The Scent of Scandal

By: Craig Pittman

Narrated by: Gary D. MacFadden

Publisher's summary

After its Peruvian discovery in 2002, Phragmipedium kovachii became the rarest and most sought-after orchid in the world. Prices soared to $10,000 on the black market. Then one showed up at Marie Selby Botanical Gardens, where every year more than 100,000 people visit. They come for the lush landscape on Sarasota Bay and for Selby's vast orchid collection, one of the most magnificent in the world.

The collision between Selby's scientists and the smugglers of Phrag. kovachii, a rare ladyslipper orchid hailed as the most significant and beautiful new species discovered in a century, led to search warrants, a grand jury investigation, and criminal charges. It made headlines around the country, cost the gardens hundreds of thousands of dollars in donations, and led to tremendous internal turmoil.

Investigative journalist Craig Pittman unravels this tangled web to shine a spotlight on flaws in the international treaties governing trade in endangered wildlife-which may protect individual plants and animals in shipping but do little to halt the destruction of whole colonies in the wild.

The Scent of Scandal unspools like a riveting mystery novel, stranger than anything in Susan Orlean's The Orchid Thief or the film Adaptation. Pittman shows how some people can become so obsessed-with beauty, with profit, with fame-that they will ignore everything, even the law.

©2012 Craig Pittman (P)2012 Redwood Audiobooks

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Critic reviews

“FANTASTIC. If I did not know most of the main players I would have thought the author had a vivid and twisted imagination..” (Paul Martin Brown, author of Wild Orchids of Florida)

“A fascinating true story of obsession, greed, and lust for the unobtainable. Reminds me a great deal of The Maltese Falcon. This rare flower is definitely the stuff that dreams are made of.” (Ace Atkins, author of Devil's Garden and Infamous)

“Pittman has captured the extreme competition, unique characters, and general insanity that often typify the orchid world. The Scent of Scandal exemplifies how passion and profit can overrule common sense and the law.” (Scott Steward, former associate editor, North American Native Orchid Journal)

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5 out of 5 stars

By robert on 10-06-22

Captivating

This book was a pleasant surprise. A lot of colorful characters chasing orchids. Narrator was fine 5 stars.

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4 out of 5 stars

By Linda on 02-04-13

Amazing World of Unethical Dirtbags No Pun Inended

As an avocational horticulturalist, I was shocked at the levels that the "professionals" will stoop to for glory and the almighty buck. If you love orchids, and nature in general, this book will make you sad, angry, and disgusted. Read it anyway, and bocott the scoundrels. Do your research and know where your money is going if you are an orchidist.

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3 out of 5 stars

By Cindy Schillig on 04-02-21

Great tale about an hour too long

This would have been much better if the last hour or so, the individual legal battles, were condensed. It drug on a bit at the end.

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