The Botanist

In ‘The Botanist’ Poe and Tilly have to solve two cases at once. A serial killer is sending poetic death threats to high-profile victims around London, before poisoning them exactly as announced. Meanwhile, up north, pathologist Estelle Doyle is arrested for murdering her father. In both cases, the ’what’ is clear, it’s the ’how’ that remains a mystery. Poe hates locked-room cases, but now he and Tilly face two of them at the same time. In this fifth book, M.W. Craven once again outdoes himself with masterful storytelling, building an arc of suspense across a complex and interwoven plot. This time, my favourite duo are tracking another serial killer. The main themes involving the poisonings were exactly my taste and I could barely put the book down. I whipped through it in two and a half days. This is classic cat-and-mouse crime fiction: a twisty, exhilariating ride with brilliant procedural detail, dry humour and a shocking finale. While not evey detail may be realistic, ‘The Botanist’ was thoroughly entertaining. And at the end of the day, that’s exactly what I expect from a great book.

I found the characters too cartoonish to really enjoy this book.