I am continuing to read and enjoy the Daisy Tea Garden series and hope to get caught up soon. This is a series that contains just as much character based story as mystery, although this one seemed to be a bit shy on the mystery. Daisy's Tea Shop has provided the food for the Homeless Shelter Fundraiser. Not everyone is happy about the shelter and there are protestors at the tea. There is also another storyline dealing with a tragedy at a fertility clinic where the refrigeration fails and all the stored eggs are destroyed. Hiram, a local lawyer is representing the fertility clinic and is also a friend of an Amish man who left the faith and is involved in the protest. When Hiram turns up dead, Eli is a suspect as his family is one involved in the lawsuit against the clinic. Daisy doesn't want to get involved, but as usual, she is drawn into the investigation. Meanwhile, her family situation with her daughter and her family is pulling at her as well. A mother wants to help, but her daughter wants to prove they can do it on their own.

For some reason this book didn't pull me in like the previous ones in this series. Perhaps it was the amount of time given to the family issues taking over the book, when I was looking for more of the mystery elements. It was interesting to see the Amish community more involved in this book. In the last book we met Brielle, a friend of Jazzy's and she was once again a large part of this book with another storyline involving her family. The mystery was well written and was the part of the story that pulled me in. I am hoping the next book in this series is more mystery plotted.

I really loved this book in a new to my series and author. I can't wait to read the next one. The characters and location really add to the plot. This book keeps you guessing until the end

I appreciate the publisher allowing me to read this book. I really enjoyed reading it the plot was interesting and the characters made me want to know more about them. I highly recommend.

I’ve loved this series since book one.

I love the sense of family and love this series has. Daisy is definitely one of the more relatable cozy protagonists for me.

While Daisy is sleuthing and solving crimes, she is running her own business, being a single mom and grandmother, and balancing a personal relationship. And of course, tea!!

Murder with Orange Pekoe Tea by Karen Rose Smith is book six in the A Daisy's Tea Garden Mystery series. I love this series. The protagonist, Daisy, is older with daughters and a grandchild making this a different Cozy.
The characters are likeable and relatable. There are plot twists and suspects that have you guessing to the end. The story also has family, humor, and romance. You will find yourself wanting to visit the tea garden for lunch.
I was given an ARC by Kensington via NetGalley for an honest review.

I have voluntarily read and reviewed a copy of this title given to me through NetGalley. This book was just absolutely wonderful. It was just so easy to get lost in and I just couldn’t put it down. I just lost myself within this amazing story. I most definitely will read more by this author.

Always enjoy reading Karen Rose Smith cozy mysteries. This series has fun and charismatic characters. Good story

Murder With Orange Pekoe Tea by Karen Rose Smith is a part of the Daisy's Tea Garden Mysteries, which is a fabulous series. Daisy is a middle-aged mother of two daughters, one, Vi, who is married with a small son, and one, Jazzi, who is still in high school. The story starts as Lawrence Bishop introduced his daughter and son-in-law, Piper and Emory, and explained that they had been using IVF (in vitro fertilization) until the tragedy at the Hope Clinic had destroyed their embryos. Lawsuits were in the future. Emory wanted to be part of a class action suit; Piper did not. At the garden part in support of the proposed homeless shelter, Daisy and plenty of other people, saw a loud dispute between Emory and the lawyer for Hope Shelter, Hiram Hershberger. Soon after he was found dead. Sadly, there were plenty of suspects.

This is a terrific series. What better place than a bar or beauty salon to overhear tidbits of information, which Daisy often did. Vi's sojourn with post partum depression had lad her to join a group of young mothers, which seemed to be helping. Her friend, Ramona, had a young child but had planned for another, using the Hope Clinic. She was beyond disappointed. Jazzi was preparing to go to college. She and Jonas were taking their relationship slowly, but it was growing more serious. Zeke, the local police detective and Jonas had repaired their friendship, making him a part of their lives as well. Things were really looking good, but of course, Daisy had to get involved. This is a lovely little murder mystery with an interesting murder vehicle, and a series of clues leading Daisy and the reader to the solution. This series is in my top five cozy mystery series. I can't recommend it enough.

