With a fantastic cover and premise, this book promised so much in terms of being a detective-ish story. I must admit that the author has a flair for research and she has used it to brilliant purposes in here, with everything botanical going over my head but looking as if it belongs there. It reminded me of Agatha Christie's works where she uses poison as the main weapon of murder.
I really enjoyed how the 1920's feel was throughout the book, and given Saffron is a woman in academia during a time when patriarchy was even more rampant than it is today, I felt the way she strived and struggled to make a name for herself. She is spunky and wants to do the right thing by the people she loves. Also, Alexander is a sweetheart. I mean, having crushes on fictional characters is nothing new, but to have one from a historical fiction - also nothing new XD
But despite all this, I felt there was something missing. A spark, that missing ingredient. It all felt monotonous to the very end. Even though I jump at the minutest unexpected events, I wanted them to be there in this book. But somehow it felt bland. It's not bad, though. It's a fast-paced read from which you will learn a lot about botany. But somehow.... Somehow...
I'll give this a 3.5 stars, rounding off upwards.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for this opportunity to review “A Botanist’s Guide to Parties and Poisons.” All opinions and comments are my own.

Saffron Everleigh is a Research Assistant to Dr. Maxwell at University College, London, Biology Department. She’s gossiped about, of course, as the only female in the department. Our book starts with Saffron attending a dinner honoring an expedition that’s heading for Brazil in search of more specimens. Suddenly, one of the wives collapses. At first, an allergic reaction is suspected; but then -- poison. And we’re off, in “A Botanist’s Guide to Parties and Poisons,” a new book by Kate Khavari.

Her mentor and friend is suspected and taken away. Well, this can’t be allowed to stand, so of course Saffron must do something, and with the help of a sympathetic (male) colleague, she does. There’s a poisonous plant she knows about -- and does an experiment with it that is quite astonishing. Her friend Elizabeth tells her how stupid she is, by the way; us readers would have told her the same thing.

There are bits of a possible romance here, with Mr. Ashton. But they do make a good pair for a partnership. Besides, he’s on the expedition heading for Brazil, so, there is that.

In “A Botanist’s Guide to Parties and Poisons” you’ll get quite a bit of a botany lesson along the way. And a study about what not to do in trying to find out murderers, I should think. There’s also rather a gruesome scene at the end, when our heroine (and hero) are threatened. One not usually found in a cozy mystery, in my opinion. Just, be advised.

The mystery of what really happened is solved with the help of our duo. At least all’s well in the botany world. Saffron gets to continue her research studies, including her research into poisonous plants, because she’s proven she’s really good at it.

An author’s note details the real and fictional world of plants the author chose to write in. And pinpoints our timeframe, 1923.

“A Botanist’s Guide to Parties and Poisons” has a satisfactory mystery storyline. I’d like to see a little more character development with Saffron; there was nothing really unique about her, except her propensity for doing rather stupid things. Perhaps, if there’s a second book, she’ll have gotten over her habit of doing that.

I really enjoyed reading this story. It flowed beautifully,never becoming slow. My interest never waned.
Saffron Everleigh is a woman in a man's world, fighting for her place in it. She works in a university as a research assistant and she loves her job. She has ambitions so works thoroughly in the hope of recognition.
One evening at a university dinner, the professors gather and discuss their separate department's projects and Saffron is mainly overlooked. That evening a wife of one of the professor's collapses and the police arrive to interview everyone.. Saffron's mentor becomes the main suspect and this shocks Saffron . She decides to do her own investigation and the story spirals from there!!
#Netgalley, #crookedlanebooks, #authorkkhavari.

Will they stop the culprits before they made it on their list…

Finally I am able to read this book, just in time while it has been seating on my shelves for a few months. I’m a bit ashamed to have waited so long before opening it.
This era is not one I read a lot about, outside Agatha Christie, my reading are mostly set earlier in time, so it was fun to read about blood samples, microscope and fingerprints.

