Tish Tarragons preparations for Coleton Creeks annual garden club awards luncheon are threatened when one of the prime contenders is murdered. Literary caterer Letitia Tish Tarragon is preparing her English Secret Garden-themed luncheon for Coleton Creeks annual garden club awards, but when she is taken on a tour of some of the top contenders with the garden clubs president, Jim Ainsley, Tish is surprised at how seriously the residents take the awards and how desperate they are to win. Wealthy, retired businessman Sloane Shackleford has won the coveted best garden category five years in a row, but he and his Bichon Frise, Biscuit, are universally despised. When Sloanes bludgeoned body is discovered in his pristine garden, Tish soon learns that he was disliked for reasons that go beyond his green fingers. Have the hotly contested awards brought out a competitive and murderous streak in one of the residents?