I was invited to read a free e-ARC of Murder With Orange Pekoe Tea by Kensington, through Netgalley. All thoughts and opinions are mine. #netgalley #kensington #murderwithorangepekoetea

Daisy Swanson is serving hot tea at a fundraiser for a homeless shelter but temps are getting heated. Daisy’s orange pekoe is flowing at another fundraiser where she meets a new friend Piper a young woman whose hopes for motherhood were dashed by a foul-up at a fertility clinic. The event is disrupted by masked protesters who object to building a shelter in Willow Creek for the homeless. Among the angry crowd is Eli who left the Amish community some time ago with help from a lawyer named Hiram. Hiram is also representing the fertility clinic in a class action suit soon after he turns up dead by an insulin injection. Daisy gets drawn in since Piper’s husband had been pretty steamed at the victim and didn’t want to hide it. She just wants to spend time with her dog she and her boyfriend just adopted but she has to find a killer. An enjoyable well written story with great characters.

Murder with Orange Pekoe Tea is the 7th book in a delightful series by Karen Rose Smith. Set in beautiful Lancaster county, the book follows Daisy Swanson who owns a local tea garden and occasionally solves murders.

This book was my favorite in the series so far. I liked the characters and where they are finding themselves in life right now. The interactions were pleasant and not overdrawn. The mystery was standard cozy fare, but not boring or obvious. The main reason for enjoying this book though, in my opinion, is the setting. Lancaster county in the summer is a pleasure not to be missed. The author allowed us to experience all of it- raspberry pie, lightening bugs, local festivals and pot pie fundraisers. I wanted to be there!

Thank you to NetGalley, Kensington books and Karen Rose Smith for the ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I liked this series and I think this is the best installment in some time. There's less family drama and more attention to Daisy and her relationship with Jonas.
There's a lot going on and, even if I liked the mystery, it was often on the background.
Well developed character, and entertaining plot.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

Another excellent edition to a wonderful series! Full of twists and turns that leaves you wanting more and enjoying each moment until the end when the killer is caught!

Tea garden owner Daisy Swanson is thrilled to be donating her time to a social event meant to promote the building of a new homeless shelter in her small town of Willow Creek, Pennsylvania. With reports of homelessness in their area on the rise, kind-hearted Daisy wants to make sure that anyone who wants a place to get back on their feet can find the help they need. Unfortunately, her attitude isn’t shared by all her neighbors, including a group of masked protestors who show up to violently disrupt the proceedings.

Once the protestors are hauled off by the local police, Daisy tries, with some success, to keep the social going, with the assistance of her tea garden staff and her boyfriend Jonas Groft. It helps that she’s made a new friend at the social in the form of Piper Wagner, a young woman whose dreams of parenthood have recently faced a daunting setback. A mishap at the local Hope Fertility Clinic destroyed the embryos that Piper and her husband Emory had created after much tribulation. While Piper sees this as a sign to explore more paths to parenthood, Emory is intent on suing the clinic, to the point of getting into an altercation with clinic lawyer Hiram Hershberger. Fortunately or otherwise, Hiram is called away to the defense of one of the protestors, who turns out to be the ex-Amish Eli Lapp.

Jonas is pretty surprised at Eli’s involvement in the protest. He often hires the young man to work at his furniture store, and has an overall positive opinion of him. So when Hiram is subsequently murdered and Eli is fingered as prime suspect, Jonas simply can’t believe it.

Daisy isn’t quite so quick to dismiss the idea. When the police are unable to determine Eli’s guilt, and begin to widen their net to look into Piper and Emory as well, Daisy gets drawn into investigating herself. But when her efforts draw the wrathful attentions of a killer, will a serious threat cause Daisy to back off from a case for the very first time?

