*** A BBC2 BETWEEN THE COVERS BOOK CLUB PICK ***
'A BLOOMING GOOD READ' - THE TIMES
'A MUST FOR LOVERS OF CRIME FICTION THAT'S JUST A BIT DIFFERENT FROM THE NORM' - HEAT magazine
'[THIS IS LIKE] SHERLOCK HOLMES MEETS GARDNER'S QUESTION TIME' - NISH KUMAR on BBC2's Between the Covers
'WITH EUSTACIA ROSE, JILL HAS CREATED AN UTTERLY UNIQUE CHARACTER AND HAS ENSURED THAT THE DETECTIVE GENRE TURNS A NEW LEAF. MYSTERY, MURDER, AND MULCH. WHAT'S NOT TO LOVE.' - ADIL RAY OBE
I've always been better with plants than people . . .
Eustacia Rose is a Professor of Botanical Toxicology who lives alone in London with only her extensive collection of poisonous plants for company. She tends to her garden with meticulous care. Her life is quiet. Her schedule never changes. Until the day she hears a scream and the temptation to investigate proves irresistible.
Through her telescope, Professor Rose is drawn into the life of an extraordinarily beautiful neighbour, Simone, and nicknames the men who visit her after poisonous plants according to the toxic effect they have on Simone. But who are these four men? And why does Eustacia Rose recognise one of them?
Just as she preserves her secret garden, she feels inexplicably compelled to protect her neighbour, but Eustacia soon finds herself entangled in a far more complicated web than she could ever have imagined. When her precious garden is vandalised and someone close to Simone is murdered with a toxin derived from a rare poisonous plant, Eustacia becomes implicated in the crime.
After all, no one knows toxic plants like she does . . .
'FASCINATING AND EERILY COMPELLING.' JESSICA FELLOWES, New York Times bestselling author of The Mitford Murders series
'AN INTOXICATING TALE, DEVIL'S BREATH MIGHT TAKE YOUR BREATH AWAY.' SALENA GODDEN, author of Mrs Death Misses Death
'Professor Eustacia Rose, genius botanical toxicologist, eccentric loner, instinctive detective and all-round mystery - a splendid creation.' M. J. CARTER, author of the Blake and Avery Mystery novels
'A creeper vine of intrigue and suspense, with a most unlikely and engaging star detective at its heart.' ESTHER FREUD, author of I Couldn't Love You More
'A thrilling story . . . Jill Johnson writes masterfully.' JJ BOLA, author of The Selfless Act of Breathing Jill Johnson has lived in South-East Asia, Europe and New Zealand. Her novel Devil's Breath, the first in the Professor Eustacia Rose Mysteries, was a BBC2 Between the Covers Book Club pick and was longlisted for the prestigious Ngaio Marsh Best Novel Award. Jill obtained a B.A. Degree in Landscape Design. She has previously owned an editorial cartoon gallery, a comic shop and has been involved in a graphic novel publishing house. She is a Faber Academy graduate and now lives in Brighton with her children. Jill's writing is inspired by her Maori heritage. Reclusive botanist Professor Eustacia Rose turns sleuth when her neighbour is abducted and is drawn into a world of intrigue where people are as toxic as the plants she studies. Quirky androgynous protagonist reminiscent of Eleanor Oliphant but with a sharper edge Dark academia aesthetic - think tweed suits, university lecture halls, dark secrets and poisonous plants The author is a Faber Academy graduate and has studied botany, giving her a unique insight into the poisonous plants used as murder weapons in the book The author is of Maori heritage, has lived in South-East Asia, Europe and New Zealand/Aotearoa and is now settled in Brighton
