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Professor Eustacia Rose Mystery #3
Bella Donna
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 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.
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 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.
336 pages, Hardcover
Published May 22, 2025
10 people are currently reading
221 people want to read
About the author
Jill Johnson
4 books120 followersJill is a Māori writer based in the UK, having lived in south-east Asia, Europe and New Zealand. She moved to London when she was 18 and the following year opened Gosh! Comics. Alongside this, she and her partner launched a graphic novel publishing company and an editorial cartoon gallery. While running her businesses and raising her three children, Jill obtained a BA Hons degree in Ornamental Horticulture and Design. In 2013, she submitted her writing to Faber and Faber, and was accepted into the Faber Academy. Her first novel The Time Before the Time to Come was published by OWN IT! in 2018. She now lives in Brighton.
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
May 14, 2025
I’ve been a big fan of Johnson’s previous Eustacia Rose novels but this one felt a bit lacklustre to me.
The main story arc was entertaining, thrilling and well paced - if somewhat repetitive - however the character of Matilde has to be one of the most irritating I’ve encountered in a while. Constantly pushing Eustacia’s boundaries, forcing her to change and making decisions without Eustacia’s input infuriated me more so than in the previous novels.
Overall an entertaining read but I’m hoping Matilde will be missing from the next book!
Thanks to Black & White Publishing and NetGalley for the ARC.
The main story arc was entertaining, thrilling and well paced - if somewhat repetitive - however the character of Matilde has to be one of the most irritating I’ve encountered in a while. Constantly pushing Eustacia’s boundaries, forcing her to change and making decisions without Eustacia’s input infuriated me more so than in the previous novels.
Overall an entertaining read but I’m hoping Matilde will be missing from the next book!
Thanks to Black & White Publishing and NetGalley for the ARC.
December 13, 2025
3.75 stars
July 14, 2025
Now I have to wait to read the next book. The cliff hanger was unexpected
April 10, 2025
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc of this novel. I'm rating it 3.5* and would recommend it with some caveats.
***Review Summary:***
I was so excited to read this book. Midsomer Murders meets Sherlock Holmes, but with a middle-aged, queer, autistic female protagonist whose special interest is plants: what's not to love?
The book seems best-suited to those looking for a fun, twisty story and who don't mind small inaccuracies or minor plot holes. The tone is often comical, and the book isn't afraid to lean on stereotypes. The ending was a particularly good mixture of entertaining and sweet. Some of the supporting cast of characters were absolutely delightful.
That said, I want to flag that Bella Donna is the third book of a series. With hindsight, I don't think it was the best starting-point for getting to know our protagonist Professor Eustacia Rose.
I haven't read the other two books, and went into this novel thinking that it would be a standalone in the style of Agatha Christie. To a certain extent, it was: the plot was still easy to understand. However, I struggled to connect with the characters, especially since the backstory of their relationships wasn't ever explained, and there were some references to how past cases interact with this book's case that I'm still confused about.
Although I'm rating this book 3.5*, I will keep my eye out for the first in the series (Devil's Breath) because I think I'd really enjoy a proper introduction to the professor.
***Detailed Review:***
On paper, this book has everything you could want. A light-hearted, twisty, gore-free murder-mystery plot in fun locations with unique characters and interesting plant facts. (I think the protagonist's habit of giving every character a plant nickname may be my favourite thing about this book.)
But as I mentioned in my review summary, these characters have a history that's not always shown.
As I began reading, it became clear that the protagonist and her girlfriend are going through a rough patch. But because I hadn't seen their relationship when things were good, I just kept thinking that they were a terrible couple. One can't stop lying to the other; the other completely disrespects the things that are important to her partner. Perhaps if I'd read the first two books and seen what brought them together, I'd have desperately wanted them to resolve their issues. Instead, I just kept thinking that they should break up.
Similarly, for much of the novel, I struggled to connect with the protagonist Professor Eustacia Rose — despite the many things we have in common as autistic, queer nerds. On top of being a terrible partner, she spends a large part of the book being selfish and severely lacking in empathy. For example, when a man tells Eustacia that he can't risk his life to find her plants because he has a wife and child to look after, Eustacia tells him that he should risk his life because her plants are as important as his child. And while I don't need my characters to be 100% likeable, I do like to see some redeeming qualities in the first half of the book. Unfortunately, I didn't really get that until the end of the novel.
