Sleuth Callie Aspen wants to light up the Fourth of July tea party by solving a celebrity’s decades-old disappearance, but her digging results in more fireworks than she expects.
Last Christmas, Callie Aspen left her tour guide job and settled in Heart’s Harbor, Maine. Now, she helps out at Book Tea, her great aunt’s vintage tearoom, where each treat has a bookish clue. Though she’s excited to start her new life, Callie worries she may regret having burned her bridges behind her. Fortunately, she finds immediate distraction in the preparations for a spectacular Fourth of July tea party, which will recreate key moments from the town’s rich history.
Intrigued to learn that 1980s TV star Monica Walker was last seen in Heart’s Harbor before she vanished—allegedly to elope—Callie probes the townsfolk for information. She’s stunned when several locals share contradictory stories about the last day before Monica’s disappearance. Did she intend to leave her hit TV series? Was she being stalked by her ex? And why is the newspaper editor who investigated the story at the time so anxious about the cold case heating up?
When one of the talkative townspeople turns up dead, Callie aims to catch the killer. But it’s no picnic: Deputy Falk doesn’t want her meddling, and the locals suddenly know more about the past than they’d been at liberty to admit. If Callie and the Book Tea crew can’t crack the case, they’ll pay a very steep price in Joy Avon’s explosive second Book Tea Shop Mystery.
Titles in A Book Tea Shop Mystery (A Tea and A Read) series include – In Peppermint Peril – Sweet Tea and Secrets – In Cold Chamomile –
Title: Sweet Tea and Secrets
Series: A Book Tea Shop Mystery #2
Author: Joy Avon
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Published: June 11, 2019
Publisher: Crooked Lane Books
My Rating: 4 stars
SWEET TEA AND SECRETS has Callie making the decision to leave her tour guide job and return home to Heart’s Harbor, Maine permanently to help her great aunt run the tearoom. Throughout this story, Callie is still on the edge of believing she made the right decision one moment and certain it was a mistake to come home the next. Distraction comes in the form of research into a cold case from the 1980s, and perhaps a flirtation with a handsome man. While trying to ferret out information on the cold case Callie does discover that at least one person knows far more than they’re willing to tell. Unfortunately, that person ends up dead leaving Callie with a cold case and a new murder to solve.
As with any Mystery/Cozy Mystery I prefer to say very little about the plot (beyond what might be in the cover description) for I absolutely hate to have a Mystery solved in a review that I read. Why pick up the book if that’s the case, right? So, I can comfortably say that SWEET TEA AND SECRETS will keep you entertained and guessing at who is responsible for a murder in this small town. There are twists and turns, some that I didn’t see coming that will keep you on your toes throughout. There is also the hint of a possible future romance, but that relationship is in its infancy but will be fun to watch play out in future stories. I enjoyed myself and was easily caught up in this mystery to be solved. If you love a good Cozy Mystery then this series might be one you should be looking into.
*I received an e-ARC of this novel from the publisher via NetGalley. That does not change what I think of this story. It is my choice to leave a review giving my personal opinion about this book.*
Available in a variety of formats including the Kindle
