Reviews with content warning for Murder - A Botanist's Guide to Flowers and Fatality

Reviews tagging 'Murder'

A Botanist's Guide to Flowers and Fatality by Kate Khavari

7 reviews

karalyndawn's review

adventurous mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

I really loved this book now that we’ve gotten to know Saffron! At first I thought I was going to be super sad without my fav scholarly hunk Alexander Ashton but the introduction of Dr. Lee as Saffron’s partner was fun and he definitely has a spunky personality and brought out a new side of Saffron. It broke my heart when

Alexander returned all ready to hold Saffron in his arms and found out about her and Lee. The way he held on to her smile and her to keep him going on his exploration was soooo sweet. I do have to say I was so unfulfilled when at the end she didn’t necessarily choose either men. I was sad for both Alexander and Lee who clearly are swooning over Saffron!

ok back to the murder, in my opinion it was super easy to figure out. The author left lots of clues for you to determine who done it. So I wasn’t super surprised at all since I saw it coming. What made this book better than the first is the dazzling nightlife Saffron and Lee were involved in to solve the murder! It added a whole new layer instead of the academic setting from the first novel. You can tell the author has really done her research and I learned so many facts about the 1920s era in London! It’s a fun historical mystery with some romance thrown in and I loved it. Would recommend highly!

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tess_gee's review

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mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

Solid read, I didn't read the first book and I was still able to keep up. If you like a mystery with a dash of romantic tension. I coulda done with more botany though.

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jessgj's review

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adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

Thank you to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for sending me a copy of the audiobook. All opinions and thoughts are my own

So for context, I haven't read the first book. Still, with this being only the second book and the description, I decided to pick it up and go from there. Also, this cover is gorgeous

First off, I want to say that I love the characters. With the initial pairing of the serious Saffron Everly and the flirty Dr. Michael Lee, I immediately thought of similar duos in media and how the woman is portrayed as overserious with no sense of humor while the man's childish nature is excused. Fortunately, that's not the case here.

While Everleigh is more serious, she is playful and passionate. Everleigh's attitude is very understandable as it's the 1920s and misogyny is very much present at the college's higher-ups. (The fact that her last superior is now in jail isn't really the icebreaker one might hope it is).

Lee, on the other hand, is flirty and has a large heart. You can really feel how much he cares for Everleigh and that he's not as emptyheaded as he appears. I also appreciate how the two come from privileged backgrounds and while Everleigh might have left that world, she still very much benefits from it.

The mystery itself is solid. The ending balanced nicely with shocking but transparent when you think over the evidence again. Even a detail that I thought was kind of dithering and unneeded came back to mind during the big reveal. There's one or two strings still dangling after everything was done but I wouldn't be surprised if a major player from this returns later. I kinda hope so.

I think my only complaint is regarding the love triangle. I'm not a fan of them and I wasn't really expecting it. That said, Khavari handled it rather well! Very rarely did I feel that it was in the way of the mystery or even annoyed at Everleigh herself. Over the book, she's shown herself to be someone smart and with a good heart but still a little naive. (Not surprising since her grandfather is a viscount and it's a new world after the war.) Still, she's a confident protagonist and is honest with everyone, even asking for space when she's overwhelmed. Even the obligatory "Two men scowl at each other" scene had me cheering as I listened.

The love triangle isn't resolved but I love how each character has much growing to do and they're all aware of it. Still not a fan of love triangles but this one was well done. I'm excited to see where they go from here.

Also, Elizabeth, her roommate, is chaotic and a true homie. I love her.

Overall, I give this 4.5 stars. If you're looking for a mystery with a confident but still learning heroine at the helm and romance elements, this is a good place to start.

TW: Murder, discussion of strangling, blood, drug use, gun violence, PTSD (Character is a WWI vet)

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swalk's review against another edition

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adventurous informative lighthearted mysterious relaxing tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

When Joey Evans, a young farmers boy is found passed out, fitting and grimacing in a Hampshire field, Botanist Saffron Everly and Dr Michael Lee are called in to try and find out what the cause could be. As a researcher in botanical poisoning and a medical practitioner they often find themselves in circumstances like these, trying to solve a botanical puzzle and save a life.

  A Botanist's Guide to Flowers and Fatality is a cosy period murder mystery, this is definitely the type of book you want to curl up with on a rainy day or relax with in the evening. It is the second in the series, but they refer back to the first and explain some of the backstory where relevant, so you can follow the plot perfectly well if reading it as a stand alone. It was a little slow moving for my taste, but entertaining nonetheless.

 I really enjoy this type of easy going murder mystery and I learnt a lot of fascinating botanical facts as a bonus! I will be looking out for more in the series.

The narrator is great, clear eloquent reading and well suited for the characters.

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bookishaddictions's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

First, I’d like to thank @netgalley and @dreamscape_media for my audio ARC. I really enjoyed my ARC for the first of Saffron’s mysteries, so I was excited to see the audio for book two was available for requests. I got lucky; my request was approved on release day! Saffron is still the sassy, smart, and determined protagonist we met in book one; however, Saffron undeniably shows more confidence in the sequel. I enjoyed Lee’s character as well, as he challenged Saffron in a way that Alexander didn’t. Let me say though, his smug attitude did get on my nerves periodically just as it was likely intended to. The audio narrator did a fantastic job bringing the story to life. I found this murder mystery was not just a copy of the first book, so I’m thankful that Khavari was able to maintain some relationship between the books while also making the sequel original. It was dark, engaging, and led to me developing a variety of questions regarding poisons during that point in history. I look forward to seeing what she has in store for the inevitable book 3

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daniellestarredpages's review

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adventurous tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? N/A
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

When I requested this ARC, I wasn't aware that this was a sequel. I read it anyway as the book was readable without reading the first book. I found the MCs to be enjoyable to read about, though the side characters could've been fleshed out a bit more. I originally thought Saffron and Lee would play a bigger part in the overall investigation, I enjoyed the things they did do anyway. I hoped there would be a bit more romantic development between Saffron and Lee, as there was a good amount of tension but it ultimately went nowhere (technically). However, the overall reading experience was great

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acwhite's review against another edition

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mysterious relaxing fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

I adored Parties & Poisons so I was very excited when I got the DRC of the sequel from Edelweiss.

A worthy successor to the fun of the first book, though I wasn’t quite as drawn in at the beginning. After the halfway point though I could hardly put it down.

The introduction of Dr. Lee is an interesting development, and the twists and turns of the mystery kept me guessing and engaged.

All in all I thoroughly enjoyed myself and the ending left me very excited for the next installment.

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