The Bulrush Murders: A Botanical Mystery

I read this book some years ago, and loved it. This novel is of special significance to me, and this is why I decided to re-read it, something I never do. While still in college at Fresno State, I worked at an agricultural research station for a couple of years. I remember the beautiful view of the sierras from our building. I also remember the heat at 3 pm in the summer, when you are out in the orchard collecting data. I witnessed the excitement that the opening of a MacDonald's in the next town created. The country music, the Southern drawl remaining from Oakie heritage, the tractor dealerships and fertilizer shops, the rigors of scientific research... This is why this book resonates so much with me. From a geographical and cultural standpoint, this is as realistic as it gets. I am not much of a mystery reader, but to me this book was the vehicle for two great things: the reminiscing it provided me, and the excellent storytelling abilities of the writer, Rebecca Rothenberg. I did a search on her on the web, and learned that she had an untimely death in 1998 due to a brain tumor. She was an avid botanist, and apparently, at her 50th birthday party, just a few weeks before her passing, she said that there were thousands of native California plants she could continue using for her mysteries. The Bulrush Murders was the first in a series, followed by The Dandelion Murders, the Shy Tulip Murders, and The Tumbleweed Murders (finished by another friend author, Taffy Cannon).