Comprehensive information and links about The Constant Gardener

The Constant Gardener is a 2001 novel by John le Carré. It tells the story of Justin Quayle, who finds his wife murdered and seeks to uncover the reasons behind her death.

Justin Quayle, a British diplomat in Nairobi, finds his wife Tessa murdered. Investigating on his own, he discovers an international conspiracy of corrupt bureaucracy and pharmaceutical money.

Justin suspected that his activist wife married him only to infiltrate diplomatic circles, while having affairs behind his back. This results from mistaken snippets of conversation and correspondence that were actually part of Tessa's plan to lure her husband's unscrupulous colleague (who is infatuated with her) into helping her.

Ignoring friendly warnings, grim threats, and physical assaults, Justin learns that Tessa uncovered a corporate scandal. A large pharmaceutical company, under the cover of providing AIDS tests and treatments, is testing a tuberculosis drug with severe side effects. They are covering up the side effects (and burying the bodies in mass graves) and improving the drug, anticipating a massive tuberculosis outbreak that would fuel their wealth.

After planning to expose the corrupt politicians back in the home office, Justin returns to the scene of Tessa's murder, knowing that the hired killers would hunt him next.