The Nightshade

Secrets are the deadliest poison... Professor Eustacia Rose is done with murder cases. After getting dragged into a series of investigations that have threatened her teaching career, her collection of rare poisonous plants, and her relationship, she's ready to settle down with her partner, Matilde, and focus on her work at the university. But then another body is discovered, and this time, the victim was poisoned with one of her stolen plants. A specimen she'd do anything to get back. Unable to resist investigating, Eustacia sets off on her own mission to find the murderer, and ultimately, the person responsible for stealing her most prized possession. But Eustacia isn't the only one desperate to retrieve her lost treasure: the beguiling trader of rare plants, Zsa Zsa, and rival university professor Hutchins are on the trail, too, not to mention the dangerous criminal gang determined to keep hold of the lethal plants. Yet as she delves deeper into the world of organized plant theft, Eustacia realizes that it is not only plants who can mysteriously disappear as Jessica, her mother, suddenly vanishes. The stakes are higher than ever for Eustacia. Because if she cannot save her plants, or her mother, in time, there will be more deaths - and this time, the blood will be on her hands . . . From the author of The Woman in the Garden, Jill Johnson is back with another gripping Professor Eustacia Rose Mystery.