In the run-up to Christmas Eve, organizer of book-themed tea parties Callie Aspen and her lovable Boston terrier will have to conquer threefold trouble—a mysterious will, a missing heirloom and a dead body—to restore the festive spirit to their small town.
This Christmas, Callie Aspen returns to her childhood hideout Heart's Harbor, Maine where her great aunt runs Book Tea, a vintage tearoom where every sweet treat contains a bookish clue. Upon arrival in the fairy-tale snowy town, Callie is drawn into the preparations for a special tea party at Haywood Hall, the rambling house of Heart's Harbor's oldest resident, rich but lonely widow Dorothea Finster, who invited her estranged relatives, old friends and the elite of the town to make a mysterious announcement about her will.
Believing they can touch a part of her fortune, everybody is determined to come, despite not liking each other or even their hostess. And Callie's old friend Sheila complicates things by using the tea party to announce her daughter's engagement, even though her daughter isn't sure she's in love with the young lawyer her mother thinks so perfect for her.
Catering to people who each have their own agenda isn't easy for the Book Tea crew, especially once the valuable engagement ring goes missing and a dead body turns up in the conservatory. Can Callie and her great aunt use their love of clues to dig into the crimes and show their unhappy hostess and squabbling guests the true Christmas spirit? (Summary via Goodreads)
In Peppermint Peril there is no shortage of suspects.....one of the things to love about this first book in Joy Avon's debut book in her Book Tea Shop Mystery series.
In Peppermint Peril you meet Callie Aspen who returns to her hometown of Heart's Harbor to spend the holidays with her great-aunt. Unfortunately for her when she goes to help at a party at the Haywood Hall, a place that holds dear childhood memories for her, a long-time employee of the property is murdered. Because the property and this employee meant a lot to Callie and her childhood, she feels it is up to her to find out who killed him. And after meeting the local detective, she becomes more determined to solve the case !!
Joy Avon has a hit with this debut novel and the reader will find it extremely difficult to put it down. I could not tear myself away from Heart's Harbor and all the members of this quaint little town. And like I stated the book is full of capable suspects. Avon will have Callie and the reader looking at one particular individual, and with good reason, but then when you turn the page you are introduced to another suspect with an even better reason for wanting Mr. Leadenby dead.
Avon will have you so engrossed in this story that you will feel the winter weather, smell the hot cocoa and feel Daisy brush up against your leg.....you will be able to picture Haywood Hall and all its glory and fall in love with it just like Callie did. And you will start to warm up to the growing relationship between Callie and the deputy, Falk, and even though you want to help solve the murder, even if only by reading the words, you will not want to get to the last page.....
Review by Missi M.
No comments:
Post a Comment