Summary: Tea & Treachery (Tea by the Sea Mysteries #1) by Vicki Delany
As the proud proprietor
and head pastry chef of Tea by the Sea, a traditional English tearoom on the
picturesque bluffs of Cape Cod, Roberts has her hands full, often literally.
But nothing keeps her busier than steering her sassy grandmother, Rose, away from
trouble. Rose operates the grand old Victorian B & B adjacent to Lily’s tea
shop . . . for now. An aggressive real estate developer, Jack Ford, is pushing
hard to rezone nearby land, with an eye toward building a sprawling golf
resort, which would drive Rose and Lily out of business.
Tempers are already steaming, but things really get sticky
when Ford is found dead at the foot of Rose’s property and the police think she had something
to do with his dramatic demise. Lily can’t let her grandmother get burned by a
false murder charge. So she starts her own investigation and discovers Ford’s
been brewing bad blood all over town, from his jilted lover to his trophy wife
to his shady business partners. Now, it’s down to Lily to stir up some clues,
sift through the suspects, and uncover the real killer before Rose is left
holding the tea bag (from Goodreads).
Book Review: Tea & Treachery (Tea by the Sea Mysteries #1) by
When real estate developer Jack Ford is
found dead on grandmother’s B & B property, tea shop owner Lily Roberts
tries to help, but running Tea by the Sea teashop in tourist season on Cape Cod
while keeping her grandmother out of trouble is big job. The police are
determined grandmother Rose has committed the crime, so Lily carves out time
for some private investigating.
Tea & Treachery is first installment in Vicki Delany’s Tea by the Sea Mysteries series published by Kensington Books. The contemporary plot is set in fictional town North Augusta, in Cape Cod. We follow Tea by the Sea tea shop owner Lily Roberts when a murder happens on her grandmother’s B & B property, Victoria by the Sea. The victim is property developer Jack Ford who has made a lot of enemies in the area because of his dodgy business practices. He has tried to force Grandmother Rose Campbell to sell her B & B but Rose has resisted by some intense verbal altercations, so police suspect she has motive for murder. Granddaughter Lily has her hands full, but carves out time to help her grandmother by doing her own private investigation. Soon secrets come to light which changes the case entirely.
Main character Lily Roberts is pastry chef and owner of local
tea room. She has grown up in New York, but has recently moved to The Cape to
help her grandmother and have a better lifestyle. I liked her a lot, and found
her a suitable character to calm her grandmother down.
Supporting character Rose Campbell is
the temperamental, opinionated and demanding English grandmother who insults the
police and not is helping her case at all. She refuses to sell her property
because she is passionate about environmental issues. I loved her feisty and eccentric
character. She kind of “makes” this story and is my absolute favorite.
For me the best part of this
story was the vivid nature descriptions of the Cape Cod area which drew me in and
made me feel I was actually there. The descriptions of the baking involved in
the running of the tea shop and the recepies at the back was very enjoyable. I
felt the dialogue was light and humorous. A perfect summer read.
I felt the worst part was when property developers and
council members turned up to force Rose into selling her grand stately home
promising her progress, money and jobs. -Whatever would get them the property.
I felt bad for Rose, but she certainly didn’t cave. I appreciated the dramatic element.
Tea & Treachery was an entertaining plot set in The Cape with focus on
environmental vs property development issues. Well developed characters and
good descriptive writing and dialogue made for a perfect summer read. The ending was a total surprise to me. I suspected
plenty of people along the way, but the actual culprit evaded my attention.
Fans of Vicki Delany would love this
new series. As will readers who enjoy cozy mysteries. Similar authors to
explore might be Victoria Gilbert or Kirsten Weiss. Thank you to Kensington
Books and NetGalley for this eARC which gave me the opportunity to share my
honest review. All opinions are my own.
My Rating: 4 stars / 5.
Main reasons: entertaining plot, good descriptive writing, surprise ending
Get your copy here
Book Details: (from Amazon)
Hardcover: 304 pages
Publisher: Kensington (July 28, 2020)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1496725069
ISBN-13: 978-1496725066
About The Author
Vicki Delany is one of Canada's most varied and prolific crime writers and a national bestseller in the U.S. Most recently, she is the author of the Year Round Christmas cozy mysteries from Berkley, The Sherlock Holmes Bookshop series from Crooked Lane and (writing under the pen name of Eva Gates) the Lighthouse Library mysteries also from Crooked Lane.
Although she's loving writing cozy mysteries these days in the past she's written standalone novels of suspense (MORE THAN SORROW, BURDEN OF MEMORY), a traditional village police procedural series (The Constable Molly Smith novels - the eighth of which is UNREASONABLE DOUBT) and the lighthearted Klondike Gold Rush Series (Incl GOLD DIGGER and GOLD WEB)
She also writes Rapid Reads novellas for Orca Books including the mulit-award-nominated JUBA GOOD and BLOOD AND BELONGING.
Vicki's work has been nomiated for Arthur Ellis Awards, the Derringer, The Bony Blithe, and the Ontario Library Association's Golden Oak.
Vicki is a past-president of the Crime Writers of Canada, a member of Capital Crime Writers, and Sisters in Crime and a founder and organizer of Women Killing It! A festival of female crime writers held each year in Prince Edward County, Ontario, where she lives among the tomato and sunflower fields. Visit author's web page: http://vickidelany.com/
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