I confess I was quite surprised (with glee) when I discovered the story is narrated with two voices (principally), in my short experience with historical museriez, I was expecting that when a character is behind the name of a series, it would be the sole voice recounting the events.
And while it is mostly Saffron’s point of view we get, it is from time to time interspaced by Alexander own perspective of the narrative and inquiries about their investigation.
I do not recall reading about their age, yet as Alexander engaged during the first WW, it is to be expected they are both in their middle to late twenties. Saffron left her position in the peerage when she decided to follow in her father’s footsteps, but even in 1923, it is not easy to be a scientific woman, has she learned to her expense. But when it is her mentor who is threatened, one of the sole person who truly believes in her abilities, she can’t let it pass.
Surprisingly she finds an ally in a colleague she meet at the party that led to the murder’s suspicions.
Alexander, I immediately loved him, he did not leave his circumstances impede his career, he has drawn from within himself the will and strength to do better, to seek help and create his own path.
In all, I much liked this story, it is an awesome premise for what I hope will be a great series.
I was just a bit disappointed by the heroine when she let her pride get over her reason instead of analyzing every clues she had and running straight into the trap set for her.

The investigation was fun and while the culprits were quickly pinpointed, the reasoning behind their deeds was much more complex.
4.5 stars

𝗦𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗺 𝗹𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹 kiss

TW : sexual harassment and aborted sexual assault

I have been granted an advance copy by the publisher, here is my true and unbiased opinion.

An historical mystery with a good premise but disappointing execution. Pacing is sleepy, narration is tepid, and the characters fail to demonstrate any true talent for investigating and frequently act as if their brains were on vacation. Additionally, the author failed to spend sufficient time world-building the historical setting.

While I did struggle to get through this one due to the writing style, I found the story and mystery both engaging and interesting.

First, the struggles. The beginning felt a lot like an information dump and it was a bit hard to keep track of all the characters. I was also struggling to figure out who was talking on more than one occasion. While I hoped this would improve over time, it really didn’t and the story ended up feeling stiff to me.

Now, the positives. The story itself, and the mystery, was interesting! While parts of it felt rushed, I was definitely engaged and wanted to know what would happen. I also ended up liking the main characters, Saffron and Alexander. Their dynamic was fun, for sure. It might have started slow, but it picked up quickly.

Suspension of belief is certainly necessary (more than one event raises a few questions), but I liked this one overall. Once I adjusted to the writing style, it was a quick, diverting read.

Thank you to Crooked Lane Books for providing me with an arc of this book via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

Saffron is the assistant to Professor Maxwell, and a keen botanist following in the footsteps of her father, a successful academic. Maxwell and the rest of the department are busy preparing for an expedition to Brazil with Saffron’s assistance, and during this she is invited to a party with other members of the department. There she meets Alexander, who as well as being a fellow academic, is a young, handsome man. Unfortunately the party comes to an abrupt end following the sudden collapse of the host’s wife after a toast - and the next day, rumours are swirling that the host’s wife was actually poisoned. Suspicion immediately falls on Saffron’s mentor Maxwell, and she sets out with Alexander’s assistance to clear his name.

This was an interesting book. There’s a fairly solid mystery at the heart of this book, with twists and turns and some decent, interesting ideas. I will say that I found the romantic subplot slightly more interesting - it was very sweet at points and I thought Alexander and Saffron had a nice, easy chemistry. I found myself wishing they were back on-page together when I was reading parts where they were separated, as I really enjoyed their dynamic.

However, I felt the characterisation had been a little stronger. Alexander worked better for me as a character: he felt more fleshed-out and well-rounded, and I think he benefited from being given a proper backstory. In contrast Saffron felt a little bland at points. Aside from her academic ambitions and references to her father, I didn’t finish the book feeling like I got a good sense of who she was as a character. I just found her a little bit vague. I also thought the writing was a little clipped at points in a way that was distracting, although overall I thought the writing was very strong.

It is a decent book, though. It had all the familiar hallmarks of this kind of mystery and if you like historical mysteries with a side of romance, this could work very well for you. I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing a free copy of this book.

Content Notes: Attempted murder, poison, vomiting, sexual harassment (off-page), threat of sexual violence / threat of rape, attempted rape (on-page), violence, blackmail, PTSD, descriptions of war and wartime injuries.

I generally enjoy historical mysteries so I was delighted to get a chance to review this title, which has been compared to Anna Lee Huber (whose series I loved). This one is set in the 1920s. The main character is a young woman working as an assistant to a botany professor, continuing the work and study her father started as a botanist at the same university before his untimely death in WWI.

I enjoyed the character of Saffron and the love interest/fellow scientist, Alexander, and their growing relationship. Anyone who has tried to get projects approved in higher levels of academia will also recognize many of the professors' types Saffron comes into contact with, and even more of "old boy network" behavior since this is early 20th century when most women didn't work in a professional capacity in STEM. The tie-ins and references to botanical specimens were interesting - that's a particular area of personal interest - and I almost wish there had been a bit more of that included.

