The botanist's assistant

Review by Booklist Review

Lab assistant to the charismatic Dr. Jonathan M. Deaver, the meticulously organized Margaret Finch has a deep sense of purpose and love and respect for science and her part in his cancer research as well as a high regard for her boss. When Margaret finds Deaver dead in his office, she immediately notices some anomalies in the scene, quickly believing he was poisoned. However, the university administration and the police conclude he died from a heart condition. Not convinced, Margaret opens her own investigation, working with janitor Joe Torres, a former journalist, and identifying several people who had reason to want Deaver dead, with Margaret discovering that Deaver was not the paragon she believed. The university administration threatens Margaret with dismissal from her beloved job if she continues her inquiry, but she and Joe persevere. The realistically described frame of scientific research, botany, deadly plants, and university politics and an endearing, sharply-defined, layered, mid-fifties heroine who begins to find friendship and expand her life add up to a fresh, satisfying stand-alone cozy.

From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.

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Review by Publisher's Weekly Review

An introverted scientist investigates the death of her boss in this gentle whodunit from Townsend (The Beautiful and the Wild). Research assistant Margaret Finch idolizes her boss, Dr. Jonathan Deaver, who leads their lab in developing a plant-based cure for cancer. She's also a stickler for details, so when Deaver is found dead in his office, irregularities in the scene make Margaret unwilling to accept the official explanation that his heart condition caught up with him. Her rigid ethics make her even more unwilling to support university administrators who want to keep a lucrative grant by removing Deaver's name from his research and crediting his colleagues instead. Though the social aspects of sleuthing are difficult for her, Margaret enlists the support of an ex-journalist currently working as the lab's janitor to help her piece together the clues. Townsend's plotting is straightforward, the novel's supporting characters play close to trope, and the climactic reveal lacks surprise. Still, Margaret is an endearing enough heroine that readers will be gratified to see her hard work vindicated. Though familiar, this is sweet enough to charm cozy fans. Agent: Heather Jackson, Heather Jackson Literary. (Nov.)

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Review by Library Journal Review

Life has taught Margaret Finch the importance of paying attention. When she arrives at work (she's a lab assistant to botanist Jonathan Deaver) and discovers her boss's dead body, she immediately knows there's something strange about the scene. There's an empty Diet Coke bottle nearby, but Dr. Deaver never drank the stuff, and a cocktail glass is missing from next to the bottle of whiskey he enjoyed on special occasions. The campus police come to believe that Dr. Deaver died as the result of a heart defect. However, Margaret is not convinced of this theory, which means it is now up to her to draw upon her scientific training and find out who killed her beloved boss. Readers enamored with Nita Prose's endearingly offbeat sleuth Molly Gray will be equally smitten with the delightfully quirky Margaret, while those who miss the botanical mysteries of Rebecca Rothenberg will find much to appreciate in Townsend's cleverly crafted, science-centric puzzler. VERDICT Written with a delectably deadpan sense of humor and graced with an exceptionally entertaining cast of characters, Townsend's (The Beautiful and the Wild) latest is a blooming treat for fans of either cozy or traditional mysteries.--John Charles

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