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There are currently 29 member reviews
for The Botanist's Assistant
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Jean F. (Cary, NC)
Deadly Plants and a Host of Suspects
Margaret is a research assistant and lab manager for the eminent Dr. Weaver. She thinks highly of her boss, almost adores him, and he is one of the few individuals who appreciates her and the quality of her work. When Margaret finds him dead in a disheveled state, she assumes he has been murdered. The police don't share her suspicions, but she starts investigating and enlists the help of Joe, a news journalist turned janitor.
This is a mystery, but a deliberate one. Margaret is a quirky character, direct in her speech, and ungainly in appearance. She leads a tidy life with meals and activities timed and done in precisely the same order every time. While putting up with the eccentricities of her colleague Calvin, she barges forth, sneaking around, and collecting data on those she deems suspects. Aided by Joe and adopted by a cat, Margaret is sometimes forced to loosen up her approach to life and friendship as together they seek to identify the culprit.
I found that Margaret grew on me, and I began to enjoy her foibles and to cheer as she accepted Joe's offers of help and the occasional meal. For me, the ending was a surprise. The Botanist's Assistant is recommended for fans of cozy mysteries and those who like the world of plants. Is there a sequel for Margaret in the making?
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Catherine S. (Marietta, GA)
Murder in the Lab
The Botanist's Assistant is a light, entertaining read. The main character, Margaret Finch, is a quirky research assistant in a university Botany Lab. When her boss is found dead, she is determined to prove he was murdered, despite the objections of the higher-ups at the school.
What ensues is an interesting series of events that lead to the killer. The book started off a bit slow for me, but after 30 pages or so, it took off and I was engrossed in figuring out who the killer was. Margaret is a likable character, but a bit too much like all the other oddball sleuths out there today.
I enjoyed reading the book and hope that Margaret will have more adventures.
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Judith G. (Greenbrae, CA)
The Botanist's Assistant
The Botanist's Assistant is an enjoyable mystery laced with wit and featuring an unusual accidental sleuth, Margaret Finch. When we first meet Margaret, she's living a tightly regulated life. She literally schedules her every activity down to the second and expenditure down to the penny, buying only marked-down food, living a solitary existence, except for her work at the laboratory.
And then her beloved employer, Dr. Deaver, dies. His death is declared a heart attack, but Margaret, trained as a scientist, observes too many holes in this theory and sets out to find the truth.
As persnickety and rigid as she is, Margaret is oddly endearing. She has been 'driven by hope' her entire life, even though "it has been smashed and mangled and ripped by all the things that have happened to her…Who could be a scientist without hope?"
She's ultimately joined in her investigation and life by the laboratory's janitor and then by Tom, an endearing one-eyed cat.
A special treat: Margaret shares fascinating botanical tidbits such as ""White snakeroot was what killed Abraham Lincoln's mother after she drank milk from a cow that had consumed the plant." And another favorite I won't spoil that concerns caterpillar saliva and parasitic wasps.
This is a pleasurable mystery told with gentle humor. There are a few too-convenient moments when I had to suspend disbelief a bit, but ultimately, what happened to Dr. Deaver is satisfyingly answered, and happily, it looks as if this won't be the last mystery the team of Margaret, Joe and one-eyed Tom will investigate.
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Cresta F. (Pocatello, ID)
Good book, a little heavy on the science
I liked the book and it did teach me about some of the aspects of science re: plants that I found interesting. I thought that kind of took away from the flow of the story for me, however. I look forward to reading other books by Peggy Townsend because I like the style of writing but maybe without as many sidebars for science.
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John A. (Houston, TX)
Educational and Entertaining Mystery Novel
The Botanist's Assistant was an entertaining mystery filled with numerous scientific pearls about plants and poisons. There were a lot of interesting characters and plot twists encountered during the course of solving the murder mystery. If you are a science and mystery fan, I believe you would like this book.
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Miss Liz
The Botanist's Assistant
The Botanist's Assistant written by Peggy Townsend is a whodunnit with a quirky and mostly misunderstood lead character Margaret Finch. Peggy Townsend does a good job developing and describing her characters in this story as they all have a story Margaret can be quoted as saying, "There is work to be done!" She does not believe in waste of any kind, especially time. She runs her life with order and discipline in so much as her daily schedule is laid out down to the minute. This philosophy also carries over with what she wears each day and eats. All of her quirky traits help Margaret run the research lab for Dr. Deaver who she greatly admires. What Margaret does not know is that her ordered world is about to be turned upside down. What she thinks she knows and who she trusts is about to be tested.
The path she embarks on is full of ups and downs sometimes scary for Margaret as she is forced to try and understand things outside of her comfort zone. Margaret also has to come to the realization that first impressions are not always right. Her journey through out the story is fun to read as she searches for the answer to the disaster she discovered. The end of the book finds you cheering for her growth and her first time encounters with those she now can call friends. I found this a fun read for anyone who likes what is so often termed a cozy mystery.
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Janet T. (Westford, MA)
The Botanist's Assistant
The Botanist's Assistant was a fairly quick read. Some of the mystery solutions were obvious. It ended more quickly then expected. The murderer was not known as the book was read but to someone more astute it might have been. It was engaging but not so much that it couldn't be put down. I would recommend it to someone who was looking for a light read that didn't have any adult type themes that would be inappropriate for someone in high school. Some of the biological terms and explanations were not that interesting to this reader. It was an average read.
