Kate Khavari’s A Botanist’s Guide to Society and Secrets

Barbara Peters, owner of The Poisoned Pen, talked with Kate Khavari about all the different elements in A Botanist’s Guide to Society and Secrets, book three in her Saffron Everleigh series. There are signed copies available in the Webstore. https://bit.ly/4ed3KZf.

Here’s the summary of A Botanist’s Guide to Society and Secrets.

Brilliant botanist Saffron Everleigh is ready for her next thrilling adventure in the newest installment of Kate Khavari’s mesmerizing historical mystery series.

“A cleverly plotted puzzle” (Ashley Weaver) in the vein of Opium and Absinthe, this is perfect for fans of Rhys Bowen and Sujata Massey.

London, 1923. Returning from Paris, botanical researcher Saffron Everleigh finds that her former love interest Alexander Ashton’s brother, Adrian, is being investigated for murder. A Russian scientist working for the English government has been poisoned, and expired in Adrian’s train compartment. Alexander asks Saffron to put in a good word for Adrian with Inspector Green. Despite her unresolved feelings for Alexander, Saffron begins to unravel mysteries surrounding the dead scientist.

As if a murder case weren’t enough, her best friend Elizabeth’s war-hero brother, Nick, arrives in town and takes an immediate interest in Saffron. Saffron learns Alexander has been keeping secrets from her, including a connection to Nick, who Saffron and Elizabeth begin to suspect is more than he seems.

When another scientist is found dead, Saffron agrees to go undercover at the government laboratory. Risking her career and her safety, she learns there are many more interested parties and dangerous secrets to uncover than she’d realized. But some secrets, Saffron will find, are better left undiscovered.


Kate Khavari is the author of fiction ranging from historical mysteries to high fantasy epics. She has her parents to thank for her fascination for historical mysteries, as she spent the majority of her childhood memorizing Sherlock Holmes’s and Poirot’s greatest quips. She lives in the Dallas-Fort Worth area of Texas with her husband and children and a lovely garden that contains absolutely no poisonous plants.


Enjoy the conversation with Kate Khavari.