Tea & Treachery

June 8, 2020
Former Manhattan pastry chef Lily Roberts, the heroine of this well-crafted series launch from Delany (the Sherlock Holmes Bookshop mysteries), has opened Tea by the Sea next door to Victoria-on-Sea, the bed-and-breakfast owned by her 85-year-old British grandmother, Rose Campbell, in North Augusta, a town on Cape Cod. Slimy real estate developer Jack Ford wants the town council to rezone nearby land for a major resort development, but spunky Rose lets him and the council members know exactly how she feels. When Ford sues Rose and winds up dead on her property, Det. Chuck Williams, of the North Augusta PD, regards the aggrieved Rose as the sole suspect. Refusing to be put out of business or bamboozled by a slippery small-town detective, Lily and Rose start their own investigation, aided by Lily’s friend. Along the way to the satisfying solution, the women find time to consume a variety of tearoom delicacies. Fans of culinary cozies will be sure to come back for more. Agent: Kim Lionetti, Bookends.

June 1, 2020
Lily Roberts, owner of Tea by the Sea, on Cape Cod, tries to calm down her grandmother Rose after learning that an unscrupulous developer, Jack Ford, plans to tear down the house next door to Rose's bed-and-breakfast and build a golf resort. Unfortunately, the outspoken, 85-year-old Rose threatens Ford right before he is found murdered on her property. When Rose becomes the chief suspect in the killing, and the lazy police detective is not inclined to look further, Lilly, Rose, and Lilly's friend Bernadette investigate, aided by two handsome men and a new detective on the force. Rose is threatened, the three women uncover and interview numerous suspects, and Lily almost loses her life when the killer believes Lily has come too close to solving the case. Details about tea, baking, and running a tea shop and bed-and-breakfast are woven throughout a satisfying cozy with a beautifully described setting and a cast of charming, small-town characters. Share this new series with fans of Laura Childs' Tea Shop mysteries.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2020, American Library Association.)