A tedious tour guide, a ghosthunters' gathering, and twin peril await Lily and the crew.
Bubble Bubble Tea & Trouble
Tea by the Sea Mystery
Vicki Delaney
Kensington Books
In case this is your first Tea By The Sea mystery, you don't need to worry about being lost or confused. Vicki Delaney does a great job of including bits of backstory for the main characters. For example, Lily is Rose's granddaughter and owner of the tearoom which is located at the front of the B&B's property. Lily was a professional pastry chef, who was lured away from a Michelin star Manhattan restaurant, by Rose, to remodel an old cottage into said tearoom. Lily wouldn't have it any other way, except maybe for the uptick in murders since she opened the tearoom. If you haven't already guessed it, Lily is our reluctant sleuth who knows how to lay out a proper afternoon tea, be a pushy friend when needed, and has the most adorable labradoodle named Éclair because of her coloring. Each of the main characters have interesting backstories that make them relatable for the reader. I don't usually lean towards liking one character more than another in this series but this time around, I was really identifying with Bernadette "Bernie" Murphy, the amazon warrior as Lily calls her, who is currently struggling to get the first draft of her first ever historical novel, finished. Just like Bernie, I too am trying to keep my fingers on the keyboard and out of research rabbit holes while trudging along with my own work in progress. However, unlike Bernie, I haven't left my day job, and I am not quite as quite as skilled when it comes to online research. Bernie has mad computer skills. It is possible that she may be a little too skilled according to Detective Amy Redmond.
The research skills are very useful and needed because this latest group of guests is most unusual. Bernie gets the lowdown on each of the ghost tour participants. There is a lottery winner, an active wear designer, a lady who is bored of lunching, a wannabe spiritualist, and an accented charlatan. There is also a ghost story about a set of twins and the death of a set of twins. So many loose strings to try and tie together that it is no wonder that Bernie is distracted from working on her own book when she has yet another murder mystery to help Lily solve.
The solution was not one that I could have guessed, even if I had created a spreadsheet or a murder board. The one thing I did surmise correctly was that there would be some yummy treats in store. There are three wonderful recipes featured at the back of the book, making me think that I might just need to make all three to pair with my review.
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