Tea & Treachery

Cute cozy mystery with great characters. Lily has the challenge of her own business plus having to help her grandmother with her bed and breakfast. In addition solving a crime, protecting her grandmother and much much more. Her friend Bernie, the gardener,, Simon, and Matt, the soon to be neighbor, join the adventure to solve the crime.

Tea by the Sea, a traditional English tearoom on the picturesque bluffs of Cape Cod makes for a beautiful setting. Lily opened her tea room on her grandmothers B&B property. When the land next door is up for sale and to be rezoned into a resort it upsets Lily’s grandmother Rose. Rose is a no non sense type that tells it like it is.
When a man is killed on their property and associated with the land next door they must find the killer. To save their businesses and Roses freedom.
The characters, setting and mystery were wonderful. I can’t wait until the next adventure!

Through NetGalley, I received a free copy of TEA & TREACHERY (Book 1 of the Tea by the Sea Mysteries) by Vicki Delaney in exchange for an honest review. Lily Roberts, a professionally trained pastry chef, has recently left the big city, joined her grandmother Rose in running a Cape Cod B&B, and opened a traditional English tearoom. A man with binoculars begins appearing around town and appears to be stalking the ramshackle property adjacent to Rose’s B&B. Rose soon learns the binocular stalker is real estate developer Jack Ford, who has plans to convert Rose’s neighboring property into a golf resort. Rose, immediately, loudly, and publicly, protests the anticipated development; confronts Ford, the property owner, and the town council member promoting the rezoning; and puts other plans in motion to preserve her own property’s peace. When Ford meets his maker via a long drop from a tall cliff on Rose’s property, Rose is the obvious suspect. The detective’s extreme laziness and habit of fabricating evidence in order to avoid actual investigation is part of local lore, so Lily begins cultivating her own list of suspects. It looks like Lily will have to weed out the killer before the shady detective can replant prickly Rose in a penitentiary.

I thought this was a good start to a new series. I recommend this book to fans of Vicki Delaney and to fans of cozy mysteries featuring murder, seaside settings, B&Bs, bakeries, real estate, historic homes, and crooked officials.

#TeaTreachery #NetGalley

Murder! Tea! Recipes at the end of the book! What's not to like?

Tea & Treachery was a breath of fresh *ocean* air, especially with summer approaching. I'm not usually a cozy mystery reader, but am widening my reading to better recommend titles to customers. This book has great atmosphere, a lovely nod to English tea customs and uncanny investigator setting out to find the truth. I really enjoyed reading about the setting, history of the area, and the glimpses into the high tea practices. I wish we had gotten a little more romance before the book ended, but I enjoyed hanging out with the characters (especially grandma Rose). I would recommend this title for readers that want to escape to somewhere with a rich New England feel while witnessing a mystery unravel.

Bonus for me was the recipes at the end of the book- I really enjoy extras like this that enhance the reading experience. I wish I had known ahead of time that there was a recipe for English biscuits- I would have baked & enjoyed some to enjoy while reading. I definitely recommend a cup of tea while enjoying this one!

4/5 stars for me!

This book is a good start to a new cozy mystery series. The characters grew on me as the book went on, and I'd love to stay at the bed and breakfast then go to the tearoom! I look forward to the next book in the series.