A quintessentially English murder mystery, set in a sleepy village, where a cricket match is taking place between two rival villages. Jenny Starling, the travelling cook is preparing the ‘Cricket Tea’. A special occasion as it is the cricket club’s centenary, and they decided to splash on a professionally prepared tea.

The plot is quite slow-paced, in keeping with the village cricket, and the first murder victim is not really a surprise, he is a careless man, who steals hearts, and wives and behaves recklessly with other people’s money. The choice of the victim may not be surprising, but the murder is.

It seems like everyone has a motive and an alibi. The police are not quite as bumbling, as they are usually portrayed in the Jenny Starling mysteries. Indeed, there is a grudging admiration between the cook and the detective inspector, that provides some lighter moments amid, the murders.

The plot twists are cleverly written, and the final revelation by the amateur sleuth, plausible. The story has plenty of visual imagery, so it’s easy to imagine the character and setting. Not my favourite Jenny Starling mystery, but a lovely way to relax in the sunshine for an hour or two, maybe at a village cricket match?

I received a copy of this book from Joffe Books via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

Faith Martin's novel was originally published as Just Not Cricket, and reads more like a cozy mystery. Our astute and shrewd freelance cook, Jenny Starling, has been hired to cater for a village cricket match, celebrating the club's centenary. And it not before long that Jenny has a murder on her hands, a batsman, has gone missing and his body is found, he has been hit with an old cricket bat in the back of his head. The victim is a good looking entitled young man, Tristan Jones, a partner in his father's firm, with a penchant for chasing women, including married women, and a stockbroker responsible for losing people their life savings by taking financial risks that failed.. This gives amateur sleuth Jenny a host of suspects to investigate, and this time she works with the police., when another murder occurs.. This is a light hearted and entertaining mystery with an engaging central character in Jenny. Many thanks to Joffe Books for an ARC..

Another excellent cosy detective story featuring our peripatetic star cook, Jenny Starling; this time she's catering for a centenary "do" for a local cricket team. and their neighbouring rivals. What she can do with a standard 4 hob cooker in a small clubhouse kitchenette is no-one's business let alone solving a murder or two but, nope, not fresh strawberries cooked in the scones please! There are two well described detectives - the senior somewhat dour but with a sense of humour, and the fit, fashion conscious sergeant. The first victim is the lothario Tris, financial guru, junior partner in his father's business and fancying both himself and anything in a short skirt, most of whom reciprocate by all accounts. Other characters are the glamorous and much younger-than-father stepmother, the unhappily married couple, an angst ridden teenager, his mother and grandfather facing financial ruin from what turned out to be an unwise investment. The story is rather obvious but locations and characters are well drawn and the pace keeps up to the end. There are, perhaps, fewer red herrings than in the previous 'Jenny' stories that I've read but it is a light read and fun. It is also nice to see her working amicable with the two detectives for once. This is more Midsomer Murders than junior Miss Marple this time as Jenny works alongside the detectives with rather less of the going freelance and chatting to everyone involved herself. I thoroughly enjoyed it, it made a pleasant change to some of the rather dark, or even black, thrillers I've recently been reading and I look forward to reading others in the series. Thanks to NetGalley and Joffe Books for an advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

Please note this book was first published as “JUST NOT CRICKET” under Faith Martin’s pen name JOYCE CAT.

Not much of a sports fan, traveling cook and sometimes amateur detective Jenny Starling, is catering for a village cricket match.

One of the best players, Tristan Jones, is found dead, his head bashed in with a cricket bat. Tris was well-known in the village, a handsome young man, who made the rounds with the resident young ladies.

Suspects are many ... any of the ladies he may have spurned, a jealous lover, husbands of the married ladies he dallied with, people who lost money from investing with him.

And then another body is found .....

Who wanted these two people dead? Were they killed by the same person ... or are there two killers?

This is a baffling case, but at least the local detective has heard of Jenny and is willing to use her quick mind to help him solve the murders.