I guess some people might say that Eustacia's lack of empathy is because she's autistic. And I recognise that autism can present very differently from one person to another — that's why we say it's a spectrum. But the stereotype that autistic people lack empathy has been categorically shown to be untrue. Although autistic people can struggle with intuitively understanding people's emotions (e.g. understanding how someone feels based on their facial expression and automatically knowing how to react), we've also been shown to be great at cognitive empathy (based on the context, I think this person probably feels...). So it's not because of Eustacia's autism.
Eustacia's lack of cognitive empathy doesn't just make her say hurtful things. It also gets in the way as she tries to do things that will a) obviously backfire and b) the people around her are telling her will obviously backfire and explaining why. It got a little tiring, if I'm honest. Again, there are a lot of different ways that autism can present, but I've yet to meet an autistic person who isn't acutely aware that neurotypical people understand other neurotypical people better than we do.
However, Eustacia does demonstrate more empathy as the novel goes on, and I found myself growing fond of her towards the end. Also, in the second half of the novel, it became clear that she has some recent (?) trauma (on top of a lot of very old trauma) that could perhaps explain her poor handling of situations (but it's not explained what nearly any of this trauma is, so I guess it all came up in previous books). I think I might have liked her a lot better from the start had I read the previous two books.
I also mentioned minor inaccuracies and small plot holes. I think this is the type of thing that some readers won't care about, others will chuckle over, and others will be driven crazy by. It just comes down to what you look for in your books. Here's an example so you can decide how much it might bother you: one Brazilian character had the name Carlos Santos, which is like calling a British character James Smith, but the plot hinges on seemingly unrelated Portuguese characters instantly recognising the name. (Also, the author doesn't seem to be great with Brazilian names in general, with married couples sharing surnames despite that normally meaning a sibling relationship!)
***Review Summary:***
I was so excited to read this book. Midsomer Murders meets Sherlock Holmes, but with a middle-aged, queer, autistic female protagonist whose special interest is plants: what's not to love?
The book seems best-suited to those looking for a fun, twisty story and who don't mind small inaccuracies or minor plot holes. The tone is often comical, and the book isn't afraid to lean on stereotypes. The ending was a particularly good mixture of entertaining and sweet. Some of the supporting cast of characters were absolutely delightful.
That said, I want to flag that Bella Donna is the third book of a series. With hindsight, I don't think it was the best starting-point for getting to know our protagonist Professor Eustacia Rose.
I haven't read the other two books, and went into this novel thinking that it would be a standalone in the style of Agatha Christie. To a certain extent, it was: the plot was still easy to understand. However, I struggled to connect with the characters, especially since the backstory of their relationships wasn't ever explained, and there were some references to how past cases interact with this book's case that I'm still confused about.
Although I'm rating this book 3.5*, I will keep my eye out for the first in the series (Devil's Breath) because I think I'd really enjoy a proper introduction to the professor.
***Detailed Review:***
On paper, this book has everything you could want. A light-hearted, twisty, gore-free murder-mystery plot in fun locations with unique characters and interesting plant facts. (I think the protagonist's habit of giving every character a plant nickname may be my favourite thing about this book.)
But as I mentioned in my review summary, these characters have a history that's not always shown.
As I began reading, it became clear that the protagonist and her girlfriend are going through a rough patch. But because I hadn't seen their relationship when things were good, I just kept thinking that they were a terrible couple. One can't stop lying to the other; the other completely disrespects the things that are important to her partner. Perhaps if I'd read the first two books and seen what brought them together, I'd have desperately wanted them to resolve their issues. Instead, I just kept thinking that they should break up.
Similarly, for much of the novel, I struggled to connect with the protagonist Professor Eustacia Rose — despite the many things we have in common as autistic, queer nerds. On top of being a terrible partner, she spends a large part of the book being selfish and severely lacking in empathy. For example, when a man tells Eustacia that he can't risk his life to find her plants because he has a wife and child to look after, Eustacia tells him that he should risk his life because her plants are as important as his child. And while I don't need my characters to be 100% likeable, I do like to see some redeeming qualities in the first half of the book. Unfortunately, I didn't really get that until the end of the novel.
