Perfect Poison

by Jim Lavene and Joyce Lavene

Book Overview

When drowned bodies start surfacing with an unusual plant caught in one of the victims' hair, forensic botanist and detective's widow Peggy Lee is on the case.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 042522127X
• ISBN13: 9780425221273
• Release Date: May 2008
• Publisher: Berkley Books
• Length: 296 Pages
• Weight: 0.35 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 4.2" x 6.7"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Grade 12 and higher

Customer Reviews

Excellent..Perfect Poison

Just finished Perfect Poison..a truly interesting mystery...looking forward to reading the next Peggy Lee Garden Mystery. Excellent gardening tips also.

Fun and Light

I've read the other books in this series (Peggy Lee Gardening Series) and was excited to see a new offering. Peggy is now officially a forsenic botantist for the Charlotte PD, which adds a fun new dimension to this series as she is actually working with the police rather than around them. This made it a bit like a CSI show and added more from two side line characters (the MEs). Peggy's garden shop, the Potting Shed, gets flooded and the shop is being remodelled during the book and should be a fun new aspect in the next book. Peggy is still with her same romantic interest, but we really don't see a lot of him (Steve) or the elusive Nightflyer. Mai, the assisant ME, and her son's girlfriend, really takes the sidekick role in a neat way. The ending was definitely a surprise and will keep you guessing even after you think you know what happened! If you have read other books in the series, definitely pick this one up. If you haven't read others in the series, this isn't a bad place to start either!

Good Garden Mystery

This is a good, quick summer read. Great for a rainy day or afternoon on the deck. Enjoy.

Another Great Read!

I settled in to begin this read knowing I was going to love every word, and I was correct. Peggy, a forensic botanist who is working for the Charlotte Police was about to take me on another mysterious, outrageous ride as she is thrown headlong into another murder investigation. I was happy to again be reunited with the other characters that play roles in this wonderful series. Paul, Peggy's son who is a police officer, Steve, a Vet. who is her boyfriend, Nightflyer, a secret admirer, who throws extra mystery and excitement into every read, Sam, who works for her at her beloved Potting Shed, and just so many more that make these books home to me. Of course none of Peggy Lee Garden Mysteries would be worth their salt without a crime to solve, and this time we have a double homicide. A married man named, Gerald Capshaw and a young woman are found dead, in separate locations. However, there was a link between them as both had phytoplankton in their lungs, and had ancotine on their skin. Now all Peggy had to do was figure out the connection between the two, and the location where they both were murdered, and she might just get a head start on knowing who killed them and why. What a task ahead. Of course it didn't help that one of her friends, Ruth, was being charged with the double murder.Was she guilty? Peggy hoped not, but things were sure pointing that way. What a ride....I can't say enough wonderful things about this read. I absolutely love when each new book comes out in this series and quickly snuggle up knowing I'm about to be taken into a reader's delight. The characters are comforting, yet exciting. There is always action, suspense, mystery, and romance. Add a little spice with some intense moments between characters and some close calls with murders and you have one rolling read. Listen, if you haven't experienced any of "The Peggy Lee Garden Mysteries," you just don't know what you are missing. This one, as usual is exceptional. Never a dull moment with Peggy and her crew, and that ends up never being a dull moment for you, the reader. Highly recommended

perfect poison

loved this book! I love Peggy lee she is great. Lavene's are my new favoirte writers

fascinating whodunit

Widow Peggy Lee and her son Paul are in Badin attending the funeral of a dearly beloved friend, Mayor Jim Garrison. During the memorial dinner honoring the late mayor, two men wearing rescue uniforms enter and announce a diver inspecting the dam is not responding to their calls. Professor Ruth Sargent, an expert in underwater forensics, volunteers to dive into the dam to see if the men are alive. She asks Peggy to accompany her as her friend is a forensics botanist who works as a contractor for the Charlotte Police Department. Ruth finds the man dead wedged into the intake bulkhead gauge. The victim's wife arrives insisting this was not an accident because Gerry was a careful experienced diver. Later Peggy learns that Ruth had an affair with the deceased. Back in Charlotte, Peggy is brought on a case in which Marsha Haltry apparently drowned in her swimming pool. When she sees the same water plant that was on victim who died by the dam, Peggy believes Marsha was murdered. An autopsy reveals phytoplankton in her lungs just like that found in Gerry's lungs. Both also shared a trace of a deadly toxin just not enough to kill them. The police of both counties believe Ruth is the only viable suspect for a variety of reasons. Peggy believes Ruth could not kill anyone so she investigates even after the police close the case. Joyce and Jim Lavene provide a fascinating whodunit with unusual but plausible twists and plenty of red herrings (fungus might be more accurate) in their latest Peggy Lee poison case (see PRETTY POISON). PERFECT POISON is a charmer due to the quirky Tarheel support cast who have offbeat senses of humor but are there for the heroine when she needs them. Although at times she would like to throttle her "assistants" like her lover and her son whose attraction to a student adds to the fun. Still it is the forensic botanist and her investigation that makes this a perfect cozy. Harriet Klausner