 9, 2008
This is a classic -- beautifully written, well thought out characters, a unique story. Mark Mills' other book, Amagansett, is even better. I can't wait for his next one!
 Written as a Screenplay? October 2, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
I liked this book. It was a page turner, the author wove the two storylines together well, so you didn't feel clunky cutting back and forward in time, and the settings were well drawn. My major problem was that I never felt I was in 1958. That was merely a plot contrivance to use World War 2 in the story. Never mind, a light easy mystery read.
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