A Professor Eustacia Rose Mystery

Eustacia Rose is a Professor of Botanical Toxicology with only her extensive collection of poisonous plants for company. Her life is quiet, her schedule is unchanging, and her closest friends are the specimens she tends to. But she does have one other hobby: watching her neighbors through her telescope, taking extensive notes on their lives for research. When Eustacia hears a scream one evening, the temptation to investigate proves irresistible. Through her telescope, she catches a glimpse of her extraordinarily beautiful new neighbor, Simone, and soon becomes obsessed with her and her life.

Eustacia Rose is a Professor of Botanical Toxicology who lives alone in London with only her extensive collection of poisonous plants for company. 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 recognize one of them?

Eustacia Rose's life is beginning to return to normal: she is back teaching at UCL and her relationship with Matilde is blossoming. But when a man is found dead with a needle in his neck, that fragile peace begins to crumble. Eustacia finds a painting of herself stabbed with a syringe and discovers that there are other people who seem to know more about the killing than they are letting on.

After a turbulent police investigation comes to an end, Professor Rose is on her own personal mission. With a new lease of life after discovering her birth mother and reuniting with a long-lost plant, Eustacia finds herself with burning questions. Who destroyed her garden in the first place and will she ever find the rest of her stolen poisonous plants? Eustacia wants to ask for help from DCI Roberts - but risking the confiscation of any more plants is too dangerous. She begins a solitary journey into the world of rare and unusual botanicals.