Book Review: “A Botanist’s Guide to Flowers and Fatality” by Kate Khavari

Aug 12

Håfa adai! Welcome to my review of A Botanist’s Guide to Flowers and Fatality, the second book of the Saffron Everleigh Mystery series by Kate Khavari.

This book review consists of two parts: a spoiler-free plot summary and my thoughts on the story. In the second part, I give my personal rating and break down the setting and worldbuilding, storytelling, cast of characters, and themes. There may be some lightweight spoilers—such as how characters interact with each other and the world around them—but I will not give away any major plot twists or endings. I want to share my opinions of the book and maybe encourage you to purchase a copy of your own.

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Spoiler-Free Plot Summary

One would think that helping solve a murder using her intelligence, wit, and botanical knowledge would help Saffron Everleigh earn the societal acceptance of the male-dominated Department of Botany at the University College London. But it’s the 1920s, which means that all Saffron gained from her efforts was added fuel to the gossip fire while Alexander Ashton, the botany research assistant who aided her in the murder investigation, was given the opportunity to go on a research expedition in the Amazon. But Saffron is not yet entirely ostracized from the scientific community and joins the overly confident Dr. Michael Lee on her first research study to travel throughout England responding to reports of poisonings.

Saffron and Dr. Lee’s routine of intervening with the results of accidental poisonings is derailed when they are approached to look into a series of deaths caused by poisonings with eerily similar symptoms. All three women claimed as victims to the poisoning received bouquets comprising of uncommon selections for floral arrangements: each containing deadly poisonous flowers. Searching for a connection between the choice of victims and flowers leads Saffron to speculate that each bouquet may have been the media to deliver a harrowing message to its unsuspecting recipient. Deciphering the messages coded through the Victorian practice of floriography could lead Saffron, Dr. Lee, and Detective Inspector Green to their malicious arranger.

My Thoughts on A Botanist’s Guide to Flowers and Fatality: 4.25 stars

Kate Khavari’s Saffron Everleigh mystery series is set in early 1920s London, England, amidst the societal and professional woes of the University College London’s Department of Botany. Saffron Everleigh is a highly competent budding botanist (pun intended) whose confidence in herself is truly beginning to bloom (again, pun intended) in this second installment of the series. In Flowers and Fatalities, we get a further glimpse into the world she must navigate, one with too many similarities to the world many of us have to navigate 100 years later.

The overarching theme of the series is succinctly summarized in Chapter 20 when Saffron Everleigh angrily says to another character “you might be able to waltz into any room and use your name and your charm to get whatever you want, but the rest of us have to play by other people’s rules just to get a foot in the door, even of an unimportant department.” This sentiment resonates with me deeply as an Indigenous woman working in a profession historically dominated by White men studying Indigenous people. For better, I feel seen reading about Saffron Everleigh’s experience going through a still entirely male-dominated academe. For worse, many professionals who are not cis-het WASPs (cisgender, heterosexual, White Anglo-Saxon Protestants) can still relate to some of Saffron Everleigh’s societal experiences over 100 years after the events of this story (but this is a critique of the sciences today, not of Kate Khavari’s writing).

Alongside Saffron is her best friend/roommate Elizabeth, Dr. Michael Lee (a medical doctor with whom she is conducting her premier research study), and Alexander Ashton (fellow botanist research assistant with whom she solved a previous case of poisoning). Elizabeth is a character that I truly appreciate! She balances supporting Saffron while holding her accountable and keeping her grounded. Dr. Lee and Alexander represent two different kinds of men popular in the 1920s, in the 2020s, and possibly for the rest of time. Without going into too much detail, Dr. Lee is a self-proclaimed Casanova while Alexander is a chivalry-bound gentleman. Both are honest and moral men of science, but how honesty is defined and with whom they are being honest is a matter of perspective.

My overall rating for Kate Khavari’s A Botanist’s Guide to Flowers and Fatality is 4.25 out of 5 stars. I am usually able to predict “who did it” in many murder mysteries, but the plot twist of this story caught me by surprise. Many aspects of the story within Flowers and Fatality are truly fascinating even though reason why the killer did it made my eyes roll. I appreciate the way Saffron Everleigh’s character grows and evolves in this second installment of the series. Kate Khavari’s continued worldbuilding is rich and her prose continues to hold my attention with every chapter. I highly recommend the Saffron Everleigh Mystery series to those who appreciate crime fiction wrapped in science lessons and set within historical fiction.

Dångkulo' na' saina ma'åse'! Thank you so much for reading my review of A Botanist’s Guide to Flowers and Fatality by Kate Khavari.

Rating Cheat Sheet

4.75 - 5.00 stars: Everyone should read this book! (If you’re into that sort of thing.)
4.00 - 4.50 stars: I appreciated many aspects of this book. I recommend it!
3.00 - 3.75 stars: I liked some aspects of this book. I won’t revisit it, but someone else might really like it.
2.00 - 2.75 stars: There were some things I appreciated about this book, but I do not recommend it.
0.25 - 1.75 stars: I do not recommend this book. I did not enjoy or appreciate the experience of it.

Post Date: 8 September 2025