Thank you to the authors, publishers, and NetGalley for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review. The recipe review and food pairing found on my Instagram feed are of my own doing.
Masher of Ceremonies
A Vintage Kitchen Mystery Book #13
Victoria Hamilton
Beyond the Page
Have you ever been to an afternoon tea? I mean a proper afternoon tea with all the bells and whistles and overseen by Queen Victoria and her consort. Not a high tea, that is something completely different, as explained in the story. I have not but sure do wish that this wonderful plot point was an actual event that I could add to my cozy mystery location/event bucket list.
Masher of Ceremonies, the 13th book in the Vintage Kitchen Mystery series and it starts out with the annual Tea with the Queen event. Every year for decades, Tea with the Queen has taken place in Queensville, Michigan and is a major tourist event. This year, our sleuth, Jaymie Mueller, is in charge of the event and she has been told that the event needs to show a decent profit or else it will cease to continue. Talk about a pressure cooker of a situation. There are so many moving parts to this event and the last thing that Jaymie needs is for it to be spoiled by an extortionist or worse, a murder. Not to mention that Jaymie is trying to balance the volunteer event with the impending opening of her new business venture with tea shop owner and friend Val. It makes me tired just wondering how Jaymie is balancing so many things.
This was my first time reading a Vintage Kitchen Mystery and Masher of Ceremonies did not disappoint as a good stand-alone with a relatable sleuth. There is also a cast of characters at the beginning of the book to introduce the reader to the characters before the story begins. I also liked that there are unexpected and real-life aspects to the story such as Jaymie’s fur baby, Hoppie, a three-legged Yorkie-Poo, Jaymie’s daughter, Jocie, who considers herself a little, little person, and possible clashes with her mom over certain life choices.
Suspects include Ryan the belligerent blackmailer, Nigel the temperamental blackmail target, Sterling the stylish yet suspicious spouse, Charlie the snooty sister, and her husband Rudy the frozen food Chef. I honestly thought that Ryan the blackmailer would end up being the victim because he is sneaky, arrogant, and relentless, so I was completely fooled by the who and the why. This story does a great job of laying out the clues but not making them obvious. This was not an easy one to solve as an armchair sleuth, but you are rewarded at the end of the book with a very tasty and savory sounding recipe for Schinkennudeln, which I will be making for dinner this weekend.
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