THE SAVAGE GARDEN
Mark Mills
Putnam
Mystery
ISBN-10: 0399153535
ISBN-13: 9780399153532

Cambridge University Professor Crispin Leonard has waited a long time to find just the right student for a sensitive task. An old friend, Signora Docci, has asked him to be on the lookout for someone to unravel the symbolism of the grounds surrounding her family villa a short distance from the tiny Tuscan hill town of San Casciano. After careful consideration, Professor Leonard chooses senior Adam Strickland and sends him off on a discovery mission. The centuries-old garden has rested quietly until Adam arrives to study it for his thesis. He immerses himself in the tangle of vegetation, but finds that the manor house intrigues him almost as much as the garden. Adam has heard the stories and knows that something tragic occurred there during the Second World War, some 14 years previous to his arrival, resulting in the third floor of the villa being sealed and declared off limits.

Almost instantly, Villa Docci's matriarch, the elderly Francesca Docci, warms to Adam, eager to hear what insights he unearths. As Adam wanders the garden, more questions than answers arise. The statues seem oddly placed. Even their expressions are a bit off. Adam's research leads him to the belief that this is not the work of a bad landscape architect. Rather, the garden is precisely as designed. But why? And the matter of the closed-off floor of the villa? The explanation Adam has heard involved the death of Signora Docci's eldest son at the hands of occupying German soldiers. A tragedy, yes, but is it reasonable to close off that part of the house forever?

Adam had planned only a few weeks to complete his work in Italy, but he finds himself enchanted by Antonella, Francesca's granddaughter. Then Harry, Adam's rogue brother, announces that he will drop in for a short stay. Although he loves his brother, Adam dreads a visit from Harry, for Harry usually means trouble --- and always means diminishing Adam's funds. But while Harry provides a somewhat pleasant diversion, he also points Adam toward a surprising revelation and lightens the mood around the villa, giving the Doccis an easy excuse to host lavish celebratory dinners. And Antonella provides an even more pleasant diversion.

As for the garden, Adam thinks he understands what its designer's message was. When he turns to the mystery of the house, all the signs point to a horror that he wishes he could forget. Of course, he can't. He continues on the trail of clues, naively oblivious to the dangers he faces. If the death on the third floor was not at the hands of the Germans, as he'd been told, then the murderer may get edgy if Adam comes too close to the truth. When he realizes his room has been rifled and he has picked up a trail, he knows he is on to something. But will he live to find the truth?

While Mark Mills has intertwined history with a marvelous puzzle, that's not the best part about THE SAVAGE GARDEN. The best part is the joy of losing oneself to the beauty of the Tuscan countryside in the late 1950s and relishing a less frenetic era through the eyes of a clever young man. Better yet, the startling conclusion leads to a highly satisfying ending. One always wants justice to be served. Here, it is --- well served.

   --- Reviewed by Kate Ayers

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