I guess some people might say that Eustacia's lack of empathy is because she's autistic. And I recognise that autism can present very differently from one person to another — that's why we say it's a spectrum. But the stereotype that autistic people lack empathy has been categorically shown to be untrue. Although autistic people can struggle with intuitively understanding people's emotions (e.g. understanding how someone feels based on their facial expression and automatically knowing how to react), we've also been shown to be great at cognitive empathy (based on the context, I think this person probably feels...). So it's not because of Eustacia's autism.
Eustacia's lack of cognitive empathy doesn't just make her say hurtful things. It also gets in the way as she tries to do things that will a) obviously backfire and b) the people around her are telling her will obviously backfire and explaining why. It got a little tiring, if I'm honest. Again, there are a lot of different ways that autism can present, but I've yet to meet an autistic person who isn't acutely aware that neurotypical people understand other neurotypical people better than we do.
However, Eustacia does demonstrate more empathy as the novel goes on, and I found myself growing fond of her towards the end. Also, in the second half of the novel, it became clear that she has some recent (?) trauma (on top of a lot of very old trauma) that could perhaps explain her poor handling of situations (but it's not explained what nearly any of this trauma is, so I guess it all came up in previous books). I think I might have liked her a lot better from the start had I read the previous two books.
I also mentioned minor inaccuracies and small plot holes. I think this is the type of thing that some readers won't care about, others will chuckle over, and others will be driven crazy by. It just comes down to what you look for in your books. Here's an example so you can decide how much it might bother you: one Brazilian character had the name Carlos Santos, which is like calling a British character James Smith, but the plot hinges on seemingly unrelated Portuguese characters instantly recognising the name. (Also, the author doesn't seem to be great with Brazilian names in general, with married couples sharing surnames despite that normally meaning a sibling relationship!)
April 11, 2025
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc of this novel. I'm rating it 3.5* and would recommend it with some caveats.
***Review Summary:***
I was so excited to read this book. Midsomer Murders meets Sherlock Holmes, but with a middle-aged, queer, autistic female protagonist whose special interest is plants: what's not to love?
The book seems best-suited to those looking for a fun, twisty story and who don't mind small inaccuracies or minor plot holes. The tone is often comical, and the book isn't afraid to lean on stereotypes. The ending was a particularly good mixture of entertaining and sweet. Some of the supporting cast of characters were absolutely delightful.
That said, I want to flag that Bella Donna is the third book of a series. With hindsight, I don't think it was the best starting-point for getting to know our protagonist Professor Eustacia Rose.
I haven't read the other two books, and went into this novel thinking that it would be a standalone in the style of Agatha Christie. To a certain extent, it was: the plot was still easy to understand. However, I struggled to connect with the characters, especially since the backstory of their relationships wasn't ever explained, and there were some references to how past cases interact with this book's case that I'm still confused about.
Although I'm rating this book 3.5*, I will keep my eye out for the first in the series (Devil's Breath) because I think I'd really enjoy a proper introduction to the professor.
***Detailed Review:***
On paper, this book has everything you could want. A light-hearted, twisty, gore-free murder-mystery plot in fun locations with unique characters and interesting plant facts. (I think the protagonist's habit of giving every character a plant nickname may be my favourite thing about this book.)
But as I mentioned in my review summary, these characters have a history that's not always shown.
As I began reading, it became clear that the protagonist and her girlfriend are going through a rough patch. But because I hadn't seen their relationship when things were good, I just kept thinking that they were a terrible couple. One can't stop lying to the other; the other completely disrespects the things that are important to her partner. Perhaps if I'd read the first two books and seen what brought them together, I'd have desperately wanted them to resolve their issues. Instead, I just kept thinking that they should break up.
