The Butterfly Garden is a thriller/suspense mystery that will grab you from the first page and have you page turning well into the night.
Embedded within the main story line are a raft of sub-stories. That makes this review difficult to do without giving anything away. So, my description of the story will be briefer than normal and repeat some of the book’s description but, I hope my opinion of the book, will make up for it.
The “garden” is an elaborate garden, created by a rich, twisted individual for the sole purpose of maintaining his collection of rare butterflies. Butterflies that are, in fact, kidnapped young women, each with a unique butterfly tattooed on her back. Some 22 of them at any given time, not counting those on display.
As each young woman arrives in the garden, the Gardener gives them a name, intricately tattoos them with wings resembling their namesakes and assigns them to a room in his butterfly house next to the garden. But, the Gardener is not only obsessed with capturing and preserving his lovely specimens, he rapes them at will for his pleasure, while his eldest son adds abuse and torture to the rapes for his entertainment.
Eventually, the Gardener is turned in and one of the girls, in fact, the Gardener’s favorite Maya, is questioned by the FBI. As the older and more experienced agent Victor, younger agent Brandon and their team dig into years of kidnappings and one of the most horrific cases; the twists and turns of Maya’s and the girls’ lives prove to be as much of a puzzle as the case.
Dot Hutchison, in every respect, has done an outstanding job in writing The Butterfly Garden. Her character development is some of the best I have ever read and gives you a clear image of each character as they are introduced in the story. That, helps you maintain a clear understanding, as over thirty characters are brought into and out of the story.
Add to that, a unique and exceptional plot, loaded with twists and turns that keep you page turning into the wee hours and a very unexpected ending.
The sickness of the plot aside, I loved The Butterfly Garden. It is one of the best-written books I have read in a long time and I will set aside whatever I am reading to read Dot Hutchison’s next book. Outstanding. Outstanding. Outstanding.