The Bulrush Murders: A Botanical Mystery (CARROLL & GRAF) [Hardcover]

Rebecca Rothenberg (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1991

Microbiologist Claire Sharples escapes a dull research job at M.I.T. and takes a new position in California's San Joaquin Valley. But when a friend dies when his motorcycle plunges into a reservoir, Claire plunges headlong into the tangled politics of California agriculture to solve a deadly puzzle of greed and revenge.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

While this first novel has a satisfying mystery at its center and enough potential villains to keep both its heroine and readers guessing, its real charm lies in the less-than-perfect romance that blossoms between microbiologist Claire Sharples and her often enigmatic co-worker Sam Cooper. Claire flees her stifling life as a research scientist at MIT for a job at an agricultural research center in central California, a region she soon concludes is a cultural outback. Her growing attraction to Sam, a field scientist who seems to resent her, is also frustrating, but their relationship becomes warmer as they try to solve the problems of a Mexican farm family whose crops seem immune to any chemical remedies for the natural disasters of the San Joaquin Valley. When the Mexicans' young son is murdered, Claire and Sam begin piecing together a complicated tangle of sabotage and greed. All is very nicely resolved, as is Claire's ambivalence about Sam and her work.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

YA-- A charming fish-out-of-water mystery with several plot twists and turns. After losing interest in her laboratory research, microbiologist Claire Sharples sets out to discover science in the real world and finds herself at an agricultural research station in the San Joaquin Valley. Peopled by men she first dismisses as nerds, the new lab has challenges she never dreamed of: tough field work under the grueling California sun, unexplained crop failures, and deaths only she thinks are mysterious. Instead of minding her own business, Claire turns from scientist to sleuth and eventually discovers that someone may be trying to murder her, too. At the same time, she finds herself unwillingly falling in love with one of her fellow scientists. YAs in search of a blend of romance and mystery will find this book satisfying. Rothenberg has high regard for scientific endeavor and hard work; both are featured prominently throughout the book.
-Carolyn E. Gecan, Thomas Jefferson High Sci-Tech, Fairfax County,
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 235 pages
• Publisher: Carroll & Graf Publishers (December 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0881847496
• ISBN-13: 978-0881847499
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #436,988 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Bulrushes, April 24, 2005

By 

Manola Sommerfeld (California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Bulrush Murders: A Botanical Mystery (CARROLL & GRAF) (Hardcover)

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).