Eustacia Rose is a botinist and I loved the little plant facts sprinkled throughout the book. I really enjoyed looking up the plants on the side to learn more about them. I did find the plot a little on the predictable side, but it was still a fun read.

The Woman in the Garden is a puzzle like mystery that follows Eustacia Rose. Rose was a Professor of Botanical Toxicology and lives alone in London with an extensive and dangerous rooftop garden. The professor's life now revolves around tending the garden, buying black market plants, and using a telescope to "scientifically" document the lives of neighbors. While gazing, Rose focuses on the apartment of a young woman who is visited by numerous men, whom she nicknames after different poisonous plants. And the illegal plants aren't the only secret that the Professor is keeping close.

When the aforementioned young woman, Simone, is pushed into a car by one of these men, Eustacia Rose decides to take matters into their own hands because it's clear the police don't care enough. What follows is a tense mystery that slowly unravels in ways I didn't see coming, while I enjoyed looking back to see the clues the author planted.

I flew through this book and enjoyed the unique, floral writing that so well described various rare plants and their effects. The dynamics between Eustacia and an elderly neighbor, the investigating officer, and an old colleague were especially endearing. This read well as a standalone, but it is second in a series and the ending made me very anxious to read the third... but it wasn't a cliffhanger!

I highly recommend this for a mystery that's a little outside of the box with an androgynous main character, a Sapphic crush, and an intricate mystery that steadily unravels.

Thus book was alright. I had a fine time reading it for sure. nothing too too memorable but still good. id recommend for a easy read

First of all, this cover is stunning. It perfectly reflects the tone of the book and is a total attention-grabber.

Now, the story itself. Even though she is still affected by her father's passing, Professor Eustacia Rose leads a quiet life by herself until a new neighbour moves in. Rose is drawn to Simone, the newest resident of the community, and she doesn't realise the trouble she has put herself into until she sees Simone being abducted and becomes caught up in a police inquiry. Where is her new neighbour? And why does she identify Simone's lover as a man from her past?

The novel flowed nicely, but as it went on, Rose's antics and the way she spoke and behaved annoyed me. Although I acknowledge that the character was neurodivergent, I think several aspects of her portrayal—such as her ignorance of social media and her distaste for smart phones—were overdone. Still, I thought the LGBTQ+ representation was good!

An insightful glossary of flora is included at the very end of the book, which I thought was a really cute touch. Although the conclusion was rather open-ended and hopeful for the characters's futures, given that this is the first book in the series, I'm interested to see what happens to Professor Rose!

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC of this book. The description of this book was so different I couldn't wait to dive in. The story just dragged on and on without really going anywhere. The main character was well developed but just didn't grab me.

This was such a new and refreshing plot however I felt like it was very predictable. I kept waiting and waiting for the shoe to drop,

I tried to enjoy this book but I just couldn't. The characters were weird, and the relationships were just awkward. I understand the main character is dealing with past trauma (of losing her father and her "love"), but she was just completely unlikable. She's extremely obsessive, and a stalker (her "love" was just an obsession), and just very weird. She's so detached from society, doesn't know how to communicate with people, and absolutely everything she does is cringey. She's so obsessed with Simone (after watching her from her telescope) that she broke into her home, stole her camisole so she could have something to caress, took a bath in her tub, wore her robe.. just weird. As far as the plot itself, it was hard to really get into it because everything involving the main character was just awkward. I did not enjoy this book at all.
Special thanks to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for this read.

Eustasia is such an interesting woman! Her quiet, solitary life working with her strange plants makes me anxious for spring planting although not the same type. Her obsession with her beautiful neighbor leads her into an adventure with a who done vibe. Excellent and very original story! I will be watching this author.

I loved the premise of this story but it was a little bit dull. I enjoyed learning more about the plants and thought that was a good topic to explore. It just never kept my attention for very long.

This book was a slow burn for me. I enjoyed learning about poisonous plants and found the protagonist quirky (but in a good way).

The characters were well-drawn out but the pacing could have been a bit faster (for me).

I would read this author again because I did enjoy the story.