This was another well-considered installment of the Daisy’s Tea Garden Mystery series, with slightly less of an emphasis on her extended family and a little more on her relationship with Jonas, as well as her friendships with the various denizens of Willow Grove. As much as I hated to see Daisy experience trauma, I thought the depiction of her state of mind after she was attacked by the killer was both sensitive and convincing. Hunting killers is dangerous work, and Daisy handles it very well for an amateur.

There were three original recipes included here, and since I particularly enjoy Karen Rose Smith’s soup recipes, I had to try this one:

QUOTE
Corn Chowder

1 cup chopped red onion
4 tablespoons bacon drippings
1 can chicken broth (14 ounces)
2 cups sliced carrots
1 cup sliced celery
¼ cup chopped fennel (the stalk)
2-3 cups cubed potatoes
1 can whole kernel corn (14 ounces)
1 clove of garlic, grated
½ teaspoon salt
⅛ teaspoon ground white pepper
1 can creamed corn (14 ounces)
2 tablespoons flour
1 ¼ cups milk

Saute onion in bacon drippings in a soup pot. Add chicken broth, carrots, celery, fennel, potatoes, can of whole kernel corn, garlic, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil and then simmer until potatoes are tender (about 15 minutes). Stir in creamed corn. Bring to a boil and stir. Return to simmer.

Whisk flour into milk and add to soup and stir well. Simmer 5 to 10 minutes, stirring now and then.

Serves 8.
END QUOTE

For the drippings, I used a mix of beef bacon drippings and duck fat, which definitely lent body to this hearty, mostly vegetable soup. There was a bit of a mix-up at the grocery store and I wound up with two cans of creamed corn instead of one creamed and one kernel, but I think the end result turned out quite well regardless. I really enjoyed the addition of both fennel and white pepper to this soup, which added delicate frissons of flavor. My family enjoyed bowls of this with hearty slices of baguette for dipping. I would also recommend a little chopped bacon for garnish if you have any handy, though I just used a little dusting of fresh fennel myself.

Next week, we head north to bake some amazing cookies even as an act of apology misfires, resulting in a sleuth needing to solve a murder and clear her name. Do join me!

Another great book in the series, Murder with Orange Pekoe Tea, is about Daisy's orange pekoe at a fundraiser where she's also made a new friend,

Piper, a young woman whose hopes for motherhood were dashed by a foul-up at a fertility clinic. But before they can settle into a long conversation, the event is disputed by masked protestors who object to building a shelter in Willow Creek. Among the angry crowd is Eli—who left his Amish community some time ago, with help from a lawyer named Hiram.

A great addition to the series and a must-read cozy mystery!

For those times when only a cozy, but one with some depth, will do…Murder with Orange Pekoe Tea is the seventh entry in this series with the name of a food or a tea in the title. In this entry, Daisy is attending a fund raiser when there is a disruption. Or course there will be a murder and Daisy will be involved in its’ solution.

Amidst the mayhem some important issues are touched on. There is a plot involving a fertility clinic. There is another strand to the story about the community wanting to build a shelter for those in need.

Read the book to find out how the plot strands come together and how the case is solved. As a bonus, enjoy the recipes that are also included.

I enjoyed the characters in this book. I also liked the Amish Country setting. Both are well portrayed.

This was the first in the series that I read. I am pretty sure that I will go back and spend time with some of the earlier entries.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher. All opinions are my own.

Dollycas’s Thoughts

In this 7th Daisy’s Tea Garden Mystery, Willow Creek is planning for a homeless shelter and is trying to raise the needed funds now that the land has been donated. Daisy Swanson is doing her part by providing tea (Orange Pekoe) and some delicious sweets. But everyone is not in favor of the shelter and a bunch of masked protestors try to shut the event down by overturning the tables and causing a ruckus. Daisy notices that one of the protesters is a young man, Eli Lapp, who left the Amish community. She is surprised he would be involved in such an altercation. He did take a moment to confront his friend and local lawyer, Hiram Hershberger.

