Death by Tea Continues the Bookstore Café Mysteries with a Stronger Character Focus

Goodreads | Death by Tea

Release date: November 24, 2015

Publisher: Kensington

Genre: Cozy Mystery

Synopsis:

Mystery lovers have descended on Pine Hills for this year’s book club competition, to be held at Krissy Hancock’s bookstore café. But the killer in their midst seems determined to outwit all the armchair sleuths—and send Krissy to the remainder bin forever.
 
Just before two dueling book clubs are set to square off at Death by Coffee, one of the competitors turns up dead—bludgeoned with the silver teapot that was to serve as the prize. Suspicion immediately falls on Krissy, who was seen skulking around town in dark clothes on the night of the murder.
 
To clear her name and find the real killer, Krissy turns to an old flame, Officer Paul Dalton. But even Paul can’t ignore the trail of evidence that seems to point in her direction. And with Krissy’s personal nemesis, Officer John Buchannan, working overtime to pin the murder on her, it will take an amazing feat of detective work to close the book for good on an elusive killer. . .

Review:

I definitely had a better reading experience with Death by Tea than I did with the first book. Krissy still isn’t my favorite cozy mystery heroine, but she felt more likable this time around, and I found myself settling into her character and the world of Pine Hills a little more easily. That alone made a big difference for me.

I also enjoyed getting more of Krissy and Vicki’s friendship and seeing more of Krissy actually spending time at the bookstore café. That might sound like a small thing, but the bookstore café is such a big part of what drew me to this series in the first place, so I was happy to see more of that setting woven into the story. The romantic threads also started to become more interesting, adding another layer to Krissy’s personal life without completely taking over the mystery.

Overall, this felt like a step in the right direction. The mystery kept me more engaged, the characters were starting to click a little better, and I could see the potential of the series more clearly than I did in book one. It wasn’t a five-star read for me, but it was enough of an improvement that I was definitely ready to move on to book three.

Perfect for Readers Who Love

• Bookstore café settings

• Small town cozy mysteries

• Rival book clubs and literary drama

• Amateur sleuths caught in the middle

• Cozy mysteries with a touch of romance

• Best friend dynamics

• Small town community casts

• Series that improve as they go

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