Similarly, for much of the novel, I struggled to connect with the protagonist Professor Eustacia Rose — despite the many things we have in common as autistic, queer nerds. On top of being a terrible partner, she spends a large part of the book being selfish and severely lacking in empathy. For example, when a man tells Eustacia that he can't risk his life to find her plants because he has a wife and child to look after, Eustacia tells him that he should risk his life because her plants are as important as his child. And while I don't need my characters to be 100% likeable, I do like to see some redeeming qualities in the first half of the book. Unfortunately, I didn't really get that until the end of the novel.
I guess some people might say that Eustacia's lack of empathy is because she's autistic. And I recognise that autism can present very differently from one person to another — that's why we say it's a spectrum. But the stereotype that autistic people lack empathy has been categorically shown to be untrue. Although autistic people can struggle with intuitively understanding people's emotions (e.g. understanding how someone feels based on their facial expression and automatically knowing how to react), we've also been shown to be great at cognitive empathy (based on the context, I think this person probably feels...). So it's not because of Eustacia's autism.
Eustacia's lack of cognitive empathy doesn't just make her say hurtful things. It also gets in the way as she tries to do things that will a) obviously backfire and b) the people around her are telling her will obviously backfire and explaining why. It got a little tiring, if I'm honest. Again, there are a lot of different ways that autism can present, but I've yet to meet an autistic person who isn't acutely aware that neurotypical people understand other neurotypical people better than we do.
However, Eustacia does demonstrate more empathy as the novel goes on, and I found myself growing fond of her towards the end. Also, in the second half of the novel, it became clear that she has some recent (?) trauma (on top of a lot of very old trauma) that could perhaps explain her poor handling of situations (but it's not explained what nearly any of this trauma is, so I guess it all came up in previous books). I think I might have liked her a lot better from the start had I read the previous two books.
I also mentioned minor inaccuracies and small plot holes. I think this is the type of thing that some readers won't care about, others will chuckle over, and others will be driven crazy by. It just comes down to what you look for in your books. Here's an example so you can decide how much it might bother you: one Brazilian character had the name Carlos Santos, which is like calling a British character James Smith, but the plot hinges on seemingly unrelated Portuguese characters instantly recognising the name. (Also, the author doesn't seem to be great with Brazilian names in general, with married couples sharing surnames despite that normally meaning a sibling relationship!)
***Review Summary:***
I was so excited to read this book. Midsomer Murders meets Sherlock Holmes, but with a middle-aged, queer, autistic female protagonist whose special interest is plants: what's not to love?
The book seems best-suited to those looking for a fun, twisty story and who don't mind small inaccuracies or minor plot holes. The tone is often comical, and the book isn't afraid to lean on stereotypes. The ending was a particularly good mixture of entertaining and sweet. Some of the supporting cast of characters were absolutely delightful.
That said, I want to flag that Bella Donna is the third book of a series. With hindsight, I don't think it was the best starting-point for getting to know our protagonist Professor Eustacia Rose.
I haven't read the other two books, and went into this novel thinking that it would be a standalone in the style of Agatha Christie. To a certain extent, it was: the plot was still easy to understand. However, I struggled to connect with the characters, especially since the backstory of their relationships wasn't ever explained, and there were some references to how past cases interact with this book's case that I'm still confused about.
Although I'm rating this book 3.5*, I will keep my eye out for the first in the series (Devil's Breath) because I think I'd really enjoy a proper introduction to the professor.
***Detailed Review:***
On paper, this book has everything you could want. A light-hearted, twisty, gore-free murder-mystery plot in fun locations with unique characters and interesting plant facts. (I think the protagonist's habit of giving every character a plant nickname may be my favourite thing about this book.)
But as I mentioned in my review summary, these characters have a history that's not always shown.
As I began reading, it became clear that the protagonist and her girlfriend are going through a rough patch. But because I hadn't seen their relationship when things were good, I just kept thinking that they were a terrible couple. One can't stop lying to the other; the other completely disrespects the things that are important to her partner. Perhaps if I'd read the first two books and seen what brought them together, I'd have desperately wanted them to resolve their issues. Instead, I just kept thinking that they should break up.
