A new book by M W Craven is always a treat – usually a gory, gruesome, twisty treat, but a treat nevertheless!
This book – the fifth featuring Washington Poe and Tilly Bradshaw – is another excellent addition to the series. Regular readers will not be at all disappointed, but if you haven’t made the acquaintance of Poe and Bradshaw before then I’d recommend that you start with Book 1, ‘The Puppet Show’. This novel makes total sense as a standalone, but you really don’t want to miss the rest of the books!
This book sees Detective Sergeant Washington Poe and his analyst sidekick Tilly Bradshaw investigate some impossible murders. Threats are sent (accompanied by a flower – hence ‘The Botanist), the victims go into hiding or protection…and then die anyway! Poe finds himself in a very tricky situation, failing to protect some high profile victims who are all also really terrible people – something that is giving the Botanist kudos amongst the general public. Think corrupt politicians, spreaders of ‘fake news’, dodgy businessmen – Poe finds himself trying to protect some awful people while also trying to clear the name of his friend, pathologist Estelle Doyle, who is embroiled in her own problems.
As with the previous books in the series, the charm is in the relationship between Poe and Bradshaw. He’s the tough, maverick cop who plays by his own rules, while Tilly provides the humour and warmth. She may be a genius with technology who can access any systems anywhere, but her lack of social guile is legendary. Her gaucheness and naivety bring out Poe’s protectiveness and provide some brilliantly hilarious conversations as Tilly launches in with no social awkwardness at all. She’s a fabulous character and they make a duo that I’d be happy to read about even without all the murders!
The plotting, as always, is clever and pacy – there is never a dull moment as the Botanist works his way through victims at quite a rate. The dual plotline (the Botanist and Estelle’s story) also adds interest, especially as the latter brings things closer to Poe’s personal life and makes the stakes higher. The ultimate solution is credible and well-presented, even if I’d kind of worked out a little bit of it in advance. There’s so many twists along the way that I doubt anyone could work it all out!
I’d recommend this to anyone who enjoys clever, pacy and lively crime thrillers. The stakes are high, the plotting is tight and the banter between Washington and Tilly as funny as ever. Clear your diary as you won’t want to put this one down.
Thanks to NetGalley for my copy in exchange for an honest review.
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If you want to start with the first book in the series, here is my affiliate link. You won’t regret starting this series!
Header photo by Diana Light on Unsplash.
