MYSTERY

Booked for Revenge

Kensington. (A Tomes and Tea Mystery, Bk. 2). Apr. 2025. 288p. ISBN 9781496747068. $27. M
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Jazzi Swanson and her best friend and business partner, Dawn, own a bookshop and tea bar in Belltower Landing, NY. They are eager to host authors who are judging the Gentleman’s Bake-Off in town, but already on the first day, they’ve seen judges and competitors arguing. Dawn finds one of the competitors, a photographer, bludgeoned to death with his cake smeared around him. Jazzi tries to stay out of the murder investigation, but everything changes after Dawn has a panic attack and turns on her family and Jazzi. Only then does Jazzi step up and ask questions of the remaining contestants and the other suspects. Was the dead man killed because of the bake-off, or was it his career as a photographer that led to his death? Jazzi already knows that asking questions can put her in danger, but she has to find answers to help Dawn.
VERDICT The second (after Murder Marks the Page) in a series that spins off Smith’s “Daisy’s Tea Garden” mysteries, this novel features a strong cast of characters, romance, and an amateur sleuth still trying to find her role in life and overcome her background of loss. Cozy readers will enjoy this bookstore/tea shop scenario, even if they haven’t read Smith’s earlier books.
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