Amanda Cooper

Kept me guessing till the end!

THE GRIM STEEPER is an adult amateur sleuth/cozy mystery and #3 in A TEAPOT COLLECTOR MYSTERY books by Amanda Cooper. It can be read as a stand-alone.

Seriously, I could not put this book down.

Sophie returns to Gracious Grove to help her grandma at her tea house, Auntie Rose's Victorian Tea House. During the town-wide Fall fling, the body of the local college dean turns up outside the tea house, and Sophie's boyfriend is the prime suspect. Sophie and her friends must find out who the real killer is.

I loved how the characters were written and the description of the town and the places there. There was even a recipe and tea tips included in the book. I'm looking forward to the rest of this series, and honestly, I love all the books I've read from this author. Cozy mystery lovers will enjoy this charming book.

4 North of Normal Stars!… (mehr)

It is August, and the New York state division of the International Teapot Collectors Society (ITCS) is holding its annual convention in Butterhill, New York. Rose Freemont, owner of Auntie Rose's Victorian Tea House, is attending along with her fellow teapot collectors from Gracious Grove, the Silver Spouts. Meanwhile, Rose's granddaughter, Sophie Taylor, is taking care of Rose's tea house.

Zunia Pettigrew, the president of the New York state division of ITCS, offers her opinion on the value of several members' teapots, upsetting most of them. Rose Freemont is aghast when Zunia proclaims Rose's antique teapot, a possible Buddhist holy water vessel, a fraud. A confrontation ensues between Zunia and Rose. In the meantime, Rose's old nemesis, Thelma Mae Earnshaw, is spreading lies about Rose at the convention.

Later that night, there is a storm, and an alarm goes off. People emerge from their bedrooms to find Zunia Pettigrew dead, her head bashed in, Rose's teapot lying nearby. Rose and all the convention goers become suspects in Zunia's murder. Sophie Taylor rushes from Gracious Grove to Butterhill to clear her grandmother's name.

As she investigates, Sophie discovers a tangle of affairs and lies and wonders if she will ever find the murderer and free her grandmother from suspicion.

I enjoyed this book, and it made for a quick read. I had previously read the first and third books in this series and so was familiar with Sophie, Rose, Thelma Mae Earnshaw, and Sophie's friends. This plot definitely had a tangle of lies and deceit, and I did not guess the murderer by the end of the book. This is a great cozy mystery to curl up with on a rainy day, preferably with a nice cup of hot tea!… (mehr)

After her Manhattan restaurant fails, Sophie Taylor retreats to Gracious Grove, located in the Finger Lakes region of New York. Growing up, Sophie spent her school vacations and summers in Gracious Grove with her grandmother, and it is truly the one place where she feels at home. Sophie's grandmother owns and runs a teahouse, Auntie Rose's Victorian Tea House. Sophie soon finds herself helping out in the tearoom. She learns one of her childhood friends, Cissy Peterson, is soon to marry Francis Whittaker and would like to have a bridal tea shower at Auntie Rose's.

The fact that Cissy wants to have her shower at Auntie Rose's does not sit well with Cissy's grandmother, irascible Thelma Mae Earnshaw. Thelma Mae owns Belle Époque, an inn and tearoom next door to Auntie Rose's, and has held a long grudge against Rose Freemont, Sophie's grandmother. To placate her grandmother, Cissy agrees to have a family tea engagement party at Belle Époque. The day of the party, Sophie hears a scream next door and arrives to find Vivienne Whittaker, Francis's mother, dying on the tearoom floor.

It is not long before Sophie learns that Vivienne Whittaker was poisoned by cyanide she ate in a cupcake. Suspicions fall on Thelma Mae Earnshaw, but as ornery as the woman is, Sophie does not believe she had anything to do with Vivienne Whittaker's death. As Sophie begins to look into the death, she finds many people who disliked Vivienne Whittaker and unearths a dodgy development deal between Francis's architecture firm, the development company, and the town mayor. There are whispers of bribery, not to mention Francis's sudden promotion above senior members in his company.

I enjoyed reading this book although I found some of the characters from the architecture and development companies hard to tell apart. I read the third book in this series first, so I was somewhat familiar with the main characters in this story already. It was a fun cozy read and made me wish I had a tearoom like Auntie Rose's Victorian Tea House near me!… (mehr)