Description (from cover): “Saffron Everleigh is in a race against time to free her wrongly accused professor before he goes behind bars forever. Perfect for fans of Deanna Raybourn and Anna Lee Huber, Kate Khavari’s debut historical mystery is a fast paced, fearless adventure.
London, 1923. Newly minted research assistant Saffron Everleigh attends a dinner party for the University College of London. While she expects to engage in conversations about the university’s large expedition to the Amazon, she doesn’t expect Mrs. Henry, one of the professor’s wives to drop to the floor, poisoned by an unknown toxin.
Dr. Maxwell, Saffron’s mentor, is the main suspect, having had an explosive argument with Dr. Henry a few days prior. As evidence mounts against Dr. Maxwell and the expedition’s departure draws nearer, Saffron realizes if she wants her mentor’s name cleared, she’ll have to do it herself.
Joined by enigmatic Alexander Ashton, a fellow researcher, Saffron uses her knowledge of botany as she explores steamy greenhouses, dark gardens, and deadly poisons. Will she be able to uncover the truth or will her investigation land her on the murderer’s list?”
My Thoughts:
This is the first book in the Saffron Everleigh mystery series. Saffron is an assistant to a botany professor at London’s University College. She is smart and determined to make a name for herself academically. Although this is quite a hard feat for her as she is the first female assistant and is treated differently for being so. Her father was a well-known botany professor at the university and she is eager to make her own way in a world dominated by men. She is often looked over just because she is a woman. When the wife of a professor is poisoned at a party she attends, she knows that nothing is as it appears and she is determined to solve the case. Surrounded by men who think that they are better than her because she is just a woman, she is able to investigate on the sly.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I am glad that I was able to get my hands on an advanced reader’s copy as I am always on the hunt for a new historical mystery series to love. In this book, the author does a great job of showing the reader how women were treated professionally in the 1920’s. Even though women were starting to leave the home and create careers for themselves, not everyone was on board. That is a struggle that the reader sees Saffron having to deal with a lot in this book. She is smart, but she is a woman and that limits her chances to advance in a field presently dominated by men.
With the help of another research assistant, Alexander Ashton, she sets out to determine who wanted to murder Mrs. Henry and why. Was it her husband who was having an affair or was it one of the other professors in the department who had grudges against her husband? I thought that this was a brilliantly written debut novel in this new historical mystery series and I cannot wait to read more about Saffron’s adventures in the future. I couldn’t put this one down and am extremely excited about this series and will be watching for new books in the future.
Overall Rating: 4.5 Stars
Author: Kate Khavari
Series: Saffron Everleigh Mystery #1
Publisher: Crooked Lane Books
Publication Date: June 7, 2022
Pages: 304
Genre: Historical Mystery
Get It: Amazon
Disclaimer: This book was given to me by the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for my honest review. I reviewed this book without compensation of any kind. All thoughts and opinions are solely mine.
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