When I first started this book, I wasn't sure I was going to jive with the writing BUT I quickly realized this was the author doing a great job of showing us exactly how her MC thinks and looks at the world! This book was such a unique take on the "one woman sees another woman and dangerous antics and mystery ensues" thriller book trope. I think it was clear that the author loves botany and has an extensive knowledge of it and I found myself learning and getting surprisingly into the subject myself on my way through the book. I LOVED how the MC names people around her after her poisonous plans. This was such a nerdy book and j mean that in the best way. It had a slow start that took me a bit to get into, I'll admit which is where I "docked off points" but I also believe I have a far lower tolerance for slow-pacing than the average reader and I'm trying to work on that. It does how ever get points from me for originality and quirkiness! Classic whodunit vibes with a nerdy twist! I'd recommend checking it out if that sounds up your ally! 3.5 ⭐️ rounded up!

Okay, this concept was so unique but it just seemed to fall really flat? It wasn’t bad at all — the main character seemed quite developed and all of her choices made sense, and I had no questions by the end.
But… it just didn’t feel like anything special OUTSIDE of the main professor, which really was too bad.

Title rebrand?


The main character Eustacia Rose is quirky, damaged and lives a closed off life, trapped in her love of her deceased father and her secret garden harbouring toxic plants that can kill. Her voyeuristic tendencies, using her fathers telescope to watch the neighbourhood goings on from her rooftop Hampstead garden, coupled with her toxin plant collection, find her in the middle of a international murder mystery. The author Jill Johnson has studied botany and has lived all over the world so she brings this knowledge to a fascinating delve into exotic Latin named plants and their properties. This is the third book in the Professor Eustacia Rose mystery series.... only wish had discovered them earlier!

This book surprised me. At first I wasn't sure I'd like it because of the detailed information of the plants, but quickly I realized how important it was to the story. The main character giving people plant names painted a picture of her personality. It was well written and a very enjoyable story.

This book provides us with an eccentric and slightly (!) obsessive protagonist in the form of Professor Eustacia Rose, who has a private rooftop garden of poisonous plants and a telescope with which she watches her neighbours a la Rear Window.

Of course, she ends up seeing something she shouldn't, and then gets drawn into a spiralling situation involving murder and Mayhem.

This book is dark and it definitely gets points for originality. There are some nice touches including Professor Rose's budding friendship with her elderly neighbour.

Definitely worth checking out if you are looking for a murder mystery with a slightly classic feel, a lot of information on poisonous plants, and a very unusual protagonist! It gets 3.5 stars.

Excellent writing, loved the quirky characters and now I wish I had a garden :)

I loved the suspense, this reminds me of a good ole “whodunit”

Well, this was refreshingly different. The garden with poisoned plant set a dark atmosphere that fitted the plot. It was obvious that either the author had a lot of knowledge beforehand or had researched plant diligently.

The plot revolves around a woman spying on a neighbor that she becomes fascinated by. There are men coming and going, and after the neighbor is kidnapped she needs to investigate what has happened.

The book was well-written and it flowed smoothly along. What I found cumbersome however, was her relationship with the police. I just don’t like when the police draws civilians into the investigation, as it reeks of unprofessionalism. It’s fine if the characters take it upon themselves to investigate, but please don’t choose a path where the police starts to consult with you or bring you along for questioning.

Other than that it was a fascinating story where are the puzzle pieces fitted eventually. I did like most of it.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc in exchange of my honest review

Shout out to NetGalley for early access to this book! I love a thriller with a quirky main character and Professor Rose is definitely that!

I loved the way the main character went about trying to solve the crimes and felt it was well-paced. The different layers of the story were fun and kept me engaged.

I was nervous it would be too technical with the botany but it was actually easy to follow with how everything was explained and it actually surprised me how many poisonous plants are out in the daily world that I didn’t realize which wasn’t something I expected to take away from the book.

i seriously need to stop picking up books without checking, so many of them are already published and these arcs are just another cover edition but that doesn't really matter since im reading in epub format.

The Woman in the Garden by Jill Johnson is a clever novel about an eccentric botany professor who finds herself in the middle of a murder investigation. Eustacia Rose has a poisonous garden on the rooftop of her building where she spies on her neighbors, most notably Simone. When one of Simone’s visitors ends up dead from poison, Rose is implicated in his death. She must clear her name and solve the mystery. Rose is an interesting character who has a dry sense of humor that you will truly appreciate. One of Rose’s quirks is giving people nicknames of poisonous plants, she also notices plants capable of killing people often used in public areas as decoration though people never seem to care about her concerns.

I recommend this novel for mystery and psychological thriller fans, it’s a tale with many twists and revelations. You will also learn about poisonous plants that you should avoid. The characters are enjoyable and the story keeps you guessing until the end.

Thank you Poisoned Pen Press and Netgalley for the advanced reader copy. All opinions are my own.