Nolite Timere

 Three days ago, Louise Penny's new mystery, Miss Wolcott's Ghost, arrived in my mailbox.  I couldn't do anything except read.  I'm addicted to the author's characters.  I know and love them all.  Her characters drive the story and I'm hooked.

Inspector Gamache is awakened in the middle of the night by his phone.  Who knows his number?  The voice was familiar and panicked.  But they didn't identify themselves.

That's how the novel begins. 

The midnight caller said there was a murder victim in Lost Nation.  That's the problem.  Where the heck is Lost Nation.  

A search reveals the place, and more searches reveal lost forgotten marine disasters, a long-dead amateur botanist, and historical research.  Also, a disgraced former friend and colleague help, or maybe not.

Another character is a long extinct plant that was growing in, around, over, and through, the victim's body.

Gross, isn't it.

Miss Willmott's ghost

Source: SeedScape












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Miss Willmott's Ghost is the common name for Eryngium giganteum (also known as giant sea holly), a striking, thistle-like biennial plant in the family Apiaceae native to the Caucasus and Iran. 
Key Characteristics
Appearance: Features cone-shaped greenish-blue flower heads surrounded by a dramatic "ruff" or collar of translucent, spiny, silvery-white/gray bracts that look ghostly pale, especially at a distance or in the evening light. 
Growth habit: Typically grows 2 to 4 feet tall with a 1.5 to 2-foot spread, starting as a basal rosette of heart-shaped green leaves before sending up rigid, branching flowering stems. 
Life cycle: Generally behaves as a biennial (growing foliage the first year, blooming and dying the second), but it self-sows prolifically to maintain a reliable perennial presence in the garden
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Origin of the Name
The common name honors the famous 19th- and early 20th-century English horticulturist Ellen Willmott (1858–1934). She reportedly loved this ghostly, silvery plant so much that she would secretly and pocket-fully scatter its seeds in other people's gardens and public spaces during her visits, causing the ghostly blooms to appear unexpectedly. 
Cultivation
Light: Thrives in full sun. 
Soil: Requires well-drained or sandy, average-to-poor soil; it dislikes wet or heavy winter ground. 
Maintenance: Highly drought-tolerant once established, deer- and rabbit-resistant, and a favorite for attracting bees and butterflies