A Botanist's Guide to Flowers and Fatality

by Kate Khavari

Overview

Brilliant botanist Saffron Everleigh is back and ready for adventure in Kate Khavari’s next mesmerizing historical mystery.

“A cleverly plotted puzzle” (Ashley Weaver) in the vein of Opium and Absinthe, this second installment is perfect for fans of Rhys Bowen and Sujata Massey.

1920s London isn’t the ideal place for a brilliant woman with lofty ambitions. But research assistant Saffron Everleigh is determined to beat the odds in a male-dominated field at the University College of London. Saffron embarks on her first research study alongside the insufferably charming Dr. Michael Lee, traveling the countryside with him in response to reports of poisonings. But when Detective Inspector Green is given a case with a set of unusual clues, he asks for Saffron’s assistance.

The victims, all women, received bouquets filled with poisonous flowers. Digging deeper, Saffron discovers that the bouquets may be more than just unpleasant flowers— there may be a hidden message within them, revealed through the use of the old Victorian practice of floriography. A dire message, indeed, as each woman who received the flowers has turned up dead.

Alongside Dr. Lee and her best friend, Elizabeth, Saffron trails a group of suspects through a dark jazz club, a lavish country estate, and a glittering theatre, delving deeper into a part of society she thought she’d left behind forever.

Will Saffron be able to catch the killer before they send their next bouquet, or will she find herself with fatal flowers of her own in Kate Khavari’s second intoxicating installment.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781639102792
Publisher:	CROOKED LANE BOOKS
Publication date:	06/06/2023
Series:	A Saffron Everleigh Mystery , #2
Sold by:	Penguin Random House Publisher Services
Format:	eBook
Pages:	272
Sales rank:	53,377
File size:	1 MB

About the Author

Kate Khavari is the author of fiction ranging from historical mysteries to high fantasy epics. She has her parents to thank for her fascination for historical mysteries, as she spent the majority of her childhood memorizing Sherlock Holmes’s and Poirot’s greatest quips. She lives in the Dallas-Fort Worth area of Texas with her husband and children and a lovely garden that contains absolutely no poisonous plants.

Editorial Reviews

04/24/2023

Floriography helps uncover a killer in Khavari’s appealing if uneven second Saffron Everleigh mystery (following 2022’s A Botanist’s Guide to Flowers and Poisons). In 1923 London, Saffron has rejected her suffocating aristocratic background to pursue her passion: botany. Shortly after she and her research partner, Michael Lee, return from treating a child poisoned by an innocent-looking white flower, a local detective inspector recruits the two to consult on a pair of murders; in each case, the dead woman received a strange bouquet. Saffron, using the Victorian-era practice of floriography, analyzes the flowers’ “meanings” to help decode the murderer’s intent, all while being pulled into a romantic triangle with the arrogant Michael and a moody biologist. The sexual tension between the three, though, feels as if it exists to create additional conflict rather than emerging naturally from the characters. The novel sings when Saffron is searching fields and gardens, scrutinizing plants, and studying archaic floral meanings, and Khavari also gets in some gleeful jabs at snobbish academics. Historical mystery fans will want to see where Saffron goes from here. (June)

Publishers Weekly

Praise for A Botanist’s Guide to Flowers and Fatalities:
“An intriguing mystery with plenty of esoteric plant lore and a touch or two of romance.”
—Kirkus Reviews

“The novel sings . . . Historical mystery fans will want to see where Saffron goes from here.”
—Publishers Weekly

“A winner for academic- and historical-mystery fans and lovers of floriography.”
—Library Journal, starred audiobook review

“A Botanist's Guide to Flowers and Fatality does not disappoint.”
—Gumshoe Review

“An inherently fascinating and deftly crafted Saffron Everleigh mystery by talented novelist Kate Khavari.”
—Midwest Book Review, audiobook review

“Many captivating twists . . . Readers get a tantalizing glimpse of Jazz Age London.”
—Historical Novel Society

Praise for A Botanist’s Guide to Parties and Poisons:
“An exciting debut with a determined protagonist whose future is sure to contain romance and mystery.”
—Kirkus

