Friday, 19 June 2015

BOOK REVIEW (59): Tempest in a Teapot (Teapot Collector Mystery #1)

BOOK REVIEW:
Tempest in a Teapot



Since I'm pretty much all caught up to two of the three mystery series I've been juggling (I'm still hunting down books 2 and 3 of Jenn McKinlay's London Hat Shop mysteries), I decided to start a new series with a new author.

I also particularly searched for a newer series (as in book 1 released in 2014-2015). I found Amanda Cooper's Teapot Collector mysteries. The first two books are out now, and at this rate I'll be grabbing the third when its out in Spring 2016.


So this series is written different from the three cozies I've read from two other authors.

For one Tempest in a Teapot is told from several perspectives, not just MC Sophie Taylor's POV. Her Grandma Rose Freemont, also gets a say from her end of things about the murder that rocks their small quiet town. Rose is the owner of the most popular tearoom in quaint Gracious Grove, New York. She's especially close to Sophie and the reason why the latter leaves her life in Manhattan for the suburban paradise. In addition to Sophie and Rose, Rose's old rival Thelma May Earnshaw also gets bits and pieces from her perspective.

Sounds confusing? Yeah...

But when all these POVs are put together the murder fleshes out beautifully into a well-crafted tale.

Author Amanda Cooper is terrific at giving detail without flooding her readers with purple prose. It worked because I could see Sophie focusing on her surroundings, it suited her critical eye and nosy personality.


For those of you who are interested, there is a love interest for Sophie in Tempest in a Teapot. However there isn't a lot of scenes between Sophie and her romantic interest, college professor Jason.


There's also a recipe in the back of the book and information about the history of tea. Really cool stuff. ^^ Most of the reason I picked this one up is because I've never heard of a tearoom, despite being a long-time fan of black tea (what can I say, I'm simple...that and it's really a cultural thing).


Oh and there are people who collect teapots. So so neat! Though I can see why. This is the only cute teapot we have in the family, and there's not much of an interesting tale behind it.

And as far as guessing 'whodunit', I didn't know until the last possible moment and just because particularly EVERYONE seemed suspicious.


So if I've interested you make sure to pick up the 1st in the Teapot Collectors mysteries!


My verdict:




(5 stars)

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