Thank you, NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books, for the chance to read and review A Botanist's Guide to Flowers and Fatality by Kate Khavari!
A Botanist's Guide to Flowers and Fatality is the Kate Khavari’s second book in the A Saffron Everleigh Mystery series. It came out on the 6th of June and is 336 pages long. Like other Crooked Lane books, Penguin Random House Publisher Services handles the distribution to retailers.
I’m not going to eat it—I’m not an idiot
I'm not going to lie; I dislike the name Saffron, but I love the book. Saffron was an incredibly realistic character, one that a lot of us will be able to relate to.
For instance, at one point, I felt that Saffron's attitude towards Amelia was a bit judgmental; yet, as the book went on, I realized that the author did this deliberately to show Saffron as a human being, warts and all. Even though we can see that Saffron herself is doing something amazing and hard and is absolutely a feminist, there is definitely some internalized misogyny at play, something we're all guilty of. And we also see Saffron not respond well to her colleagues horrible treatment of her. I like this because this, once again, makes her a more interesting character, and one that we see ourselves in.
Inspector Green made a dismissive sound in his throat. “As much as I do not care for you coming uninvited to a crime scene, perhaps it is a good thing you did.”
Saffron looked at him through a haze of moisture that might have been tears.
He regarded her without reprehension, the slight softness in his eyes easing the harshness of his next words. “Perhaps it will remind you that this is not an adventure or scientific experiment.”
In general, I liked the way Kate Khavari handled all her characters. This might be a bit spoiler-y, but I don't hate Alexander for how he acted –he is a product of his time and can only rise above so much. We also saw things coming from a mile away with Lee and Saffron, and that’s a ship that I love. And while I wholeheartedly ship them, I do have to say that I preferred the ending.
I just want to be clear that even though the book is part of a series, it works well on its own and can be treated like a standalone, although I am tempted to pick up the first book because of this.
I don’t have any criticism for the author. The book ranges between 4-5 stars, but that entirely based on personal preference and less to do with the quality of it.
Tldr: will be picking up the next one!