Similarly, for much of the novel, I struggled to connect with the protagonist Professor Eustacia Rose — despite the many things we have in common as autistic, queer nerds. On top of being a terrible partner, she spends a large part of the book being selfish and severely lacking in empathy. For example, when a man tells Eustacia that he can't risk his life to find her plants because he has a wife and child to look after, Eustacia tells him that he should risk his life because her plants are as important as his child. And while I don't need my characters to be 100% likeable, I do like to see some redeeming qualities in the first half of the book. Unfortunately, I didn't really get that until the end of the novel.
I guess some people might say that Eustacia's lack of empathy is because she's autistic. And I recognise that autism can present very differently from one person to another — that's why we say it's a spectrum. But the stereotype that autistic people lack empathy has been categorically shown to be untrue. Although autistic people can struggle with intuitively understanding people's emotions (e.g. understanding how someone feels based on their facial expression and automatically knowing how to react), we've also been shown to be great at cognitive empathy (based on the context, I think this person probably feels...). So it's not because of Eustacia's autism.
Eustacia's lack of cognitive empathy doesn't just make her say hurtful things. It also gets in the way as she tries to do things that will a) obviously backfire and b) the people around her are telling her will obviously backfire and explaining why. It got a little tiring, if I'm honest. Again, there are a lot of different ways that autism can present, but I've yet to meet an autistic person who isn't acutely aware that neurotypical people understand other neurotypical people better than we do.
However, Eustacia does demonstrate more empathy as the novel goes on, and I found myself growing fond of her towards the end. Also, in the second half of the novel, it became clear that she has some recent (?) trauma (on top of a lot of very old trauma) that could perhaps explain her poor handling of situations (but it's not explained what nearly any of this trauma is, so I guess it all came up in previous books). I think I might have liked her a lot better from the start had I read the previous two books.
I also mentioned minor inaccuracies and small plot holes. I think this is the type of thing that some readers won't care about, others will chuckle over, and others will be driven crazy by. It just comes down to what you look for in your books. Here's an example so you can decide how much it might bother you: one Brazilian character had the name Carlos Santos, which is like calling a British character James Smith, but the plot hinges on seemingly unrelated Portuguese characters instantly recognising the name. (Also, the author doesn't seem to be great with Brazilian names in general, with married couples sharing surnames despite that normally meaning a sibling relationship!)
August 14, 2025
With her quirky, unusual sleuth and murderous use of poisonous plants, Brighton-based indigenous (Māori) storyteller Jill Johnson’s Professor Eustacia Rose series are the kind of mysteries that Agatha Christie would likely have enjoyed. A double Ngaio Marsh Awards finalist last year for her debut, Devil’s BreathDevil’s Breath (aka The Woman in the Garden in the United States), which was also a BBC2 Between the Covers Book Club pick on British television, Johnson blends fascinating characters, deadly botanicals, and page-turning events into some very good reads.
In Bella Donna, the third in the series, neurodivergent Professor Rose is trying to juggle some tricky things: a visit from her lover Matilde, who seems to want to change her well-ordered life a little too much; a search for some of her extremely deadly plants that were previously stolen from her private garden; and trying to avoid telling her police contacts just how well she knew a murdered man.
And how well she knew the murder weapon; he was poisoned with hemlock, likely stolen from Eustacia’s own garden. What has a dangerous gang got to do with things, and why is Zsa Zsa, a beguiling trader of rare plants, and Professor Hutchings from a rival university, determined to team up with her? Can’t everyone just leave her alone for a bit, to do things her way?
Johnson has created an unforgettable main character in Professor Eustacia Rose, a fascinating and frustrating, compelling and contradictory woman. Bella Donna is a mystery where the many secrets held by various characters, including Eustacia herself, may be even more poisonous than the deadly plants. Johnson does a good job drawing readers into a twisting tale. More please.
[This review was first published in the Summer 2025 issue of Deadly Pleasures magazine]
In Bella Donna, the third in the series, neurodivergent Professor Rose is trying to juggle some tricky things: a visit from her lover Matilde, who seems to want to change her well-ordered life a little too much; a search for some of her extremely deadly plants that were previously stolen from her private garden; and trying to avoid telling her police contacts just how well she knew a murdered man.
