A Botanist's Guide to Poisons and Parties
Parties and poisons, oh, my! I had to pick up this novel, with a title like that. Something ghastly is going on in the botany department at the University College of London, and it is 1923. The protagonist of this story is Saffron Everleigh, the only female research assistant at the college, and it goes without saying that this was a hard road in 1923. One evening, at a dinner party, a professor’s wife is poisoned, and Saffron is a witness. When her elderly boss, Dr. Maxwell, is accused of and arrested for this poisoning, Saffron is determined to find out what really happened, and to clear the name of a man who has been very dear to her. Meanwhile, the botany department is preparing for an important expedition to the Amazon, and Saffron must assist another scientist, Alexander Ashton, in his preparations for the trip. Gradually, she finds a friend and confidant in Alexander, and persuades him to help her piece together the mystery of the poisoning of Dr. Henry’s wife...