Tempest in a Teapot, the first Teapot Collector Mystery, by Amanda Cooper came on a recommendation from Crafty Reader. The restaurant business can be hard, especially in New York, so after hers fails, and she has a disastrous blind date (set up by her mother) Sophie heads back to her small home town and the security of grandmother’s tea shop. There is a lot going on, including a wedding shower … of the granddaughter of a rival tea shop owner (honest! Who knew!). All does not go well, of course, and the victim is the mother of the groom. Was it really the red velvet cupcakes?

A Plague on Both Your Houses by Susanna Gregory is the first in The Chronicle of Matthew Bartholomew series. It is set in Cambridge, in 1348. Bartholomew is a physician (with radical ideas) and a teacher of medicine. The head master is found dead and it is declared a suicide. (Is it?) There are other deaths, too, some quite mysterious. There are rivalries, between other colleges, as well as the students, and commoners. There’s corruption and lies at all levels …. just who can be trusted? Oh, and let’s not forget the plague …. Canadian Reader has read the complete series and tells me they are all excellent, as was this one!

I correcting an error of omission here … There are actually four books in the Professor Bradshaw mysteries by Bernadette Pajer and somehow, while I read and enjoyed The Edison Effect, I missed listing it! For shame! Set in Seattle in the early 1900’s there is nice historical feel to these books. This time Edison is in town, eager to learn more about a ‘device’ that the Professor hopes will never be found (it was lost in book three). There’s something new, too … colorful holiday lights for the tree!

Reading Hermit With Dog