When last we met her, Saffron Everleigh, newly promoted botanical researcher at University College in London, was absolving the mysterious xolotl vine of a possible poisoning and accusing a new hybridization of aconite instead in the suspicious coma-inducing incident involving a professor’s wife. It’s the Roaring Twenties and Saffron is a woman in academia and, as expected, not being taken seriously even though her intellect is superior to many of the male professors.It’s a few weeks after the poison investigations of the first installment. Alexander, Saffron’s detective cohort and presumptive future paramour, is on a 6 month Amazon expedition, and she is now paired with an obnoxiously handsome but very likeable physician, Dr. Michael Lee. They’ve traveled together to Hampshire and other points to determine if a small child has been poisoned by a local plant as part of a phytotoxicology study. But she is suddenly recruited by Inspector Green to consult as an outside poison expert for the police department when a series of black-ribboned deadly bouquets had apparently been received by strangled and smothered murder victims. Saffron heads off into the world of floriography, the Victorian secret language of flowers, in order to assist the Inspector.I was surprised that I enjoyed the second Saffron story more than the first — Saffron has grown more confident of her abilities and expertise and she can more easily circumnavigate around the men doubting her abilities. There are less confusing characters (not everyone is an old professor this time). Dr. Lee is there as her confidant and foil (since Alexander was necessarily sent away to Brazil). The plot is intriguing and Saffron gets to be a delicious snoop again. 5 stars! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️The “violently yellow” (I love that description) xolotl vine still survives, almost like a pet, on Saffron’s office windowsill.Kudos to the beautiful cover design by Nicole Lecht.Looking forward to another volume of Saffron Everleigh mysteries, when, I suppose, Alexander and Michael will meet… and eagerly awaiting another botanical index on the author’s website.Literary Pet Peeve Checklist:Green Eyes (only 2% of the real world, yet it seems like 90% of all fictional females): NO In the second paragraph of the book, we meet Lee and his brilliant green eyes. Saffron’s are cornflower blue.Horticultural Faux Pas (plants out of season or growing zones, like daffodils in autumn or bougainvillea in Alaska): NO Whew! High expectations, of course, for a floral book. The pink heather is properly blooming in August (although it’s usually known as the “September Plant of the Month”) and Saffron knows that pomegranates would probably be grown in a greenhouse or protected garden in England.