Saffron Everleigh is heavily involved in studying poisonous plants when three women are murdered. She is asked by the police to decode the significance of flower bouquets found at each site. This leads her and her study partner Dr. Michael Lee into the seedy night life of London. Can she catch a killer before someone else dies? Intriguing plot and excellent characters.

What a fun foray in the world of Saffron Everleigh again! This book is the second in a series and continues with some of the same characters and adds new ones to move the story along. Saffron and her work partner, Dr. Michael Lee, were studying what happens to people when they were poisoned by plants. Dr. Lee took care of the patient and Saffron figured out they type of flower/plant and what poison was caused the problem. Then, Saffron was asked by Detective Inspector Green to assist on a murder case that involved flower bouquets. Well, Saffron and Lee got themselves wrapped up in the investigation and they were determined to solve the mystery. Saffron's friend from the previous book, Alexander Ashton, who has been on a university expedition to Brazil, returns later in the book to add some drama to the dynamic of Saffron and Lee. The book ends with a statement that leads me to believe Saffron and crew will be back for book number 3. Saffron is a character that loves to do what she wants and doesn't conform to society's standards of the mid-1920s and that is why I find her a fascinating character to read about as she is not predictable. As a fan of historical fiction, I loved this lighter HF mystery with just a touch of romance that makes for an immersive and enjoyable read!
Thank you Crooked Lane Books and Net Galley for an ARC of A Botanist's Guide to Flowers and Fatality by Kate Khavari in exchange for an honest review.

A great second addition to this series. Ashton is off on his expedition as we follow Saffron and Lee as they help unravel the connection between a handful of murders and bouquets of poisonous flowers. Great plot, great chemistry between the characters. Really love this series and look forward to the next which it looks like brings Ashton back.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this eARC!

I loved this! I love a book with a good mystery and botany! I feel like the premise of this mystery was unique, I love the characters, and I enjoyed the world building! I figured this was the second book in a series (haven't read the first!) but this was easy to understand without knowing any details from the first book! I will definitely be picking up the first book to see what I've missed and I'll be picking the physical copy of this one as well!

Thank you #NetGalley and #Crooked Lane Books for this ARC.

Great read Khavari does it again! I agree with other reviewers that I enjoyed this more than the first! I highly suggest reading the first then this one, but they are Stan alone novels.

I just adore Kaye Khavari as an author. Once again she has written a wonderful mystery and used extensive knowledge of botany which is amazing. The first book in her Saffron Everleigh series was wonderful and the second book was even better with more bite. I loved how the characters were more developed and loved the twits and turns through out. Looking forward to the third in the series especially with the ending of this novel.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

When last we met her, Saffron Everleigh, newly promoted botanical researcher at University College in London, was absolving the mysterious xolotl vine of a possible poisoning and accusing a new hybridization of aconite instead in the suspicious coma-inducing incident involving a professor’s wife. It’s the Roaring Twenties and Saffron is a woman in academia and, as expected, not being taken seriously even though her intellect is superior to many of the male professors.

It’s a few weeks after the poison investigations of the first installment. Alexander, Saffron’s detective cohort and presumptive future paramour, is on a 6 month Amazon expedition, and she is now paired with an obnoxiously handsome but very likeable physician, Dr. Michael Lee. They’ve traveled together to Hampshire and other points to determine if a small child has been poisoned by a local plant as part of a phytotoxicology study. But she is suddenly recruited by Inspector Green to consult as an outside poison expert for the police department when a series of black-ribboned deadly bouquets had apparently been received by strangled and smothered murder victims. Saffron heads off into the world of floriography, the Victorian secret language of flowers, in order to assist the Inspector.

I was surprised that I enjoyed the second Saffron story more than the first — Saffron has grown more confident of her abilities and expertise and she can more easily circumnavigate around the men doubting her abilities. There are less confusing characters (not everyone is an old professor this time). Dr. Lee is there as her confidant and foil (since Alexander was necessarily sent away to Brazil). The plot is intriguing and Saffron gets to be a delicious snoop again. 5 stars! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The “violently yellow” (I love that description) xolotl vine still survives, almost like a pet, on Saffron’s office windowsill.

Kudos to the beautiful cover design by Nicole Lecht.

Looking forward to another volume of Saffron Everleigh mysteries, when, I suppose, Alexander and Michael will meet… and eagerly awaiting another botanical index on the author’s website.

Thank you to Crooked Lane Books and NetGalley for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review!

Literary Pet Peeve Checklist:
Green Eyes (only 2% of the real world, yet it seems like 90% of all fictional females): NO In the second paragraph of the book, we meet Lee and his brilliant green eyes. Saffron’s are cornflower blue.
Horticultural Faux Pas (plants out of season or growing zones, like daffodils in autumn or bougainvillea in Alaska): NO Whew! High expectations, of course, for a floral book. The pink heather is properly blooming in August (although it’s usually known as the “September Plant of the Month”) and Saffron knows that pomegranates would probably be grown in a greenhouse or protected garden in England.

Thank you to NetGalley for giving this ARC, and this doesn’t influence my review. This was a great sequel (I received the first book through netgalley as well) and Saffron was a charming botanist-detective as usual. This book features mystery murders and finding which suspect was the murderer.
In this book, there was a New Romantic interest introduced, Dr. Lee (who was cocky, annoying, and charming) who I liked better than Alexander tbh (I mean Saffron needs a partner in crime no matter how much danger she’s in). Romance aspect made it a love triangle, and I think Lee will win, but he better, I don’t like this trope. Multiple POV mostly saffron & Lee
Tropes: Grump/sunshine, forced proximity, Alone in an alley about to get caught😀😏, love triangle??