A Botanist's Guide to Parties and Poisons by Kate Khavari

Saffron Everleigh is in a race against time to free her wrongly accused professor before he goes behind bars forever. Perfect for fans of Deanna Raybourn and Anna Lee Huber, Kate Khavari’s debut historical mystery is a fast-paced, fearless adventure.

London, 1923. Newly minted research assistant Saffron Everleigh attends a dinner party for the University College of London. While she expects to engage in conversations about the university's large expedition to the Amazon, she doesn’t expect Mrs. Henry, one of the professors’ wives to drop to the floor, poisoned by an unknown toxin.

Dr. Maxwell, Saffron’s mentor, is the main suspect, having had an explosive argument with Dr. Henry a few days prior. As evidence mounts against Dr. Maxwell and the expedition's departure draws nearer, Saffron realizes if she wants her mentor's name cleared, she’ll have to do it herself.

Joined by enigmatic Alexander Ashton, a fellow researcher, Saffron uses her knowledge of botany as she explores steamy greenhouses, dark gardens, and deadly poisons. Will she be able to uncover the truth or will her investigation land her on the murderer’s list?

Kindle Edition, 304 pages

published by Crooked Lane Books

Audiobook 8 hours, 13 minutes

published by Dreamscape

on June 7, 2022

3/5 stars

Set in 1923 this book is a combination cozy mystery and historical fiction. I was drawn to this book from the stunning cover.

I did a combination read and audiobook listen, thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for those arcs.

Saffron is a young woman who is determined, resourceful and at times a little foolish. Driven to clear the name of a mentor she impulsively does things that put her own life and others at risk.

It was a fun read and an entertaining listen. With an interesting cast of characters, some likeable some not so much. The mystery played out nicely with adventure, wit and risk. There was a satisfying ending as well. I am not sure if this is the beginning of a series or not but it does have the makings for one.

While there are some comparing this book to Deanna Raybourn‘s Veronica Speedwell Series I don’t think I would go that far.

My thanks to Crooked Lane Books and Dreamscape Media for advanced copies in exchange for a honest review.

Review: The Other Daughter by Lauren Willig

Raised in a poor yet genteel household, Rachel Woodley is working in France as a governess when she receives news that her mother has died, suddenly. Grief-stricken, she returns to the small town in England where she was raised to clear out the cottage...and finds a cutting from a London society magazine, with a photograph of her supposedly deceased father dated all of three month before. He's an earl, respected and influential, and he is standing with another daughter-his legitimate daughter. Which makes Rachel...not legitimate. Everything she thought she knew about herself and her past-even her very name-is a lie.

Still reeling from the death of her mother, and furious at this betrayal, Rachel sets herself up in London under a new identity. There she insinuates herself into the party-going crowd of Bright Young Things, with a steely determination to unveil her father's perfidy and bring his-and her half-sister's-charmed world crashing down. Very soon, however, Rachel faces two unexpected snags: she finds she genuinely likes her half-sister, Olivia, whose situation isn't as simple it appears; and she might just be falling for her sister's fiancé...

From Lauren Willig, author of the New York Times bestselling novel The Ashford Affair, comes The Other Daughter, a page-turner full of deceit, passion, and revenge.
 

Kindle Edition, 305 pages

Published July 21st 2015 by St. Martin's Press 

*** 1/2 

This is my first book by Lauren Willig and to be honest I didn't read much of the synopsis when requesting this from netgalley, she is an author I've been wanting to read for a while now.

 

The story gets off to a great start, with Rachel reviewing sad news (see synopsis above) and journeys back to England.  The plot was interesting, though not always original but watching events unfold left me surprised in a few instances.  It isn't a huge book, coming in at 304 pages and I would have loved a little more depth.  Rachel I got to know and got her character, but it was the others I would have liked to connect with and gotten to know better, especially her sister and father.

Romance has never been one of my 'go to' genres, but I honestly thought there would be more of it here.  What little there was didn't always ring true to me.

The author definitely knows her time period, the settings, descriptions rang true and I had no problem visualizing so much.  It was an entertaining story and my thanks to St. Martin's Press (via netgalley) for the opportunity to review The Other Daughter.