A Botanist’s Guide to Parties and Poisons by Kate Khavari

On By BarbaraIn Audiobook, Barb's Reviews, George V - 1910- 1936, Historical Mystery, Interwar Period (Nov 1918 - Sep 1939), Part of a SeriesLeave a comment

A Botanist's Guide to Parties and Poisons (Saffron Everleigh Mystery #1)

Barbara’s rating: 4 of 5 Stars
Series: Saffron Everleigh #1
Publication Date: 6/7/22
Period: George V / Interwar Period (London)
Number of Pages: Audiobook – Narrator Jodie Harris

Woohoo! I think I have discovered a new must-read historical mystery author. This is her debut novel and I can honestly say it is better written, better plotted, and has character development that is right up there with the stars of this genre. I can’t believe I almost passed it by because the period is a bit later than I normally prefer. Whew! So glad I didn’t. Being a romantic at heart, I must have a romance in my historical mysteries – either a married couple or engaged couple, etc. – and this book appears to hint that will be the case in this series. However, that said, the next book is featuring a different male lead and I’m anxious to see where that might go.

Saffron Everleigh has worked hard to be where she is and she has to fight every day to stay. Not only does she have to do her job twice as well, but she has to constantly contend with snide remarks, sexual harassment, and rumors. Mostly she can ignore it because her boss and mentor, Dr. Maxwell, has always been her champion. He encourages her to stay the course, not be discouraged, and not let the good-old-boys win. What would she do without him? Unfortunately, when he is arrested for attempted murder, she might have to find out. She knows he isn’t guilty and is determined to find out who is and clear him.

I love that there are a lot of red herrings and a plethora of suspects. All of those suspects have credible reasons for wanting to commit murder and you’ll just have to work through the plot with the author to find out who the culprit is. Is it – Dr. Lawrence Henry? Or Eris Ermine? Or Harry Snyder? Or Dr. Berking? Or Richard Blake? Or Alexander Ashton? Or could it be that Dr. Maxwell is the guilty party? Oh! My goodness, Saffron has her hands full with this one.

She drags Alexander Ashton into the investigation even though she’s not sure she can trust him. There are so many plots-within-plots and undercurrents and rivalries at the university, they may never unravel it all. As they draw nearer and nearer to the solution, both Saffron and Alexander find themselves in a mortally dangerous situation. Can they thwart the villains and live to tell about it? You’ll just have to read this fast-paced, exciting novel to find out.

I listened to the audiobook version and enjoyed the narration. Jodie Harris’s voice is smooth and pleasant, her delivery is nicely paced with appropriately delivered emotions. She does a credible job with the male voices, but, if you were listening to a conversation in real life, you’d quickly identify those voices as female. However, in the world of audio and stories, it works just fine.

I liked the way the author chose not to make the police seem like bumbling incompetents as is so often the case. They did jump the gun in arresting Dr. Maxwell, but they were continuing to investigate rather than just looking for reasons he’s guilty. I like Alexander Ashton as the ‘hero’ in the series because we came to see his flaws and how he is managing to cope with them. Then, he is supportive of Saffron, but very worried about her recklessness as well. Yes, Saffron can be reckless and has some TSTL moments. I will look forward to her becoming more circumspect in her actions in future books. If Ashton isn’t to be the ongoing romantic lead, I hope that role will be quickly settled because I do not enjoy the romantic lead changing from book to book.

I can recommend this excellently written and well-plotted historical mystery. I’m already breathlessly awaiting the next installment in the series – A Botanist’s Guide to Flowers and Fatality.

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The Reluctant Countess by Eloisa James

On By TracyIn Georgian Era (1714-1837), Part of a Series, Regency Era (1811-1820), Tracy's ReviewsLeave a comment

The Reluctant Countess (Would-Be Wallflowers, #2)The Reluctant Countess by Eloisa James

Tracy’s rating: 4 of 5 stars

Series: Would-Be Wallflowers, #2

Release Date: November 29, 2022

Raised in the French court, Lady Yasmin Regnier is no stranger to gossip, after all, her own mother was Napoleon’s mistress and Yasmin herself was duped by a fortune hunter at the tender age of 16. She learned to hold her head high and ignore the whispers, but when it became too much to bear, she left France and went to live with her English grandfather, the Duke of Portbellow. While the whispers followed her to England, her connections and her beauty ensure that she is not lacking invitations or suitors. But not every man falls at her feet and unfortunately for her that includes the only man who has really piqued her interest, the grumpy Earl of Lilford, who clearly doesn’t approve of her, yet always requests the first waltz, then barely speaks to her as they dance, and then ignores her after they finish. She wonders what it is about the earl that intrigues her so and what will she have to do to make him smile.

Giles Renwick, the Earl of Lilford hates that he is attracted to Lady Yasmin, she is completely wrong for him, but she makes him burn in a way that no woman ever has. He allows himself only one dance with her but seethes watching the other men dance and flirt with her, all the while telling himself that she could never be his countess. After the scandals created by his parents, Giles sets himself to a higher standard and would never do anything to tarnish his family name or endanger his younger sister’s reputation. And though she is beautiful, connected, and rich, Lady Yasmin’s reputation and manner are all wrong for him, not to mention his sister, Lady Lydia, clearly despises her and has repeatedly warned Giles to stay away from her. But even knowing all that, Giles can’t seem to walk away and soon finds himself trying to convince a reluctant Yasmin to marry him.

As always, Eloisa James delivers another well-written, nicely-paced story populated by wonderful characters. After reading the reviews for this title, I really didn’t expect to like it, but personally, I didn’t find Giles as nasty as he was portrayed in the reviews, that is not to say he wasn’t a first-class jerk to Yasmin, but neither was he the anti-hero I was expecting. Yes, he was condescending. Yes, he was rude and insulting at times. Yes, he allowed himself to be manipulated by his vile sister. But he does see the error of his ways and while he didn’t really grovel, he does apologize. So while it was not perfect, this story kept me turning pages and was filled with emotion, steamyish love scenes – that don’t all end with a satisfied heroine LOL, great secondary characters, a bit of drama, and finally a HEA with TWO epilogues. In the end, I enjoyed the story, but I was left wishing there had been a bit more follow-up with his sister and I am keeping my fingers crossed for a HEA for Silvester, the Duke of Huntington. This is the second book in the series and has ties to “The American Duchess”, but it can absolutely be read as a standalone title.

*I am voluntarily leaving a review for an eARC that I requested and was provided to me by the publisher. All opinions in this review are my own.*