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3.49 AVERAGE
3.49 AVERAGE
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
ā 3.5/5 ā
Professor Rose spends her evenings in her roof garden, watching her neighbours while surrounded by toxic plants. She sees one of her neighbours, a beautiful women, being shoved into a car and calls the police, opening up a twisting mystery.
- I enjoyed the descriptive nature of the book and how it reflects Professor Rose's interests, personality and what she finds engaging. Johnson is good at presenting things through her protagonist's eyes and mind, including her unreliability as a narrator.
- I preferred the plot of the sequel but this mystery was interesting enough, if a little confusing. It felt less brought together than Hell's Bells.
- It was fun watching Eustacia build up the relationships that exist in the second book and understand how they came to be. I do think more time could have been devoted to fleshing them out better however.
A decent mystery that gives a good foundation for its sequel.
Professor Rose spends her evenings in her roof garden, watching her neighbours while surrounded by toxic plants. She sees one of her neighbours, a beautiful women, being shoved into a car and calls the police, opening up a twisting mystery.
- I enjoyed the descriptive nature of the book and how it reflects Professor Rose's interests, personality and what she finds engaging. Johnson is good at presenting things through her protagonist's eyes and mind, including her unreliability as a narrator.
- I preferred the plot of the sequel but this mystery was interesting enough, if a little confusing. It felt less brought together than Hell's Bells.
- It was fun watching Eustacia build up the relationships that exist in the second book and understand how they came to be. I do think more time could have been devoted to fleshing them out better however.
A decent mystery that gives a good foundation for its sequel.
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Professor Eustacia Rose is a little different, she is a professor of botanical toxicology, her life is quiet, she tends to her collection of poisonous plants with immaculate care, she wears her dead fathers suit and she watches her neighbour.
Drawn to watching Simone obsessively and the four men who visit her, she notices the toxic effect they have on her. Then when her garden of poisonous plants is vandalised and someone close to Simone is murdered with a toxin from a rare poisonous plant, Eustacia is implicated and must investigate to clear her name.
This was an entertaining read, with a new character to meet and get to grips with. Eustacia is particular, highly intelligent, funny and I found her quite an interesting lead. Her foil DCI Roberts, I loved, dry and irreverent, I found that I wanted them to have more time together than they actually did! Iām hoping that they team up fully in the next books.
adventurous
challenging
dark
informative
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug use, Grief
Moderate: Alcohol
Pretty good! She did a really good job making the main character interesting and flawed while still making the reader root for her
With as little inkling for self-preservation and just as entertaining as Nancy Drew, Eustacia is a wonderful representation of autism, intellect, and sapphic intrigue!
The š:
-complex plot
-fun facts about poisonous plants
-good representation
-sapphic
The š:
-we knew who the culprit was the entire time, so the story was more character development than plot twists
The š:
-complex plot
-fun facts about poisonous plants
-good representation
-sapphic
The š:
-we knew who the culprit was the entire time, so the story was more character development than plot twists
Content Warnings
Moderate: Murder
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes