What is the title of your latest release?
THE BOTANIST’S ASSISTANT
What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?
A murder in the science lab shatters a woman’s quiet and ordered life, forcing the socially awkward but tenacious research assistant to find the killer herself.
How did you decide where your book was going to take place?
I love the Central California coast with its grasslands, oak woodlands and rocky shores so, like a good packrat, I stole bits and pieces to create my imaginary landscape. My protagonist, Margaret Finch’s, hillside cottage came right out of a hike where I discovered the ruins of an old homesteader’s cabin in the woods.
Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life?
Margaret has studied plants for so long that she sees them as friends, so I guess I would have to get in line behind the roses and lavender to hang out with her, but I would. I just love scientists.
What are three words that describe your protagonist?
Tenacious, honest and loyal.
What’s something you learned while writing this book?
I learned that plants have developed amazing defense systems in order to survive. For instance, a certain tomato plant, when attacked by chomping caterpillars, will secrete a chemical that causes the hungry predators to turn away from the plant’s tasty leaves and eat each other instead.
Do you edit as you draft or wait until you are totally done?
I generally edit as I go. In mysteries, it’s important to lay a strong foundation for a twisty outcome so that the reader is surprised at the ending but can look back and think: Of course, that was there all along.
What’s your favorite foodie indulgence?
Good coffee. I’m afraid I spent more than I should for a grinder and fancy coffeemaker from the Netherlands and I always buy pricey beans but, oh, that first sip of strong black coffee in the morning is worth every penny.
Describe your writing space/office!
My writing space is actually pretty sad. It’s a salvaged desk in a corner of our garage under hanging surfboards and mountain bikes and across from the washer and dryer. The good news is that I can throw in a load of wash while I write without too much effort.
Who is an author you admire?
That’s like asking me to choose my favorite flower. If I had to pick just one writer, I guess I’d narrow the range to the mystery genre and say William Kent Kruger. He’s not only prolific but he’s a beautiful writer and one of the nicest people I’ve met.
Is there a book that changed your life?
I’d have to say that “Into the Wild” by Jon Krakauer changed my life in a big way. I was deep into my reporting career when our newspaper was bought by a company I believed cared little about the role of good journalism in a democracy. I saw the movie and was reading the book about the same time and I asked myself: Where had my sense of adventure gone? How had I allowed myself to settle into a life where everything was safe and predictable? So, I quit my newspaper job. Now I’m a novelist with four published books. I think it’s good to be a little bit wild sometimes.
Tell us about when you got “the call.” (when you found out your book was going to be published)/Or, for indie authors, when you decided to self-publish.
When my wonderful agent called to tell me my first book was going to be published, I was at an In-and-Out Burger. From my reaction—repeatedly saying, Oh wow! Oh wow! – people nearby must have thought I’d found the hamburger of my dreams.
What’s your favorite genre to read?
I read across lots of genres but right now I’m enjoying family/relationship novels like “The Handmade God” by Rachel Joyce and “Culpability” by Bruce Holsinger. Mysteries, however, are my go-to books whenever I need to escape.
What’s your favorite movie?
I could watch the classic road-trip movie,” Little Miss Sunshine,” a hundred times. Poignant, funny and hopeful, the movie is a master class in the way comedy lurks right next to pain. To me, there’s nothing better than a film that makes you laugh and cry within the space of minutes.
What is your favorite season?
I always look forward to winter which I usually spend at our small cabin in the Sierra. Skiing down mountains, snowshoeing through the forest and reading a good book while a storm rages outside are some of the things I like best.
How do you like to celebrate your birthday?
I usually celebrate my birthday with some kind of outdoor adventure that proves I’m alive and ready for another year. One year, I did the via ferrata in Olympic Valley. Another year I almost killed my brother-in-law on a strenuous 20-mile mountain bike ride. I’ve hiked and kayaked and picnicked at the beach. And, I always wear a “birthday” crown.
What’s a recent tv show/movie/book/podcast you highly recommend?
I’m a sucker for medical shows so I would have to recommend HBO Max’s “The Pitt.” All the messy and wonderful parts of life are there in one big, smart storytelling package. I dare you not to binge-watch it.
What’s your favorite type of cuisine?
Definitely Italian. Give me a great big bowl of pasta and I’m happy.
What do you do when you have free time?
The answer is easy: I read. I read in cars, in doctors’ offices and with a glass of wine in the afternoon. I read in bed, at the beach and while I’m waiting for coffee to brew. Every open minute is usually filled with a book. It’s a habit I’ve had since I was little when my mom would order me to “put down that book and go outside and play.”
What can readers expect from you next?
I love hanging out with the quirky characters that populate THE BOTANIST’S ASSISTANT so I’m plotting a sequel. This one will be set in the Sonoran Desert, where there’s plenty of opportunity for mischief and murder.
THE BOTANIST’S ASSISTANT by Peggy Townsend
Narrator: Rebecca Lowman
A murder in the science lab shatters a woman’s quiet and ordered life when she decides she must solve the crime herself in this entertaining and uplifting mystery.
Plenty of people consider Margaret Finch odd. Six-feet-tall and big-boned, she lives alone in a small cabin in the woods, drives a 20-year-old truck, and schedules her life so precisely you can tell the time and day of the week by the chore she is doing and what she is wearing. But the same attributes that cause her to be labeled eccentric—an obsessive attention to detail and the ability to organize almost anything—make her invaluable in her job as Research Assistant II to a talented and charismatic botanist.
It’s those very same qualities, however, that also turn Margaret into a target after a surprising death shakes the small university where she works. Even as authorities claim the death appears to be from natural causes, Margaret fears it might be something more: a murder born of jealousy and dark secrets. With the aid of a newly hired and enigmatic night custodian, Margaret finds herself thrust into the role of detective, forcing her to consider that she may not be able to find the killer before the killer finds her.
With a cast of quirky and likeable characters that one won’t soon forget, The Botanist’s Assistant is a delightful story of perseverance and the power in all of us to survive.
Mystery Amateur Sleuth | Mystery Woman Sleuth [ Berkley, On Sale: November 18, 2025, Trade Paperback / e-Book / audiobook, ISBN: 9780593638118 / eISBN: 9780593638125 ]
Something is amiss in the toxins lab in this amateur sleuth tale
Buy THE BOTANIST’S ASSISTANT: Amazon.com | Kindle | BN.com | Apple Books | Kobo | Google Play | Books-A-Million | Indie BookShops | Ripped Bodice | Libro.fm | Audible | Walmart.com | Amazon CA | Amazon UK | Amazon DE | Amazon FR
About Peggy Townsend
Peggy Townsend is an award-winning journalist-turned-author with four mystery novels to her name. She has panhandled with street kids, taken a flashlight to a knife fight and chronicled the life of a woman who measured her riches in sunrises and the calls of birds. Her latest mystery, The Botanist’s Assistant, was inspired by Townsend’s love of nature and science, and has been called “bighearted” and “delightful” by early reviewers. Her first three books, See Her Run, The Thin Edge and The Beautiful and the Wild have been widely praised. She divides her time between the Central California coast and the Sierra Nevada mountains and, when she isn’t writing, she is downhill skiing, mountain biking and camping in the wild.
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