As with the others in this series, this is well written with mystery and suspense from beginning to end. Jenny is a terrific character ... she's smart, she's sassy with a sense of humor. She also finds herself involved in murders and it's her quick mind that helps her help the police. The village residents are deftly drawn and lend an air of credibility to the plot.

Although sixth in this series, THE TEAPOT MYSTERY can be easily read as a stand alone. As always I highly recommend starting at the very beginning .... the reader won't be sorry.

Many thanks to the author / Joffe Books / Books n All Book Promotions / Netgalley for the digital copy of this crime mystery. Opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Joffe Books for an advance copy of The Teamtime Mystery, the sixth novel to feature travelling cook and amateur sleuth, Jenny Starling.

Jenny is catering an annual village cricket match when one of the players, Tristan Jones is found dead. Tris as he is known was a handsome, arrogant man who had managed to upset a slew of villagers so suspects are not thin on the ground. Inspector Clausen soon finds Jenny and her quick brain to be a valuable ally.

I enjoyed The Teatime Mystery which is a traditional cosy with an ingenious solution. It follows Ms Martin’s standard “recipe” for this series with Jenny getting involved reluctantly or maybe not when the police detectives recognise her and her previous experience. As ever there are plenty of suspects, some with stronger motives than others, and some good reasons for hiding what they know. As a result the clues are all there if the reader can see them logically as Jenny does, but this reader was clueless until the denouement. Still, it is fun to try and work it out and my main suspect was innocent!

Jenny Starling is an interesting protagonist. She is tall and rubenesque so attracts attention wherever she goes but being down to earth and eminently sensible she pays little heed to this attention. Instead she is devoted to her cooking and fresh food in general. I like the way she is able to make connections that elude others. I was a bit disappointed that the boyfriend she met in the previous novel didn’t get a mention as it would have added an extra dimension to her character.

The Teatime Mystery is a good read which I have no hesitation in recommending.

As usual this book is very well written, and the sleuthing of Ms Starling is very good. Unfortunately, a large part of the book is like a Latin soap opera in order to introduce all the characters, and that's not so good.

The Teatime Mystery is the sixth in the Jenny Starling cosy mystery series and was first published as Just Not Cricket under her nom de plume, Joyce Cato. Each instalment in the series just gets better and better and Jenny Starling is a fantastic protagonist. This time she uses her amateur investigative skills to solve the murder of a philandering cricketer and it's is a captivating tale. I mean, what could be better — delicious food, mystery and super sleuthing?

This is a charming addition with many twists in the tale and the locations are all so vivid; I see the type of village setting as portrayed in Midsomer Murders, and that's no bad thing. It is so readable that you get through it very quickly or at least I did. There are also a slew of credible and interesting characters and a well-crafted plot. It was a highly entertaining way to spend a few hours. Many thanks to Joffe Books for an ARC.

This is book number six in the excellent series featuring travelling cook Jenny Starling, and was previously published as "Just Not Cricket" under Faith Martin's pen name Joyce Cato. Jenny is in her late twenties and stands around 6 feet tall. With her blue eyes and shoulder length black hair she has what is kindly referred to as a junoesque figure which seems to startle many of the men she meets. Jenny's overwhelming mission in life is to feed people, in fact food comes above anything else in her eyes. Unfortunately in her travels as a cook-for-hire she has become embroiled in several murder investigations and her uncanny ability to read people has often helped her expose the killer. In this story Jenny has been hired to do the catering for Much Rousham's annual grudge cricket match against Steeple Clinton since it is their centenary year and therefore a very special occasion. It all seems to be going very well, although Jenny does find herself overhearing some very interesting conversations between some of the players and supporters. One cricketer Tris Jones, son of the local "Lord of the Manor", appears to be chasing after any woman around, including family and married women, there is a married couple who are at each others' throats, and a pensioner who may have been swindled out of his life savings, making his family revengeful to say the least. Just your average cricket crowd apparently. The sun is shining, tea is served and the typical Jenny banquet goes down a storm with all concerned. The home team go in to bat and after the first man is out, they find that one of their number has disappeared, only to be found dead behind the pavilion bashed over the head with a bat. Plenty of people might have had the desire to do away with him, but when the police arrive and start their questioning of the witnesses it becomes clear that no one could have actually had the opportunity. The very astute detective inspector and his sergeant are both well aware of Jenny's reputation and decide to make use of her talents when necessary, although in this story she takes more of a back seat, quietly observing until all the pieces of the jigsaw fall into place. A real "locked room" type mystery and very enjoyable.

