Flowerbed of State

Flowerbed of State by Dorothy St. James is about a White House Gardener.  Casey Calhoun is new to the gardening staff at the White House.  She is very interested in organic gardening and has been asked to formulate plans for organic gardening at the White House.

At the beginning of the book, Casey is waking up in a flowerbed after being hit in the head.  She winds up pepper spraying a member of the secret service who she thought was going to attack her.  He is a member of the CAT, Counter Assault Team which is one part of the secret service that the public does not often see.  This will not be the only time that Casey and Agent Turner meet.  he winds up being assigned to protect her.   Casey finds a shoe and when she goes to toss it in a trash can, a body is discovered and the rest of the mystery begins.

The rest of the book deals with Casey's and the authorities search for the person who attacked her and the killer.  One of the only clues she has is that she saw a specific pair of shoes.  Through the course of the book, she sees several pairs of the same shoe.  She is also romanced by a rich banker who was a college roommate of the President.  The book follows her adventures and mis-adventures while trying to find the killer.

I have to admit that because I saw a review of this book, I asked my bookstore to order it for me.  I am so glad I did.  Normally, I would have finished the book in a day or two, other things got in the way.  This book exceeded my expectations,  there are lots of interesting paths taken before the mystery is solved.  I certainly would recommend this book to any lover of mysteries.