While an entertaining read, the writing fell a bit flat for me. The conversations were a bit stilted and flat, and I had a hard time engaging with Saffron as the main character. One of the main plot points (which I won't spoil here) that is critical to solving the mystery seemed really unlikely to me and I had a hard accepting that, especially since it was such an integral part of the story. This one overall felt like a first book to me (it is) and I'm hopeful the author will settle into her story-telling and character development for book 2 as this is the type of series I tend to enjoy, despite this one not quite coming up to the mark for me.

Rating it 3-1/2 stars out of 5.

A Botanist’s Guide to Parties and Poisons is a historical fiction thriller which attempts to transport the reader back in time to the after The Great War, when many people were still trying to piece life back together.

Saffron lost her father to the war and Alexander is still recovering from the trauma. This leaves her trying to get out from under her father’s shadow and Alexander afraid of any attachment.

All characters including Saffron and Alexander appear to be suspects, but we are left without comprehension of their motives beyond the shallow, he/she is a bad person and does bad things.

There is a purposely ‘puffed up’ tension between these two for most of the book, with it being released at just the wrong moment and then unexpectedly inflated again. The pacing slowed after the dinner party and initial discoveries, not picking back up until we’ll in the last 1/4 of the book.

There was no big reveal; it was more of an ‘oh okay, now how do they get out of this one?’ moment. Maxwell’s disappointment in Saffron spending time with Alexander is never explained or explored, and Elizabeth could have been used as much more than a flotation device.

That being said, it was well worth the read and I’m looking forward to a sequel in this series. Science and mystery go well hand and hand along with people using their minds more than any instrument in a time that’s foreign to us all.

Thanks to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for an ARC of this book.

Quite the cozy mystery/history/thriller mash-up. Saffron is relatable and likeable, which made other parts of the story that I didn't care for much more bearable. I do love plants, so the focus on that was pretty cool and led me to doing some research of my own. The amateur sleuthing was top-notch and I loved that Saffron wanted to help the doctor. Dual POV, one of my favorites and it is done in a way that doesn't leave you confused or flipping through previous chapters. Overall, an enjoyable book. I would recommend anyone that enjoys cozies read this.

This book was read thanks to NetGalley.


omg!!! what a book, this book has a lot of things to keep you read it from the start, dont wanting to spoil anything but our protagonist has to solve a murder by poisoning to clear her mentor's name, and even she joined by another student, the process of her going through the investigation is just wow, and is this kind of book with a mystery every single turn, is just so fascinating from the start.


I highly recommend it for those who loves this kind of stories.

First of all, how gorgeous is this cover?? As a botany nerd myself, I was absolutely enthralled by it at first sight. Second of all- a main character that's a woman in STEM in 1920s London? It's the vibe I've been dreaming of!

Read this one for the cozy historical mystery, the woman in STEM as a main character, all the botanical vibes, and academic setting!

A debut novel, this cozy historical mystery centers around a poisoning that occurs at a party celebrating a new expedition to the Amazon by the faculty at University College of London. Saffron, a research assistant in the botany department, begins to search for who the poisoner is when her mentor and close friend is accused of using one of his plants to poison a party-goer. Alexander Ashton soon becomes her mostly-unwilling partner in solving the mystery.

Saffron is a plucky, determined, kind of reckless gal, who just wants to do her own botany research in a department full of men who only see her as a Skirt. Her quick mind and genuine nature are endearing traits that make her a fun character to follow. Alexander is a microbiologist who is a war veteran that doesn’t say a whole lot. Stoic type, you know? Suffering from PTSD, there are several moments during his perspective when he has to acknowledge his history. Having the dual points-of-view was nice, so we get to read each of their perspectives as the plot unravels. The light action throughout kept me reading, and as the evidence mounted so too did the mystery!

While Botanist’s Guide didn’t really grab me until about three-quarters of the way through, I thought it was very well done for a debut. I think I needed more tension, risk, or urgency- either in the investigation or in the almost-romance between the characters. I loved the botanical aesthetic and how the author captured both the culture of the time in combination with the mystery. It’s clear that Khavari did a lot of research for this book and it shows! This book sets up the series nicely and I’m excited to read the next installment!

I switched between audio and ebook for this one, and I really feel the narration of the audio really added something to this story.