Hiram is a busy man because he is also representing a local fertility clinic that through an employee error several embryos were lost. The affected individuals are bringing a class-action suit against the facility. Daisy met Piper a young woman who lost her embryos in the tragic event and her husband, Emory who is blaming everyone connected to the event, even Hiram. When Hiram is killed Daisy fears Emory may be responsible. Because of her budding friendship with Piper Daisy decides to do a little investigating of her own.

The author continues to put Daisy in some hot-topic situations. A fertility clinic that killed a batch of embryos and a homeless shelter that could bring some unsavory people to the neighborhood. Daisy has a good head on her shoulders that allows her to see both sides of a situation. It is to the author’s credit to create such a well-developed protagonist for this series and it is not just this main character that is well-developed. All of the core characters have grown over the course of the series but she has left plenty of room for future growth. Family is always a clear focus in any story in this series. I did enjoy that Daisy’s daughters were more involved in aspects of this story. I am also very happy with the way Daisy’s relationship with Jonas is proceeding and that they have added a wonderful canine to the mix. The author does blend the Englisch and Amish communities that are close in Willow Creek with a balanced hand. I always seem to learn something new about the Amish way of life in each book.

I do love the tea shop setting where many of the suspects could drop in at any time. Daisy just needs to keep her ears and eyes open. The foods described always make my tummy rumble. I am not a big tea drinker but Daisy could convert me quite quickly.

Ms. Smith has penned a perfectly plotted mystery with plenty of suspects. The method of murder was unique and the clues were well placed throughout the story. I was very wrapped up in all that was happening and I didn’t hone in on anyone decisively. The ending was very exciting and surprising. I do enjoy it when that happens because that means the author did an excellent job of diverting my thinking.

Murder with Orange Pekoe Tea is a marvelous cozy mystery with interesting subplots too. The pace was quick and the characters drew me deeply into the story. I am so looking forward to my next visit to Daisy’s Tea Garden and Willow Creek.

In this 7th book in the 'Daisy's Tea Garden Mystery' series, tearoom owner/amateur sleuth Daisy Swanson investigates the murder of a lawyer. The book works fine as a standalone.

*****

When she was left a widow with two teenage daughters, Daisy Swanson moved from Florida to her hometown of Willow Creek in the Amish region of Pennsylvania. There Daisy and her Aunt Iris run 'Daisy's Tea Garden', a charming eatery that serves soup, salad, sandwiches, pastries, and tea.

Daisy's older daughter Vi is now married with a baby, and Daisy's younger daughter Jazzi is getting ready for college. Daisy's romantic life had some ups and downs but she's now in a serious relationship with Jonas Groft, a former police detective who now makes custom wood furniture.

As the story opens, the Willow Creek Town Council is holding a fundraiser for a proposed homeless shelter. Daisy and Aunt Iris provide the refreshments, including orange pekoe tea, snickerdoodles, chocolate espresso cookies, various flavors of whoopie pies, and more.

The fund-raising event is going well until a group of protestors in inhalation masks show up, shouting "No homeless shelter in Willow Creek, No homeless shelter in Willow Creek" again and again. The police round up the protestors, most of whom go quietly. However the protest leader Eli Lapp - who grew up in the Amish community but left as a teenager - is uncooperative. Eli refuses to take off his mask, and insists on being represented by his lawyer, Hiram Hershberger, who isn't thrilled about the protest.

As it happens Hershberger is also the attorney for the Hope Clinic, a fertility center that accidently destroyed its frozen eggs and embryos, dashing the hopes of many would-be parents. The devastated patients are talking about suing the clinic - which refuses to return their money - and are furious with Hershberger for being on the wrong side.

Hershberger is soon found dead, and the main suspects are Eli Lapp, who was known to clash with Hiram on occasion, and Piper and Emory - a couple whose embryos had been destroyed by the fertility clinic. Emory had argued with Hershberger at the fundraiser, and the clash was caught on camera and shown on the news.

