Devil's Breath

Professor Eustacia Rose Mysteries 1

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When her enigmatic neighbour disappears, Eustacia Rose, a professor of botanical toxicology, finds her carefully cultivated life of solitude uprooted. What begins as detached curiosity through a telescope evolves into an inquiry laden with old grudges and buried secrets that forces her into the line of suspicion.

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*** 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

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