Bella Donna

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A01=Jill Johnson
Author_Jill Johnson
botanical
botany
Category=FF
cosy crime
cosy mystery
cozy crime
cozy mystery
dark academia
eq_bestseller
eq_crime
eq_fiction
eq_isMigrated=1
eq_isMigrated=2
eq_new_release
eq_nobargain
female detective
female sleuths
investigation
London
miss marple
morally grey protagonist
murder mystery
poison
poisonous plants
professor
quirky crime
quirky mystery
quirky protagonist
toxic plants
toxicology
women in crime
women sleuths

Product details

  • ISBN 9781785307362
  • Weight: 238g
  • Dimensions: 133 x 198mm
  • Publication Date: 06 Nov 2025
  • Publisher: Bonnier Books Ltd
  • Publication City/Country: GB
  • Product Form: Paperback
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From the bestselling author of BBC Between the Covers Book Club pick, Devil's Breath, comes the latest gripping instalment in Jill Johnson's Professor Eustacia Rose Mysteries.

'A tangled poisonous plot with a unique, thorny character at its heart, Jill Johnson has created a whodunnit as addictive as any narcotic' - ANDREINA CORDANI
'Original and engrossing' - JANE BETTANY
'Eustacia is a delightful sleuth . . . A charming, quirky and compulsive read' - JESSICA BULL

SECRETS ARE THE DEADLIEST POISON


Eustacia Rose is done with murder cases. She's ready to settle down with her partner, Matilde, and focus on her work at the university. To live a normal life.

But then along comes a case she can't resist investigating - because this time, the murder victim was poisoned with hemlock, one of the plants stolen from Eustacia's illicit garden of poisonous plants. And Eustacia is not 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.

The stakes are higher than ever for Eustacia. Because if she cannot save her plants in time, there will be more deaths - and this time, the blood will be on her hands . . .

With a quirky protagonist, dark academia aesthetic and an array of exotic poisonous plants, this unique spin on the classic murder mystery novel will hook fans Gail Honeyman's Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine, Robert Thorogood's The Marlow Murder Club and Richard Osman's The Thursday Murder Club.

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.

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