The Botanist's Assistant

By: Peggy Townsend

Narrated by: Rebecca Lowman

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.

I liked Margaret’s life

I liked this story and I liked the ending I feel like it had a little bit of everything and overall pleasant to listen to

interesting title character

Most of the characters were not richly drawn, and did not behave realistically. And what campus cop would have headed a police investigation into a suspicious death?

Margaret needs answers

When Margaret’s boss dies, some people are quick to dismiss it as heart failure. But Margaret is a scientist and it just doesn’t add up. She suspects a number of people ( not without cause) and she’s not out to ask “political correct” questions, nor has she ever been. When she asks Joe, the janitor for help, she doesn’t realize it, but her life will be forever changed.

Unusual characters & setting

The narration at the beginning was slow & boring to listen to. The main character was intriguing in that by the time we meet her, life has already been unkind to her & it looks like it will continue that way. As annoying as it would be for many of us to deal with these personality traits, Margaret engages the reader in her fight to be valued & to succeed against the odds. Thankfully, the narration seemed to improve as the story went on which made it so much more enjoyable.