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

I only really picked this book up for the cover - and I was not disappointed!!

I love a good mystery, and this one was really well written. IT also had a romance subplot which I really enjoyed as well.

I loved the academia vibes and overall setting of the book. The description of the greenhouses and university really made me feel like I was there as well. I also loved the main character, Saffron. She was such a smart badass heroine who was also extremely relatable at the same time.

At times, I felt that it was a little slow. There were parts where there was not a lot going on, and it dragged on a little bit for me. However, the last few chapters had me hooked, and I couldn’t put it down.

A cute and cozy mystery

I quite enjoyed this novel. It is so unlike all the other mysteries I have read (And that is saying a lot!).
In 1923 with all the troubles of being a woman of academia, you would think that alone would be enough to create a good story, but throw in a party, a bit of romance, endless possibilities of botanical poisons, and you have "A Botanist's Guide to Parties and Poisons" in your hands.

This is a cozy and easy read - perfect for the upcoming summer holidays.

Here’s a genre I hadn’t visited for a long time: Historical Cosy Mystery.

Saffron Everleigh was a research assistant at the University College of London, an uncommon role to be held by a female in 1923. She studied botany and chemical reactions in plants, i.e. poisons. When her professor was accused of poisoning someone at a dinner party, she had to quickly figure things out to prove her mentor’s innocence.

Reading this book made me realise how much I’d missed cosy mysteries. After so many fast-paced thrillers where characters got killed left, right and centre, this was a breath of fresh air.

I loved the modern take on the 1920s time period. Saffron was a sole female scientist in a university full of privileged men, so naturally she had to be sharp-witted and quick on her feet. While the dialogues were written relatively true to the time period, I could see the modern nod in Saffron’s sassy responses to her surroundings.

I also liked that Saffron had a healthy friendship with her roommate, another modern female character for the time period. An accomplished female doesn’t have to be a loner who hates other successful females!

This was a wonderful STEMinist, indeed! I’ll definitely read the next book in the series.

I received a complimentary ARC copy of A Botanist’s Guide to Parties and Poisons (A Saffron Everleigh Mystery #1) by Kate Khavari from Net Galley and Crooked Lane Books in order to read and give an honest review.

… atmospheric and filled with thrills, humor, romance and an intriguing plot A Botanist’s Guide to Parties and Poisons is a brilliant historical mystery with a cozy quality to it. …

Set in 1923, we are introduced to the very spirited Saffron Everleigh, the first female research assistant in the Botany Department of the University College of London. As with most females in a traditionally male field, she endures the usual academic “old boys club” attitude amongst her colleagues. Her late famous botanist father leaves her a huge legacy to live up to. As assistant to her mentor Botanist Dr. Maxwell, Saffron is determined to make her mark and earn the respect of her peers.

While attending a formal dinner to launch an expedition to the Amazon, we are introduced to the quirky cast of characters including the dapper biology researcher Alexander Ashton. Overhearing conversations between various attendees, Saffron learns of scandals that are brewing below the surface of the stodgy academic world. During a toast when Mrs. Henry, the wife of Dr. Henry the expedition leader is poisoned, and Dr. Maxwell is arrested, Saffron and Alexander work together to figure out who was behind the poisoning and why.

Atmospheric and filled with thrills, humor, romance and an intriguing plot, A Botanist’s Guide to Parties and Poisons is a brilliant historical mystery with a cozy quality to it. I love Saffron, a brilliant, quirky, and brave woman, she is definitely a character to admire. Although it tends to drag a bit in the middle it more than makes up for it with a chilling climax. I cannot wait to read more about Saffron’s adventures! I highly recommend it.

Saffron Everleigh (or Everleigh, as she prefers to be called in a professional setting) is an aspiring botanist trying to make her way through the male-dominated halls of research science. Dodging unwanted advances, trying to clear the name of her mentor and solving a murder are only a few of the challenges she faces in this enjoyable historical mystery.

Saffron is a complex and likeable character, and Kate Khavari manages to situate her extremely well in the just starting to shift world of early 20's British academia. What young adult readers will appreciate in Saffron is how much she is dealing with many of the same issues young women working in science are dealing with now. There is an assumption, when she enters a room, that she is not there as an academic equal, but as at most, an assistant. I was surprised at how contemporary the novel feels, while being solidly historically accurate.

There is lots of fun here, and lots of possibility for future books. The police characters are a nice mix of on the ball and bumbling, Everleigh's roommate Elizabeth is an excellent foil for her own impulsiveness, and the romantic interest, Alexander Ashton is a complex character on his own, as a veteran of the Great War. At times, the story moves a little slowly, but I liked the characters enough to care about what happens to them.

Stunning cover, and a couple of stand out scenes boosted this one to a 4 star read for me. Thanks to NetGalley and Crooked Lane books for the e-arc.

Cover Pick! Seriously, isn't this a gorgeous cover?! Fortunately, A Botanists Guide to Parties and Poisons by Kate Khavari was a fantastic 4 Star mystery as well!

It's 1923 and Saffron Everleigh is a Botanty research assistant for Dr Maxwell. At a dinner party, one of the other professor's wives suddenly drops dead from an unknown toxin. Dr. Maxwell is the prime suspect with his research as well as a recent argument with Dr. Henry, the now widower. Saffron can't help but take steps to help clear her mentor and recruites another researcher, Alexander Ashton to help. As they get closer to the truth, what they uncover is much more sinister than they imagined putting both their lives in serious danger.

I thought this would end up being a lighter, cozier mystery, but I was pleasantly surprised by the intricacies of this story as it unfolded. The mystery in this story was much deeper than a spurned lover or something similar; the layers of it revealed in a well-timed manner. As a plant person, I was very interested in all the botany (it wasn't overdone at all). I loved the speculation on the plant at the center of this story! The 1920's setting gave it the patronizing overtone that Saffron has to overcome, which I think is a good reminder to recognize those women IRL who had to blaze those trails, and still do.

This looks to be a series of adventures with Saffron Everleigh, and possibly Ashton, and I will be waiting expectantly for the next one!

Thank you to @NetGalley and @crookedlanebooks for this digital ARC. This gorgeous and compelling mystery will be available on June 7th!

Additionally, I was really looking forward to this book. I love books with strong female leads in STEM fields during a time in history when women's roles were still not considered to be outside the home and child-rearing. That being said, this book felt a bit flat for me. From the beginning, I had a hard time keeping the characters straight and it detracted from the story for me. However, I do think other people could really enjoy this book. Mystery (and plant) lovers alike should be able to find something in it they like; it just wasn't the book for me.

‘I’ve always wanted to follow in his footsteps. I want to make him proud, doing what he loved.’

My Thoughts:
3.5 ⭐️. The book is a historical fiction, a cozy mystery, and a slow burn romance. The protagonist, Saffron Everleigh, reminds me of Nancy Drew but in college. University College London to be exact, set in 1923. Still snooping around, speculating, getting caught, and figured who dunnit it.

The book started off great. I love the premise of a young female assistant in a male dominated field and the study of poisonous plants. The story ebbed in and out of several chapters but eventually it picked up, leaving you anxious. Without giving up spoilers, the later chapters will keep you on edge.

I believe this is the first of a series. Can’t wait to see what trouble Saffron and Alexander are up to next.

Thank you, @netgalley, and @crookedlanebooks, for the eARC and in return, an honest review.