This adventure takes place in the 1920’s in London. We meet Saffron - a woman ahead of her time, working as a research assistant with much knowledge about usage of poisons, which comes in handy after there is a murder attempt!

We start with Saffron attending a party with her fellow academics and some of society to introduce some expeditions the academics are about to embark on. It ends with attempted poisoning and cries of murder attempt and one big police investistigation.

When her boss, Professor Maxwell, is accused for the poisoning, Saffron is determined to find out the truth. She teams up with Alexander Ashton, another coworker. There's some romance that sparks during the investigation.

Saffron is fiesty, smart, genuine, and a helper by nature, so she wants to jump right in and help with solving the mystery of the murder attempt. She's determined but has an uphill battle against many of her male colleagures who are condescending, sexist, and even inappropriate at times.
She sometimes acts without thinking things through, but generally her intuition is spot on.

I loved that this was set in the 20's in London and we got to experience that era and geographical location. Saffron was an amazing heroine, and was a little quirky, which even made her more fun to read about. The romance part was mixed in well with the mystery and all in all it was a very enjoyable story!

Many thanks to NetGalley, Crooked Lane Books and Dreamscape Media for advance ebook and audio copies in exchange for my honest review.

Okay, let’s start out with this very beautiful cover, shall we? I mean, I really love it, with the beautifully drawn flowers and that deep blue background. That’s what first caught my eye. Then I saw it was a debut novel, and I love discovering new authors. Yes, I’m not known for reading murder mystery novels, or crime fiction, but you know what? If we’re going to get historical, with a woman at the heart of an investigation, you can probably get me to read it. And it doesn’t matter if that woman is a professional investigator, or some random bystander who by chance has a brush with some crime or death, and then feels compelled to get involved to solve the mystery. In fact, I’m starting to lean towards more of these books, since they almost never have useless or extraneous timelines (which frankly, are being overused these days).

So, what has Khavari given us? Well, our main protagonist is Saffron, who is the appropriately named research assistant to a botanist at London’s University College. Obviously, being a woman at a college in the 1920s is fairly rare, and even more rare that she finishes her degree and lands the highly respected position of research assistant. Mind you, it is only the first rung on the ladder, but it is also the first rung needed to be climbed if she’ll ever want to reach and breach that glass ceiling! Khavari has also done an excellent job in throwing us all head-long into the mystery, with the attempted murder right up there at the beginning of the book. I like that; I don’t want a book to faff around too much before the big crime is revealed. Khavari was also very clever in giving us just enough background information about Saffron and her life so that we understand exactly why she feels compelled to clear Dr. Maxwell’s name.

This means that Khavari can let us concentrate on discovering who tried to poison Mrs. Henry at this party. Yes, this is one of the parties that make up the title of the novel. While no other celebration takes place in this book, I believe that another party is actually the research party that is about to leave for Brazil. By the way, the very clever title here did make me think this would be a fun ride, but not one that would be saccharine. In fact, it was a touch more serious than I was expecting, but there were quite a few bits that had me smiling. Plus, I liked Saffron a good deal. While she’s not your typical amateur sleuth, she does have some excellent qualities. First, she’s very smart, but not unnaturally precocious when it comes to solving a mystery. She’s also young, which makes her vivacious, while not being overly bubbly, due to her wry and quick wit. The down side of all this is that is also perfect formula for her becoming the object for a romantic interlude. Thankfully, Khavari builds up the story in such a way that… um… the chemistry stays more in the lab than in a man’s charms!

Khavari also gives us a plot that has enough twists to keep us guess, although I must admit that the bigger mystery was the why of the attempted murder and not so much the “who done it” part. Mind you, there was one thing that did surprise me (sorry, no spoilers) when it came to light near the end of the novel. So, overall, it was a well-constructed story, with sympathetic characters; it had enough fun to keep it from getting heavy, and just the right number of distractions so that the ending wasn’t obvious. I can honestly say that I would be very happy to read the next Saffron Everleigh book in this series. This is certainly an excellent debut, and I’m warmly recommending it to cozy mystery lovers with a healthy four and a half stars out of five.

This historical cozy mystery hits all the right buttons. I have also learned that this is also the first in a new series that is going to be well worth reading.
This book is well written and well plotted. The mystery will keep you guessing up until the end. There is a hint of romance thrown in for good measure. There is a lot of description of plants and poisons which I found really interesting.
This is a really great read that ticks off a lot of boxes for me. If you love cozy mysteries add this book to the TBR list.
Thanks to Netgalley the author and the publisher for the opportunity to read this novel.

