Publisher's 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.
Library Journal
The land development ogre appears here as well. Claire Sharples, a youngish biologist fed up with life at MIT, takes a job at an experimental field station in California. She becomes marginally involved with a local Mexican American family in danger of losing their farm to encroaching developers because of peach fungus. When the family's wayward young son dies in a motorcycle ''accident,'' Claire suspects foul play. Rothenberg may know her biology, but the leaden start, inarticulate emotions, and starched, unamiable characters will quickly dampen reader interest.
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, VA
Genre: Mystery
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.
Library Journal
The land development ogre appears here as well. Claire Sharples, a youngish biologist fed up with life at MIT, takes a job at an experimental field station in California. She becomes marginally involved with a local Mexican American family in danger of losing their farm to encroaching developers because of peach fungus. When the family's wayward young son dies in a motorcycle ''accident,'' Claire suspects foul play. Rothenberg may know her biology, but the leaden start, inarticulate emotions, and starched, unamiable characters will quickly dampen reader interest.
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, VA
Genre: Mystery
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