Well Faith Martin please keep these coming...another engrossing tale of Jenny Starling and her knack for solving bizarre murders as well as providing delicious meals.

These stories are so easy to imagine your actually there at the scene or dinner table and i love them

Book Description

THE TEATIME MYSTERY by Faith Martin Discover a new series of whodunits by million-selling author Faith Martin.
These charming mysteries will have you scratching your head to work out who the murderer is.
Meet Jenny Starling: travelling cook and reluctant amateur detective. Please note this book was first published as “JUST NOT CRICKET” under Faith Martin’s pen name JOYCE CATO.
Jenny Starling is doing the catering for the village cricket match. But she’s not expecting one of the players to turn up dead. Everyone from the village has turned out to watch the match, and with this being the club’s centenary, Jenny Starling has been hired specially to provide her stunning food for the event.
Then the next man up to bat, Tristan Jones, is nowhere to be found. He is discovered behind the pavilion, murdered by a blow to the back of the head with an old cricket bat. The handsome twenty-something had a reputation as a Lothario, with an appetite for married women. Did a scorned woman or a cuckolded husband kill him? However, he’d annoyed other people too. He was a stockbroker who took big risks with other people’s money and lost their life savings. Soon another body turns up and Jenny Starling is going to need all her cunning to crack this complex case.
This is the sixth in a series of enjoyable murder mysteries with a great cast of characters and baffling crimes which will keep you in suspense to the final page.
Perfect for fans of classic whodunits by authors like Agatha Christie, LJ Ross, TE Kinsey, and J.R. Ellis.

My Thoughts

This is the sixth book in Faith Martin's Jenny Starling traveling cook and amateur sleuth series. Jenny has taken a job catering for a cricket match, and it seems that almost everyone has something to hide. If you have read any of the previous books( or even just the book description for The Teatime Mystery), you will know that Jenny is a fabulous cook, and wherever she goes, murder seems to be on the menu. In addition to her cooking skills, Jenny is a keen observer of people, but with too many suspects and not enough clues, Jenny will have to use all of her skills to figure out whodunnit and why.

This was an easy read with some interesting characters. I have to say that each book in this series makes me 'like' Jenny a little bit more. I was a huge fan of the author's Hillary Greene series, and I am pleasantly surprised that even though the location and characters change with each of Jenny's books, I find myself looking forward to what she will come across next. I guess it is a bit like my love of Midsomer Murders.......no matter what small village you wind up in, someone always seems to have a reason for murder!

I received a DRC from Joffe Books through NetGalley.

Jenny Starling #6

Everyone has turned out to watch the village cricket match. Jenny Starling is doing the catering so we know someone is going to die, but not from her cooking. People who have read this series know that Jenny is a traveling cook with a nose to solve a good crime. This time it's a cricketer who has been murdered by a blow to the back of the head by a cricket bat. He had a reputation of being a ladies man, especially married ones. He was also a stockbroker who liked to take big risks. Then another body turns up. Will Jenny be able to solve these murder cases? This is a really good, easy to read series. There is a few red herrings along the way. This is my favourite one so far.

I would like to thank NetGalley, Joffe Books and the author Faith Martin for my ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Each book in this series is better than the previous and this one is no exception.
A good mystery, an interesting plot, and a lovely cast of characters makes this book an engaging and entertaining reading experience.
Highly recommended!
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.