Why is the town around a Canadian whiskey warehouse coated with a strange black fungus? Rogers explored some of the mysteries of microbiology in an unusual locale and took readers on an engaging, lively journey of exploration. “The story skillfully slips the spinach of science into the reader as smoothly as a shot of fine whiskey,” said science reporter Dan Vergano of USA Today. Laura Helmuth, a senior editor for Smithsonian magazine, called it “a charming story—unexpected, vivid, dramatic.” She added that Rogers “deftly explains the relevant history, chemistry, evolutionary biology, taxonomy, and mycology.” Rogers said he became fascinated with what makes a fungus grow outside distillery warehouses. “And then it turned out that a scientist-detective was looking into the mystery, and he was in love with it,” Rogers said. “I think that kind of passion always makes for a good story.”