And how well she knew the murder weapon; he was poisoned with hemlock, likely stolen from Eustacia’s own garden. What has a dangerous gang got to do with things, and why is Zsa Zsa, a beguiling trader of rare plants, and Professor Hutchings from a rival university, determined to team up with her? Can’t everyone just leave her alone for a bit, to do things her way?
Johnson has created an unforgettable main character in Professor Eustacia Rose, a fascinating and frustrating, compelling and contradictory woman. Bella Donna is a mystery where the many secrets held by various characters, including Eustacia herself, may be even more poisonous than the deadly plants. Johnson does a good job drawing readers into a twisting tale. More please.
[This review was first published in the Summer 2025 issue of Deadly Pleasures magazine]
May 28, 2025
Bella Donna is the third in a series and I was very glad to be back with Professor Eustacia Rose! It was an enjoyable read and I was engrossed straight away and eager to see what Professor Rose was up to this time.
Professor Rose has definitely made these books for me; she’s a very likeable character, quirky, straight to the point and often a few steps ahead of the police despite working with them in the investigation. From reading three books in this series she’s definitely grown as a character. I have to say though, Matilde (Eustacia’s partner), isn’t so likeable, I don’t like how she treats Eustacia and I think because I absolutely love Eustacia’s character, it did make me mad!
I loved the investigation in this with the OCG and the murders and reading how everything unfolds.
A great ending to Bella Donna and it was quite the unexpected ending! I can’t wait to see where this now goes, I hope we see more of Eustacia. 🙏🏻
The series has been brill; a mix of mystery/whodunnit with academia vibes. Definitely recommend!
Professor Rose has definitely made these books for me; she’s a very likeable character, quirky, straight to the point and often a few steps ahead of the police despite working with them in the investigation. From reading three books in this series she’s definitely grown as a character. I have to say though, Matilde (Eustacia’s partner), isn’t so likeable, I don’t like how she treats Eustacia and I think because I absolutely love Eustacia’s character, it did make me mad!
I loved the investigation in this with the OCG and the murders and reading how everything unfolds.
A great ending to Bella Donna and it was quite the unexpected ending! I can’t wait to see where this now goes, I hope we see more of Eustacia. 🙏🏻
The series has been brill; a mix of mystery/whodunnit with academia vibes. Definitely recommend!
July 21, 2025
Acerbic botanical mysteries galore
—
Imagine a neurodivergent Sherlock Homes with no social skills. In her third outing, Professor Eustacia Rose gets thrown into a labyrinth of mysteries that might, just might, return her previously stolen collection of poison plants. Meanwhile, her partner Matilde has plans for moving in that include new paint finishes, cushions on the bed and discarding all of Eustacia’s father’s things. And Eustacia’s rival at UCL keeps trying to tempt her into collaborating, accompanied by the glamorous plant hunter Zsa Zsa, who keeps getting familiar with Eustacia… What’s a botanical toxicologist to do?
Full of joy and detail, the fact that this is the third book isn’t much of a barrier to your enjoyment; there’s definitely backstory that you could read beforehand but you can infer enough to let Eustacia’s acerbic directness amuse and thrill as she attempts to be detective, partner and professor in equal measure.
—
Imagine a neurodivergent Sherlock Homes with no social skills. In her third outing, Professor Eustacia Rose gets thrown into a labyrinth of mysteries that might, just might, return her previously stolen collection of poison plants. Meanwhile, her partner Matilde has plans for moving in that include new paint finishes, cushions on the bed and discarding all of Eustacia’s father’s things. And Eustacia’s rival at UCL keeps trying to tempt her into collaborating, accompanied by the glamorous plant hunter Zsa Zsa, who keeps getting familiar with Eustacia… What’s a botanical toxicologist to do?
Full of joy and detail, the fact that this is the third book isn’t much of a barrier to your enjoyment; there’s definitely backstory that you could read beforehand but you can infer enough to let Eustacia’s acerbic directness amuse and thrill as she attempts to be detective, partner and professor in equal measure.
