This week, Susie Black’s Saturday Author Spotlight shines on multi-talented author Sheila Hansberger.
About the author: For over 40 years, Sheila Hansberger has been a professional artist, balancing time for commercial assignments along with creating fine art watercolors for galleries. Writing has always been a guilty pleasure. Her debut novel, The Gardener’s Secret, was released by Wild Rose Press in January 2024 under the pen name of S. Hansberger. Another suspense, Runaway Artist, was published in August 2025.
Susie had the opportunity to read and review The Gardner’s Secret. Here is a blurb to whet your appetite:
Believing she’ll get to report gritty news, Callie accepts a job at her hometown newspaper. Instead, she’s assigned the gardening column—a subject she knows nothing about. She begs advice from a tight-lipped neighbor when he admits he’s a retired gardener, even though his mannerisms and speech suggest he’s anything but. Not knowing the full truth doesn’t matter—she needs his help. The townsfolk think him strange and warn Callie to keep her distance, but she regards him and his family as friends. Learning their horrifying secret doesn’t deter her, even though loyalty will draw her into danger.
Here is Susie’s review:
Author S. Hansberger has penned a taut plot driven by love, loss, family ties, loyalty, and betrayal with a cast of believable, yet flawed characters that readers can easily relate to. Hansberger’s exquisite sense of timing excruciatingly slowly cranks up the tension that keeps readers past their bedtime because they can’t turn off the light without knowing what happens next.
Part thriller, part romance, part coming-of-age, The Gardener’s Secret will appeal to readers who enjoy a tale where things are not always the way they seem. The Gardener’s Secret has more than earned the five-star rating this reader has awarded it.
https://www.amazon.com/Gardeners-Secret-S-Hansberger/dp/15092530