A botanist's guide to society and secrets

British botanist Saffron Everleigh juggles research, romance, and murder in the diverting third installment of Khavari's historical mystery series (after A Botanist's Guide to Flowers and Fatalities). In 1923 London, Saffron has turned her back on the comforts of aristocratic life to work in a lab, where she's routinely condescended to by her male colleagues. She harbors a crush on fellow scientist Alexander Ashton, whose brother, Adrian, has been named a suspect in the recent poisoning death of a Russian researcher. At Alexander's urging, Saffron looks into the killing in hopes of clearing Adrian's name. Meanwhile, she wards off the advances of Nick Hale, her best friend's older brother who's just arrived in the city. When one of the Russian scientist's colleagues is also murdered, Saffron infiltrates the secretive lab where the pair worked and discovers that Alexander and Nick have been hiding crucial information from her all along. Though Khavari throws too many characters into the mix and the mystery's momentum stalls in the middle, she brings everything together with a rewarding final act. It's a solid entry in a dependable series. (June)

Two scientists are fatally poisoned. Could their work for the government be the reason? Saffron Everleigh, a botanist specializing in poisonous plants who's already been involved in solving several murder cases, is struggling to succeed at University College London. Female scholars get precious little respect in the 1920s, and many feel that she's trading on the name of her well-regarded father. Upon returning from a conference in Paris, Saffron learns that Adrian Ashton--the brother of her sometime love interest, microbiologist Alexander--is a suspect in the death of a Russian horticulturalist. Her connection with DI Green prompts Alexander to ask her to investigate, and she starts sleuthing with help from various colleagues. Also involved is her roommate Elizabeth Hale's brother, Nick, whose claim to work for the Agricultural Ministry is most likely a cover for something more sinister. On top of that, Nick has had mysterious dealings with Alexander in the past that neither man wants to discuss. After another scientist dies from poisoning, Nick talks Saffron into taking a job at the lab where the Russian had been working. Slipping into the routine job at the lab, Saffron gets to observe the people who work there and snoop into experiments that are sometimes conducted for highly questionable purposes. Her relationship with Alexander deepens, but she remains suspicious of what he's hiding, and her new job proves more dangerous than it had looked. A thorny mystery and budding romance combine with a fascinating look at the many uses of plants. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.