The Botanist’s Assistant, by Peggy Townsend. Berkley Books, 11/18/25. 304 pages
Margaret Finch, 54 years old, has been the research manager for a brilliant botanist for 10 years. Tall and ungainly, she is known as “Big Bird” to the students and staff at the university laboratory where she works. But she is reasonably happy, believing in the work she is doing, and doing it extremely well. Then her beloved professor is found dead in his office. Was it a natural death? Margaret thinks not, and in her obsessive, careful way, investigates.
11/17/25