I want to start off saying that I received a ebook arc. In return for my honest thoughts and my review. I do enjoy reading Historical fiction with a mystery to solve. The author does amazing job with world and characters. Our main character Saffron (which I love the name) I think is a strong female character. Yes at times I felt like this book was slow. But I wanted to push through and always find how out who did the crime. I don’t like being left guessing at the end. Or what happened to the characters. I will be adding more of this author future books to my tbr. For allowing me read amazing book.
About Book
Set on 1923 in London Saffron is the first female assistant to Dr. Maxwell. Saffron is at a party when a Mrs. Henry is poisoned. Everyone thinks or assumes that its Dr. Maxwell. Saffron has a plan to clear his name.

Highly recommend this book.
Release Date June 7, 2022
Thank you admin to publisher and NetGalley. I will be posting my reviews on (Amazon release day) Bookbub.

I hate finding a cozy mystery on the shelf (or on NetGalley) and realizing it's the seventh book in a series. Thankfully, this is the first one in this new historical series, which is set in 1920s London. The dinner party at which the attempted murder takes place is fine but less engaging than I thought it would be. Overall, though, the pace is pretty steady, which I appreciated. I enjoyed the amateur sleuth work of Saffron and Alexander, two research assistants who love to break-and-enter and crush the patriarchy. The chemistry between the two of them is fun and flirty but doesn't detract from the mystery, which feels particularly academic (in a good way).

I admit that when I read the first pages, I wondered why I had ever decided to read this book. There were many names introduced with little to tell who they were or their relationship to one another, I felt. Maybe I was distracted by all details of
the venue and and the clothing. What ever it was, I am so very glad that I persevered past that first section.

It seemed to me that the length of the chapters varied widely. I couldn't gauge how long it would take me to read the next chapter. I was reading on a kindle and was only given "location" numbers when I looked at the table of contents, but the location lengths varied in size from 48 to 260. I hate to put down a book in the middle of a chapter, but at times I had no choice as it would be much longer than expected.

Saffron was a likable protagonist and I could well understand her hesitancy to speak with Dr. Berking as the author did a wonderful job of explaining her relationships with other characters once I was into the story. The relationships of other characters to each other was a bit fuzzier, no doubt by design to keep the reader from guessing to quickly who created the poison used.

While I have never known a lot about plants other than the most basic science classes in school (I can count on my fingers the number of plants that I can identify), I found it enjoyable to learn with Alexander more about them. I did learn in Scouting about some poisonous plants like foxglove which, while living in Europe, we were warned not to touch due to the possibility of being poisoned. I found the idea of the plant Saffron so carefully tended and so deadly poisonous to be a fascinating part of the story. I admit to being a bit sorry when I read the author's note that it doesn't really exist.

All in all, the plot was a wonderful change from the mysteries I normally read. All the characters were well defined and developed. They all seemed like normal people, someone the reader might encounter in daily life.

I look forward to reading more of Saffron's adventures as I am certain there will be more coming.

Book Review: A Botanist’s Guide To Parties and Poisons by Kate Khavari

A Botanist’s Guide to Parties and Poisons is a historical mystery novel about a botany research assistant who tries to figure out who poisoned the wife of a university professor.
Saffron Everleigh is the assistant in the botany department at the University College of London when the wife of a professor falls sick to poison at a party. The police immediately zero in on a suspect (Saffron’s beloved boss Dr. Maxwell) and it’s up to her and her new colleague Mr. Ashton to find the poison used and clear his name. But their sleuthing will put them in the path of the real poisoner.
This was a fairly low energy mystery without a lot of thrills. I found my attention wavering throughout the book and uninterested in the science or university politics. The names of the various British professors ran together (especially during the opening scene at the party) and I kept getting their roles confused. The romance with Mr. Ashton was sweet but there isn’t a lot of angst or heat. My favorite character was Saffron’s roommate Elizabeth and I looked forward to scenes with her as she added energy to the plot.
Overall, this is could almost be considered a “cozy” type mystery that isn’t too dark and has a smart and courageous main character and a sweet love story.
Three stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️

This is a good mystery that I thoroughly enjoyed as it's compelling and entertaining. It's solid, fast paced, and Saffron is a great character.
I hope this is the start of a new series as I would be happy to read other story featuring Saffron.
The author is a good storyteller and historical background is vivid.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine