It's 1923, and Saffron Everleigh works as a research assistant in the biology department of University College London. With a formidable knowledge of plants and a willingness to defy convention, Saffron impresses her mentor, Dr. Maxwell—and the handsome young Alexander Ashton, who becomes the Hastings to her Poirot when Mrs. Henry, a professor's wife, collapses at a dinner party. Saffron goes to great lengths to clear Dr. Maxwell of suspicion for the attempted poisoning, and half the fun of this book is the audacity of her schemes to find the real culprit—trespassing, impersonating Maxwell's niece, ingesting a potentially fatal dose of tea, and more. Saffron and Alexander possess a chemistry born of shared intellectual interests, combative but amiable, and readers will find themselves, almost irresistibly, rooting for romance.