The Botanist's Guide to Parties And Poisons

 I like botany so I decided to read The Botanist's Guide To Parties and Poisons by Kate Khavari. This is a historical fiction set at London College in 1923. A brand new researcher named Saffron Everleigh is the protagonist. Saffron's father was a professor in botany at this college before he died in the war. Saffron works for Dr. Maxwell who treats her kindly and in a fatherly fashion. When she attends a party for the science department one Saturday evening she and everyone else is shocked when Mrs. Henry, the wife of another scientist, falls to the floor after drinking champagne. She is rushed to the hospital and everyone assumes she had an allergic reaction. Instead the doctor finds out that she has been poisoned. Everyone at the party is interviewed. Since Dr. Maxwell had a verbal altercation with Dr. Henry, Dr. Maxwell is put in jail. Saffron is very upset and she decides it is up to her to save Dr. Maxwell and get him out of jail. Saffron makes some good decisions and some really poor decisions. She almost gets herself killed 3 or 4 times. She is smart but impulsive. Sometimes she acts before she thinks. I liked Saffron and I liked this book.