August 26, 2025
Botanical Sleuthing with a Portuguese Twist
I really enjoyed Bella Donna, the third book in the Professor Eustacia Rose Mystery series. It has all the quirky British charm I’ve loved from the start, with the Professor’s wonderfully odd perspective and those fun little botanical touches, but this one also felt fresh in new ways. I especially liked the part of the story set in Portugal—it gave the mystery a different vibe and made it even more fun to follow.
I also loved seeing more development in the Professor’s personal relationships this time around. It adds another layer to her character without losing any of the eccentricity or clever plotting that make this series so charming. I can’t wait for Book #4 to come out.
I really enjoyed Bella Donna, the third book in the Professor Eustacia Rose Mystery series. It has all the quirky British charm I’ve loved from the start, with the Professor’s wonderfully odd perspective and those fun little botanical touches, but this one also felt fresh in new ways. I especially liked the part of the story set in Portugal—it gave the mystery a different vibe and made it even more fun to follow.
I also loved seeing more development in the Professor’s personal relationships this time around. It adds another layer to her character without losing any of the eccentricity or clever plotting that make this series so charming. I can’t wait for Book #4 to come out.
June 15, 2025
I absolutely love this series, and all it brings with each mystery, the murders, the quirkiness are brilliant. I’ve recently read the second in this series so it was such a treat to pick this one up so soon after. Eustacia was up to her normal tricks, however it was lovely to read about the normal life events going on in the book, and taking the mystery to Lisbon. The cliffhanger at the end made me gasp out loud.
August 8, 2025
I read this book, after the reading the second - not realising it was the first book in the series! It’s got a great storyline, a little predictable at times, but the author does pull you back in. I feel like some parts were dragged out a little bit. However, I throughly enjoy the main character, her quirks and wit makes the book. Also, it is a plus learning something new about plants, including their Latin names and origins. Would recommend.
November 12, 2025
Eustacia is a delightful sleuth and, as a fellow plant lover, I adored the way the mystery was revealed as we learnt more about the poisonous plants in her collection. Who knew there were so many ways to die in a garden? Overall, it’s a charming, quirky and compulsive read and I look forward to many more adventures with the professor.
October 6, 2025
The third installment in the Professor Eustacia Rose Mystery is unfortunately not as good as the other two.
I might have given the book a 3 ⭐ rating, if it wasn't for that ending.
I might have given the book a 3 ⭐ rating, if it wasn't for that ending.
October 22, 2025
The Professor Rose series is one of my favourites! I love the character development from one book to the next. Matilde annoyed me at the start of this book but I can’t say I didn’t understand where she was coming from. The cliffhanger is unbearable, I need to know what happens! Each book is very cleverly written. You feel like you know what’s happening but then the story shifts and actually what you thought was important turns out to be trivial, and there’s something completely different happening. (I also love the front covers and the font of the title, very pretty).
May 24, 2025
This was the third book in the Eustacia Rose Mysteries. Once again we follow Eustacia, professor of botanical toxicology, she's ready to move on with her partner, focus and work and her relationship...but she just cant resist one more case.
There's just something very comforting about Eustacia's character for me. She's difficult, often selfish, blunt and bull- headed, but absolutely hilarious in her no- nonsense approach.
She really showed a lot of growth and self- awareness in this book- which isn't obvious unless you read the previous two in the series.
Her reluctant friendships she's gathered throughout the books really help move the story along, and I still love how she names them all after plants.
If you're a fan of murder mysteries, academia vibes and poisonous plants this ones for you. I love the constant twists and turns the story takes, and Eustacia's dry humour is forever entertaining.
Thanmyou to Black and White publishing for my review copy.
There's just something very comforting about Eustacia's character for me. She's difficult, often selfish, blunt and bull- headed, but absolutely hilarious in her no- nonsense approach.
She really showed a lot of growth and self- awareness in this book- which isn't obvious unless you read the previous two in the series.
Her reluctant friendships she's gathered throughout the books really help move the story along, and I still love how she names them all after plants.
If you're a fan of murder mysteries, academia vibes and poisonous plants this ones for you. I love the constant twists and turns the story takes, and Eustacia's dry humour is forever entertaining.
Thanmyou to Black and White publishing for my review copy.
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