In Hot Water: A Misty Bay Tea Room Mystery

This solid series launch from Kingsbury (the Pennyfoot Hotel mysteries) opens with Det. Lt. Tony Messina gazing on the pink negligee-clad body of Dean Ramsey, a candy store maintenance worker, who fell to the rocks from the top-floor balcony of the Blue Surf Hotel in Misty Bay, Ore. Signs of a struggle suggest Dean was pushed to his death. Dean’s former wife, Jenna Ramsey, an assistant at the Willow Pattern Tearoom, becomes the prime suspect, but her friend and employer, Vivian Wainwright, the tearoom’s proprietor, is determined to prove Jenna’s innocence. Aided and abetted by Gracie Jackson, Vivian’s other assistant, and pet shop owner Hal Douglass, and drawing on a little knowledge of criminology from Vivian’s late attorney husband, the friends follow one clue after another as they seek a killer and a motive—and the reason for the victim’s unusual dress. Despite some reckless sleuthing, Vanessa and her cohorts stumble their way to a surprising resolution. Lively characters and a simmering romance between Jenna and Tony will leave readers looking forward to the sequel. Agent: Paige Wheeler, Creative Media Agency. (Oct.)