Margaret Finch is a fifty-something lady working with great diligence to find a cure for cancer. She’s the Research Assistant in a science lab at Roosevelt University. When a tragedy strikes, THE BOTANIST’S ASSISTANT is the only one to suspect a wrongful death.
 
The unusual crime story has echoes of the Australian science romance tale, Rosie. Margaret used to be a normal teen, but the loss of her younger sister drove her to lead a sheltered, precise life. She’s the perfect admin person, noting every detail, cleaning up spills and warning about toxic plants. Until her boss, Dr. Jonathan Deaver, after asking for grant applications to be readied, dies of an apparent heart attack. Dr. Deaver was working on a rainforest plant-derived toxin, which might provide an extremely valuable cure. There’s also inevitable academic rivalry for everything from credit on papers to parking spaces. And Margaret’s investigations soon turn up marital and romantic issues among the staff.
 
The police don’t want to know about poisoning, mainly because the Dean doesn’t want to know. Any kind of lab mishap would be bad for business, bad for grants. He writes off Margaret as neurotic and distraught. The younger lab assistants, Calvin and Zhang, have to be considered suspects. Night custodian Joe Torres has access to most rooms and proves surprisingly helpful to the amateur sleuth.
 
Anyone who works for or has studied or taught in a good-sized college will probably recognise some of the issues among the colleagues, which Peggy Townsend recreates convincingly.  As botany is the focus, we also get a look around a lot of toxic plants, but Margaret just enjoys gardening, her one real hobby. I love how a stray cat appears and provides her with affection, something we realise is sadly lacking in the lady’s life. 
 
With her attention to detail and bemusement over daily interactions, Margaret is an unusual heroine. As I love plants too, I felt a great kinship with her and the habit of noting Latin names and characteristics of the flora she meets. Peggy Townsend is a newspaper journalist, not a scientist, with three earlier books to her credit. I hope she will let THE BOTANIST’S ASSISTANT return for more sleuthing and personal development.