There are no dumb questions. Yet as a society, we struggle with the barrage of daily questions we’re required to answer and most of them involve research—or digging through desks, computer files, even closets. Tax forms, the DMV, insurance forms, college applications, loans, Medicare. Ugh, it’s overwhelming.
It’s times like these, I wish I had a Margaret Finch at my disposal. She’s detail oriented. She’s punctual—to the second. And she knows how to get things done—like solving a homicide no one else thinks is a homicide. Who is Margaret Finch? She’s the star of her very own mystery, THE BOTANIST’S ASSISTANT by Peggy Towsend.
Kym: Welcome to The Cozy Corner on Fresh Fiction, Peggy!
Peggy: Thanks for having me. A cozy corner is one of my favorite places to hang out.
Kym: Your new release, THE BOTANIST’S ASSISTANT, is different than most mysteries in that it is not written in past tense, but rather present tense as if the reader is experiencing events with lab assistant Margaret Finch. Was your intent to have the reader walk into the lab with Margaret and discover the dead body together?
Peggy: In one word: Yes. For me, present tense puts a reader right in the middle of a story. It’s immediate. It’s cinematic. I think it also creates more tension since a reader doesn’t know anything more than the protagonist does at that moment. In this case, my main character Margaret Finch, also inhabited me so deeply I felt like there was no other way to write the book.
Kym: It was the perfect way to tell Maragret’s story;) And the next one and the next one! With your background as a reporter, you’re very familiar with deadlines and keeping to a schedule, but not every reporter or writer is a proficient time manager. With a character like Margaret who schedules her day down to the seconds, there’s one question that begs to be asked—and answered—if you arrive fifteen minutes prior to a scheduled meeting time, are you early, or are you on time?
Peggy: The answer is: Of course you’re on time!
Kym: How did I know how you would answer! When Margaret faces accusations of hysteria, every feminine muscle in my body was ready to make someone grovel. It’s an experience many women in high-stakes jobs have faced, yet still, we persevere like Margaret. ;) Is that something you’re driven to showcase in your writing, or was it just part of Margaret’s story?
Peggy: There is nothing more infuriating for a woman than to find herself smashing into the wall of male insecurity. I think I was driven to showcase this dynamic because it is such a part of women’s lives, whether in a job situation or just trying to tell an auto mechanic that you don’t need an expensive, 10-point taillight inspection. You just need a new bulb.
Kym: Hahaha, right?! Margaret enlists the lab custodian who really isn’t just the cleaning staff, but a man with hidden talents. Was this the day job (or old job) creeping into the night job for you? Or perhaps a role you know all too well? (I’m trying not to give any spoilers!)
Peggy: It’s actually a role I know from my years in a profession where plenty of people hate you and where your actions can have deep consequences. I can’t tell you how many times I wanted to quit and get a job where I could clock out after eight hours and not think about work again until the next day. And, thanks for not giving away any of the little twists in the book.
Kym: Margaret is not just a scientist working with plants, she’s a botanist in her own personal garden as well. Are you a plant lover, or has your career kept you from truly diving into the commitment a garden requires?
Peggy: I’d like to first point out that I once won a 4H gardening award. However, my plant-tending life went downhill from there. My career and family just didn’t leave time for a garden, but I do love walking in nature where I can appreciate all kinds of plants, from fiddlehead ferns to wild hyacinth and Ponderosa pine. I also have deep admiration for those who do garden.
Kym: Where can our readers find you online?
Peggy: The best place to find me is on Instagram.
Kym: Will there be another Margaret Finch mystery?
Peggy: Fingers crossed.
Kym: Fingers and toes. What are you working on now?
Peggy: I’m actually outlining a second Margaret Finch book with hopes my editor will want it. This one, however, will be set in the Sonoran Desert where there is plenty of room for mischief and murder.
Kym: I ask all the writers who join us, do you have a favorite cozy corner where you escape to read?
Peggy: It’s not exactly a corner but I have a comfy canvas lounge chair that I set out under a big Jeffrey pine near the little cabin my husband and I own in the Sierra. It’s the absolute best place for reading: Just me and the birds.
Kym: We are coming to your Cozy Corner next time! LOL. Thank you for joining us!
Peggy: Thanks for the great questions!
Until next time when Kat Hillis and Rosiee Thor join us, get cozy and read on!
A murder in the science lab shatters a woman’s quiet and ordered life when she decides she must solve the crime herself in this entertaining and uplifting mystery.
Plenty of people consider Margaret Finch odd. Six-feet-tall and big-boned, she lives alone in a small cabin in the woods, drives a 20-year-old truck, and schedules her life so precisely you can tell the time and day of the week by the chore she is doing and what she is wearing. But the same attributes that cause her to be labeled eccentric—an obsessive attention to detail and the ability to organize almost anything—make her invaluable in her job as Research Assistant II to a talented and charismatic botanist.
It's those very same qualities, however, that also turn Margaret into a target after a surprising death shakes the small university where she works. Even as authorities claim the death appears to be from natural causes, Margaret fears it might be something more: a murder born of jealousy and dark secrets. With the aid of a newly hired and enigmatic night custodian, Margaret finds herself thrust into the role of detective, forcing her to consider that she may not be able to find the killer before the killer finds her.
With a cast of quirky and likeable characters that one won’t soon forget, The Botanist’s Assistant is a delightful story of perseverance and the power in all of us to survive.
Mystery Woman Sleuth | Mystery Amateur Sleuth [Berkley, On Sale: November 18, 2025, Trade Paperback / e-Book, ISBN: 9780593638118 / eISBN: 9780593638125]
Peggy Townsend is an award-winning journalist-turned-author with four mystery novels to her name. She has panhandled with street kids, taken a flashlight to a knife fight and chronicled the life of a woman who measured her riches in sunrises and the calls of birds. Her latest mystery, The Botanist’s Assistant, was inspired by Townsend’s love of nature and science, and has been called “bighearted” and “delightful” by early reviewers. Her first three books, See Her Run, The Thin Edge and The Beautiful and the Wild have been widely praised. She divides her time between the Central California coast and the Sierra Nevada mountains and, when she isn’t writing, she is downhill skiing, mountain biking and camping in the wild.
Kym Roberts writes by day and is a pro-surfer in her dreams by night. Her humor is often raunchy, her jokes are often bad, but her hunger for a story keeps the adventures coming fast. Experience the thrill & catch the wave of passion, mystery, and suspense with her on her website, on Facebook, and on Twitter.
Kym’s debut historical romance series The Scandalous Sisters series, released in 2025. Look for The Ruined Duchess and The Rebellious Countess now under her pseudonym Helene Matheson. The Wanton Widow releases in early 2026.
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