In Cold Chamomile: A Tea and a Read Mystery

Avon’s smoothly written third a Tea and a Read mystery (after 2019’s Sweet Tea and Secrets) finds former tour guide Callie Aspen and her great-aunt Iphy, who owns the vintage tea room where Callie helps out, hosting a Valentine’s Day celebration in Hearts Harbor, Mass. Everything is going according to plan, until Iphy is startled to see that the singer for the event is her long-lost love, Sean Strong. Iphy has more to worry about after TV celebrity Mr. King, a book appraiser who tries to cheat the locals, is found stabbed to death and Sean becomes the prime suspect. Ignoring the police request to back off, Iphy is determined to clear Sean’s name, even at risk to her own life. The tension rises as Callie and her police deputy boyfriend, Ace Falk, each pursues the murder from a different direction, putting their relationship in peril. Subplots that don’t necessarily move the main plot forward are enjoyable enough in their own right. The unexpected ending will leave the reader eagerly waiting to see what happens next to Callie. Agent: Jill Marsal, Marsal Lyon Literary. (Feb.)