Daisy knows the prime suspects because Eli works at Jonas's woodworking shop and she'd spoken to Piper and Emory about adoption, since she'd adopted a daughter herself. Daisy fears one of these acquaintances might be wrongly arrested for Hiram's murder, and she involves herself in the investigation.

Daisy garners clues both by overhearing conversations at Daisy's Tea Garden and by speaking with community members, who trust Daisy more than they do the cops. Daisy shares her investigative findings with Detective Morris Rappaport, but not always in a timely manner.....thus putting herself at risk from the killer.

Meanwhile, in Daisy's private life, she visits with her daughter Vi, son-in-law Foster, and grandson Sammy; helps Jazzi's friend Brielle deal with family issues; counsels members of the Mommy Group who suffered losses at the fertility clinic; plans a July 4th bash at Daisy's Tea Garden; helps her boyfriend Jonas adopt a dog; and more.

;The plot doesn't make complete sense, since the clinic would surely have insurance and settle with the affected parents. Nevertheless, this is an entertaining cozy with likable recurring characters.

Recipes in the book include corn chowder, crunchy slaw, and chocolate espresso cookies.

Thanks to Netgalley, Karen Rose Smith, and Kensington Books for a copy of the book.

This book is the latest entry in the Daisy’s Tea Garden mystery series. The familiar cast of characters is back and Daisy is front and center with a new mystery to solve. This book includes the very raw topic of infertility and feelings of loss that come with it. Perhaps because of my personal experiences, I found it harder to read. However, the characters were well drawn, the tea shop is a marvel I long to visit. Life in a community of Englishers and Amish is a lovely place to explore in this series, and the heart-warming friendships are a balm to my spirit. While not my most favorite of the series, this book still receives four stars for great writing and even better characterization!

The fertility clinic that is in Daisy's town is up against a class-action lawsuit. People are very upset because someone at the clinic messed up and they lost all of their hope for future babies. When the lawyer representing the clinic is found dead, there are too many suspects to count. Daisy is determined to help the police find out what happened with her unique ability to find out town gossip. Can she help so that the wrong person doesn't end up behind bars?

I adore this series so much! I think this is one of my favorite cozy mystery series. I really like Daisy as a character. I adore her daughters and her aunt. Although, I missed her aunt a bit in this book because she wasn't featured that much. I love Jonas so much and his relationship with Daisy. This story was a bit harder to read because of the subject matter. But I did enjoy that we got to see these characters having real problems. I did have a feeling about the killer before they were revealed. I was still surprised at the end, though. I cannot wait to see more of Daisy and Jonas in this series in the future!

Daisy returns in this seventh mystery and is busier than ever with her Tea Garden, family, the growing relationship with her boyfriend, and, of course, murder.

Plans for a new homeless shelter bring masked protestors to the otherwise successful fundraiser and news of a terrible accident at the fertility clinic is making the rounds. When the lawyer representing the clinic is found dead, Daisy finds herself drawn into the investigation.

I enjoy this series and have grown to love the characters. Daisy is a more mature than average cozy sleuth, and I like her intelligence, fortitude, wisdom, and compassion. Family is always front and center in these books, and the relationships are authentic and relatable. I feel invested in Daisy’s romance with Jonas, older daughter Vi and Foster’s newly married young parenting experiences, younger daughter Jazzi’s challenges trying to be part of her birth mother’s life, and Daisy’s parents, Aunt Iris, and friends. The cats are a warm addition, and there is now a dog in the mix.

This book successfully deals with real-life issues, and author Smith does not gloss over the realities of homelessness and infertility struggles yet maintains the lighter nature of the cozy genre. I enjoy the mix of English and Amish and the small town Pennsylvania setting. The story moves along at a brisk pace, and the mystery well done. I had a hard time pinpointing the killer.

MURDER WITH ORANGE PEKOE TEA is a nice addition to a lovely series. I look forward to meeting up with Daisy again soon.

I received an ARC of this title from Kensington Books through NetGalley and voluntarily shared my thoughts here.