I always love a good historical mystery and with such a fun name, how could I not request a review copy of A Botanist’s Guide to Parties and Poisons?

There are, sadly, not as many parties as you would expect in this book. But there is a lot of poison. When Saffron Everleigh attends a stuffy university party, the last thing she expects is for Mrs Henry, the disgruntled wife of one of the professors, to be poisoned. While Mrs Henry isn’t dead, there’s still a mystery to be solved because Professor Maxwell, Saffron’s mentor, has been fingered as the culprit of the crime. Together with Alexander Ashton, a researcher she first met at that same party, Saffron tries to find out what poison was used and why so that she can clear her mentor’s name.

For some reason, the title made me think that this was going to be a light-hearted murder mystery. Instead, I found this to be a historical mystery that’s rooted in its time. The university isn’t kooky and the departmental politics and sexism are very present, making it rather heavy reading at times. Saffron faces a lot of challenges, including harassment, in her job and the book doesn’t shy away from it, especially towards the end.

The plot itself was interesting and progressed at a steady pace. I finished a thriller before starting this book, so it did feel a little slow at times, but I think that’s more the nature of the genre than a problem with the book.

Saffron was a likeable heroine. She’s smart and loyal to her friends, and she can be pretty devious when she needs to get information. I’m not sure that I buy her sudden ability to get information via flirting when she was so awkward during the party at the start of the book, but overall, I liked her and was rooting for her to figure out what happened. Her romance with Alexander was predictable, but they seem well-matched and that was nice.

Overall, this was an enjoyable historical mystery! Saffron is a great main character and I enjoyed following her on her adventures to find out the truth and clear Professor Maxwell’s name!

Disclaimer: I got a free e-copy of this story from NetGalley. All opinions in this review are my own.