The Bulrush Murders

Claire Sharples #1

by Rebecca Rothenberg

A Boston microbiologist is transferred to the San Joaquin Valley in California where her bordeom is finally overcome when her life is endangered and she finds herself attracted to the ill-mannered man who helps save her

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Cozy

235 pages, Hardcover

First published December 1, 1991

About the author

Rebecca Rothenberg (1948-1998) was a writer, musician, epidemiologist, amateur botanist, president of the San Gabriel chapter of the California Native Plants Society, and the author of the Claire Sharples Botanical Mystery series. The first, The Bulrush Murders, was nominated for the Anthony and Agatha Awards, and was named as one of the Top Ten Mysteries of 1992 by the Los Angeles Times. After her untimely death in 1998, her friend and colleague, Taffy Cannon (author of the Nan Robinson series and the Agatha and Macavity Award-nominated Guns and Roses) completed the manuscript of The Tumbleweed Murders.

Reviews

[Jane · Rating 4 out of 5]

I bought this book new in 1991. I'm trying to read through the books on my shelves to give away or keep. This one is going to the library book sale, although I did enjoy it. It feels a bit dated, but I enjoyed reading an early anti-developer, pro-nature cozy mystery.

I remembered this as having a heavy dose of romance, but the romance between fish-out-of-water scientist from out east Claire and country music lovin', polyester-wearing coworker Sam was very slow to get started. Maybe I'm confusing book 1 with book 2 in the series. The mystery was a bit convoluted, with lots of red herrings and subplots (and multiple fairly inexplicable attempts on Claire's life).

Recommended for readers who like cozy mysteries with a cause.

[Lois Baron · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting info about habitat & plants in a part of California pretty much ignored. Very likeable main character--a microbiologist who tears herself away from MIT after a disappointing love affair with a colleague. I liked being in her head, where there are mullings about the lives of academicians, observations of the assumptions people make, and wry recognitions of her flaws, etc.

[Sara Jane · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is probably better than just three stars. I had a hard time deciding on that. I want to read the next books in this series. I've read the last book that was finished by someone else after Rothenberg passed away. There was no noticeable break where one author began and another one finished.

[Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Proficient writing, the story is put together very nicely. What I most enjoyed was the treatment of botany as an element of crime investigation, and the setting in the great central valley and western foothills of the Sierra Nevada.

[Clare O'Beara · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great read for botanists or ecologists and indeed for intelligent people in general. We get to explore California and find out what grows there, crops or wildflowers, and there's a murder mystery to go along with it. My favourite of the series is The Shy Tulip Murders.

[Nicole]

Sequels
THE DANDELION MURDERS - 1994.
THE SHY TULIP MURDERS - 1996

[Kurt · Rating 1 out of 5]

OK for a murder mystery, I guess.

[Denise · Rating 1 out of 5]

lots of outdated and unpleasant stereotypes in this weak mystery set in "Kaweah" (read Tulare) County