Sweet Tea and Secrets by Joy Avon is the second A Tea and Read Mystery. It can be read as a standalone if you did not read In Peppermint Peril. Callie Aspen has quit her job as a tour guide with Travel the Past and is moving to Heart's Harbor, Maine. Callie will be helping her Great Aunt Iphy with Book Tea as well as with the renovations to Haywood House. There is be a Fourth of July tea party at Haywood House with a sweet tea competition. Aunt Iphy asks that Callie find a past historical event that will have a big impact to present before the fireworks. Living history is the theme of the tea. Quinn Darrow is new to town and responded to Aunt Iphy's ad for a handyman. Quinn will be fixing up Callie's new cottage and has been roped into helping Callie find a historic event. Monica Walker, a television star, was taking a vacation in Heart's Harbor when she vanished in 1989. She was never seen or heard from again. There is plenty of speculation, but no solid facts. Local editor-in-chief, Joe Jamison, reported on the incident years ago and Callie can tell he is hiding something. After an appeal for information on a local news station, the calls start rolling in. It seems Callie struck a nerve because Joe is found dead in his office and the evidence points to Quinn. Callie works to find answers before the killer strikes again. Two mysteries to solve in one book. One can be solved early in the book while the other takes a little longer. I was dissatisfied with the way the reveal was handled (I want the sleuth to solve). I wish the characters had more depth since they feel flat. There is supposed to be an attraction between Callie and Deputy Ace Falk, but I do not feel it. He comes across as overprotective especially of his sister and uses his position to dig up information on people he does not like or trust. I would like to see improvement to the dialogue which was awkward and more action. The pacing lagged throughout the book as Callie speculates on the crimes. The potential is there with a little tweaking. Sweet Tea and Secrets is a light cozy mystery with creative culinary confections, a missing movie maven, a tea tournament, a cutthroat killer, and fantastic fireworks.
Brenda H. (booksinvt) -
Sweet Tea and Secrets is the second installment in the A Tea and Read Mystery series set in Heart's Harbor, Maine and featuring retired tour guide, Callie Aspen. Callie is slowly settling into her new life working with her Aunt Iphy in her tea shop, Book Tea but is having second thoughts about her decision to relocate especially since the hunky Deputy Falk whom she thought she'd made an earlier connection with is suddenly seeming to avoid her.
Callie decides to throw herself into putting together a series of historical events for the annual Fourth of July celebration. Aunt Iphy has found a cottage for Callie to move into and a mysterious handyman, Quinn Darrow offers to lend a hand fixing it up. Quinn encourages Callie to look into the disappearance of Monica Walker, a TV star who had been vacationing in Heart's Harbor in the 1980's. Speculation about what happened to the actress varies among the townspeople, some think she drowned on a stolen boat and some think she arranged her own disappearance. Callie begins to look into the mystery and soon finds herself the target of a killer.
I once again had a difficult time connecting to the main character, and readers of the series will be disappointed that there is again very little interaction between Callie and Aunt Iphy. Callie doesn't really spend any time at Book Tea and Haywood Hall (which was the center of the previous series installment) only receives minimal mention. The plot was enough to keep me turning the pages and I will give the series one more try when the next addition is released.
Callie decides to throw herself into putting together a series of historical events for the annual Fourth of July celebration. Aunt Iphy has found a cottage for Callie to move into and a mysterious handyman, Quinn Darrow offers to lend a hand fixing it up. Quinn encourages Callie to look into the disappearance of Monica Walker, a TV star who had been vacationing in Heart's Harbor in the 1980's. Speculation about what happened to the actress varies among the townspeople, some think she drowned on a stolen boat and some think she arranged her own disappearance. Callie begins to look into the mystery and soon finds herself the target of a killer.
I once again had a difficult time connecting to the main character, and readers of the series will be disappointed that there is again very little interaction between Callie and Aunt Iphy. Callie doesn't really spend any time at Book Tea and Haywood Hall (which was the center of the previous series installment) only receives minimal mention. The plot was enough to keep me turning the pages and I will give the series one more try when the next addition is released.