“Khavari is off to a promising start.”
—Publishers Weekly

“Intelligent, witty, and brave . . . Khavari has created a fast-paced, interesting mystery.”
—Bookpage

"[A] delightful new novel."
—CrimeReads

“Khavari creates the winning combination of an intriguing mystery and a resourceful and engaging heroine.”
—Frances Brody, author of the Kate Shackleton mysteries

“Kate Khavari has created a charming mystery, full of twists that are as intriguing and deadly as the plants her characters love. Saffron Everleigh is clever and determined, the sort of sleuth that readers will be eager to make space for on their bookshelves.”
—Katharine Schellman, author of the Lily Adler Mysteries

“I love Saffron Everleigh! In A Botanist’s Guide to Parties and Poisons Kate Khavari gives us a gutsy ingenious heroine, academic intrigue, a scientifically suspenseful mystery and a Christie-like cast of characters.”
—M. L. Huie, author of the Livy Nash mysteries

“A Botanist’s Guide to Parties and Poisons combines all the things I love most in a mystery: a smart and charming heroine, a cleverly-plotted puzzle, and a hint of romance. Well-researched and brimming with the dangers of scientific intrigue, it’s sure to keep readers turning pages.”
—Ashley Weaver, author of the Amory Ames mysteries

“Delightful and twisty, A Botanist's Guide to Parties and Poisons will immerse you in 1920s academic London and have you turning pages to the end.”
—Lydia Kang, author of Opium and Absinthe

“The 1920s university science department setting, feisty female protagonist, and believable chemistry between the main characters make this a sparkling gem of a debut, and will leave fans of historical mystery excited for the next installment.”
—Kate Belli, author of the Gilded Gotham Mystery series

From the Publisher

★ 06/10/2024

In this follow-up to Khavari's A Botanist's Guide to Flowers and Poisons, botanical sleuth Saffron Everleigh returns—and this time, she's making better decisions. In 1923 London, Saffron is asked to consult on an unusual set of murders in which the victims received unsettling bouquets. Digging deeper into the case, Saffron teams up with her research partner, Michael Lee, who is by turns charming and infuriating. However, there is little time to figure out what the heart wants when a botanist's knowledge of poisons may be the key to solving the murders—and the deadline for an important research project approaches. Listeners familiar with the first novel in the series will be delighted to see the evolution of Saffron's character arc. This time, she is less impulsive, better understands investigative principles, and is more willing to work with the police. Narrator Jodie Harris employs a competent, confident voice for Saffron, which she alternates with a gossipy, flighty voice when Saffron is undercover. Amid the large cast of characters, Harris ensures that Saffron's passion for justice is audibly clear. VERDICT A winner for academic- and historical-mystery fans and lovers of floriography.—Matthew Galloway

Library Journal - Audio

2023-04-12
A series of murders marked by unusual bouquets puzzle a botanist familiar with poisonous plants.

Though she’s already solved a murder, Saffron Everleigh is still fighting harassment and low expectations as a female researcher at University College London in the 1920s. Now she’s teamed with the attractive, mischievous Dr. Michael Lee in a project to investigate accidental poisonings and identify the toxins. She’s intrigued when DI Green calls upon her for help with several murder cases in which toxic bouquets have been left. Saffron has no trouble identifying the poisonous plants, and when she turns to a Victorian book about the language of flowers, she finds that the meaning of the bouquets is “a whole, alarming story.” Lee’s interest is piqued by the discovery that all the victims had drugs in their systems, and the two reluctantly form a sleuthing partnership for different reasons. After finding some commonalities between the victims, they seek information in a jazz club where wealthy aristocrats hang out. Saffron, who, like Lee, comes from a privileged background, uses a fake name to hide her connection to her family. As Lee begins to understand the battle Saffron wages against misogyny, he develops romantic feelings for her, putting her in a quandary when her love interest, Alexander Ashton, returns from an Amazon expedition and is horrified to find her involved in another murder investigation. Her refusal to stop places them all in mortal danger.

An intriguing mystery with plenty of esoteric plant lore and a touch or two of romance.

Kirkus Reviews