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Steeped in Malice

ebook
1 of 1 copy available
1 of 1 copy available
With a "beautifully described setting and a cast of charming, small-town characters" (Booklist), this delightful cozy mystery series set in a Cape Cod tea shop will be irresistible for fans of Laura Childs' Tea Shop series.

Afternoon tea isn't just about flavorful brews and delicious treats. It's also about presentation—fine china teacups (never mugs!), with carefully coordinated saucers and plates. With her fragile stock running low, Lily has an excuse to indulge in one of her favorite hobbies: visiting an antiques fair for replacements.

Among other finds, Lily snaps up a charming Peter Rabbit-themed tea set in a wicker basket, perfect for children's events. But a few days later, a woman named Kimberly marches into the tearoom, rudely demanding to buy it back—then later returns and removes an envelope hidden in the basket's lining.

An acquaintance of Lily's named Rachel is on the trail of the tea set too. Apparently, she and Kimberly are half-sisters, searching for their mother's final will. To her annoyance, Lily is dunked into the middle of this mess—especially when her ex-boyfriend turns out to be involved. But it's more than a storm in a teacup when one of the sisters is found dead on the grounds of the B&B owned by Lily's grandmother, Rose.

Is this a simple case of greed boiling over, or are there other suspects in the blend? It'll take some savvy sleuthing from Lily, Rose, and their allies to find the answers before a killer shatters more lives . . .
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    • Kirkus

      June 1, 2023
      A missing will, a lot of money, and a dysfunctional family add up to murder. Lily Roberts left her job as a high-powered Manhattan pastry chef to return to Cape Cod and open Tea by the Sea on the grounds of her grandmother's high-end B&B. At an antiques fair she's attending with her best friend, Bernie, and her grandmother Rose to replenish her supply of teacups, Lily also decides at the last minute to purchase a delightful children's tea set in a wicker box. The next morning, a pushy woman shows up demanding to buy not the set but the box. Kimberly Smithfield, who claims it belonged to her family and was sold accidentally, gets so nasty that Lily has to be rescued by Simon, her handsome English gardener. The next morning Kim returns, throws money at Lily, cuts open the lining of the box, and departs with a plain envelope, leaving everything else behind. Soon Kim, who's recently married celebrity chef Wesley Schumann, the ex-boyfriend who drove Lily out of New York with his ferocious temper, is followed by her half sister, Rachel Morrison, a restaurant designer Lily knows from her time in New York. Rachel also wants what was in the box, which turns out to be a handwritten will in which their mother determines whether her residual legatee will be Kim, Rachel, or their brother. Soon after Kim and Wes move into Rose's B&B, Lily stumbles upon Kim's dead body and is forced to investigate before her business is ruined. Shoals of red herrings abound, but Lily and her delightful friends winnow out the big fish.

      COPYRIGHT(2023) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

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