In Cold Chamomile

December 2, 2019
Avon’s smoothly written third a Tea and a Read mystery (after 2019’s Sweet Tea and Secrets) finds former tour guide Callie Aspen and her great-aunt Iphy, who owns the vintage tea room where Callie helps out, hosting a Valentine’s Day celebration in Hearts Harbor, Mass. Everything is going according to plan, until Iphy is startled to see that the singer for the event is her long-lost love, Sean Strong. Iphy has more to worry about after TV celebrity Mr. King, a book appraiser
who tries to cheat the locals, is found stabbed to death and Sean becomes the prime suspect. Ignoring the police request to back off, Iphy is determined to clear Sean’s name, even at risk to her own life. The tension rises as Callie and her police deputy boyfriend, Ace Falk, each pursues the murder from a different direction, putting their relationship in peril. Subplots that don’t necessarily move the main plot forward are enjoyable enough in their own right. The unexpected ending will leave the reader eagerly waiting to see what happens next to Callie. Agent: Jill Marsal, Marsal Lyon Literary.

December 1, 2019
A Valentine's Day fundraiser is loaded with surprises, including murder. Callie Aspen gave up her job as a worldwide tour guide to help her great aunt Iphy run her tea shop in Heart's Harbor, Maine. After several dangerous adventures revolving around Haywood Hall (Sweet Tea and Secrets, 2019, etc.), Callie and Iphy have been appointed to keep the stately home running as a venue for town activities. They've cooked up a fundraiser featuring a book swap and sale complete with an expert appraiser, an area to meet and greet shelter pets, and a concert. The arrival of Sean Strong from Vienna as a last-minute replacement for the baritone originally scheduled gives Iphy a shock she refuses to explain. And Callie's careful plans are undermined when her friend Quinn upsets his girlfriend, Peggy, who drives off, leaving her kids behind. Then the assistant to librarian Mrs. Forrester tells Callie she's found Mr. King, the book expert, dead. Callie calls her boyfriend, Deputy Ace Falk, to the scene. Ace, who already has his hands full with the sheriff out sick, is never happy when Callie meddles in murder. The evidence suggests that Mrs. Forrester may have stabbed King with a pair of scissors. Certainly the man was arrogant and rude, but was his behavior enough to drive a stranger to murder him? Ace is furious when he finds out that Quinn upset his sister Peggy, who really likes Quinn but can't get over the death of her husband. Despite Ace's disapproval of her activities, Callie can't help sleuthing, especially when she finds out that King may have been cheating people in his appraisals. She also wants to get to the bottom of Iphy's relationship with Strong, who soon becomes a murder suspect. Risking her relationship with Ace, Callie continues to search for clues and question anyone who might have answers in her hunt for the truth. Pleasing characters and romantic interludes brighten an otherwise mundane mystery.

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January 1, 2020
The Valentine's Day event at Haywood Hall, in the coastal village of Heart's Harbor, Maine, looks to be a success. The tea party is being catered by Callie Aspen and her Great-Aunt Iphy, who runs the town's Book Tea Shop; the entertainment is the world-renowned baritone Sean Strong; and the big draw is Mr. King, a TV personality who will appraise books. Apart from a few jitters from the other hosts, all appears to be going well until Iphy sees the baritone and goes ashen. Then during Strong's performance, the TV personality is found dead. As the investigation begins, King's milquetoast assistant reports an argument between his boss and Strong, and Strong is taken into custody. Iphy, who finally reveals to Callie that Strong had been her beau some decades earlier, knows Strong to be innocent and involves Callie in her investigation, much to the annoyance of Deputy Sheriff Falk, whom Callie is dating. Iphy's insistence on pursuing leads uncovers sad truths about the late Mr. King. This third title in the series will appeal to fans of Lorna Barrett and Jenn McKinlay.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2020, American Library Association.)