Nightbird

A Memoir

Author:    Shavaun Scott

Genre:     Memoirs/Biographies

Hardcover; Paperback

ISBN #:    1965784119; 1965784129

Pierian Springs Press

248 Pages

$29.00; $22.00 Amazon

April 14, 2025

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Nightbird, by Shavaun Scott's profoundly intimate memoir that charts one woman's perilous journey through a childhood steeped in religious guilt, suffocating family dynamics, and an industrial hometown where "breathing was dangerous" -- amid cycles of abuse, gaslighting, and heartbreak she fights to hold onto her sense of self -- until a haunting moment where the man she has loved leaves her with a devastating goodbye, casting blame at her feet.

Scott takes us through the turbulence of a life shaped by deep-rooted superstition, fundamentalist religion, and crushing grief.  Themes of mental illness and intimate partner abuse are explored with unflinching honesty.  Scott sheds light on this poorly understood topics, on the aggressive nature of a subtype of suicide associated with domestic violence.  She shows us the motivations behind revenge suicide, and the process of recovering from it.

Propelled by a fierce will to understand the human mind, Shavaun discovers psychology as both salvation and profession.  As she transitions from a frightened, isolated child to a crisis intervention therapist, she bears witness to the complicated truths behind mental illness and the limits of therapy.  Nightbird is her raw testament: a testament to survival, the power of community, and the liberation that comes from naming our shadows and breaking free of self-destructive bonds.  Visceral, unflinching, and ultimately hopeful, Nightbird reminds us that healing is possible -- even after standing on the edge of our darkest fears as she paints a poignant portrait that sheds a bright light on intimate partner abuse leading to revenge suicide, grief, and the hard-won transformation of self-recovery.

✽✽✽✽✽✽✽✽

When I started reading this book, I wasn't sure if I wanted to continue.  Why?  Because I, myself, have been a victim of domestic abuse and both an ex-boyfriend and ex-husband who killed themselves.  (one by carbon monoxide in his car, the other by stabbing himself in the heart).  I wondered for years what I had done wrong, what was wrong with me, why was I drawn to abusive men?  It wasn't until I met my now-husband that I realized it wasn't my fault; but the demons were still there.

Shavaun Scott writes a raw memoir of her bringing-up and her journey to the life she has now.  She's traveled a rough road, strewn with ghostly bodies of people who shaped her life; few of them in a positive way.  It's open, compelling, sad, and leaves you feeling lost, and somewhat empty.  But that's what it is supposed to do.  You are supposed to feel; to try and understand everything she's gone through that's made her the woman she is today.

She's been through hell and back, and still survived.  Survived stronger and healthier.  Survived by taking control of her own life.  Fighting her demons and winning.  Realizing that only you have the power to shape your life in the way you want.

Her husband committed suicide in a horrific way; one that was meant to raise all the guilt and pain inside her and make her think about him daily.  It was mean, selfish, and cruel.  Ms. Scott was able to overcome this only by allowing her grief to run its course and give her the chance to live the life she has always wanted.

It brought my own demons to the surface; things I've left unsaid and live inside my mind.  Perhaps someday I will be able to lay them to rest, and this book has given me hope.

This is not an easy book to read.  It hurts to read it; to think that she had to grow up alone and wanting; wanting affection; wanting direction; wanting to know who she was.  But the ending gives her hope, and she finally finds the peace she's been looking for.  A memoir that stays with you after the book is read, and worth all the time.  

I was given a copy of this book from the publisher and Edelweiss but this in no way influenced my review.

https://www.amazon.com/Nightbird-Shavaun-Scott/dp/1965784127/ref=

Goodreads:    https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/7464829455

More on Shavaun Scott's Books:    https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B00SP9A9ZO/about?ccs_id=c5c9a91b-1ae0-497b-a39b-2d2a5b9811b6

Death on a Scottish Train

 A Scottish Isle Mystery #4

Author:    Lucy Connelly

Genre:     Mystery

Hardcover; Digital Book

ISBN #:    9798892421911

Crooked Lane Books

320 Pages

$29.99; $14.99 Amazon

October 14, 2025

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Summer is coming to a close on beautiful Sea Isle in Scotland, and Dr. Emilia McRoy is celebrating one year since her big move.  With a weeklong festival to end the season, the town gathers for a magical ride on the newly refurbished Storyteller's Train, but the launch's success is dampened by an unexpected death.

What appears to be a case of deadly allergies is soon revealed as murder.  As Emilia, her assistant Abigail, and the local constable Ewan McGregor unravel the mystery, the killer sets their murderous intentions on them.

If they want to survive, they will need the help of all of their friends -- before they become the latest victims.

✽✽✽✽✽✽✽✽

ER physician Dr. Emilia McRoy emigrated to Scotland to become Sea Isle's doctor/coroner.  She's encountered many a patient, and even some dead bodies that turned out to be homicide.  But this one is strange.  While attending the newest tourist attraction in their village, the refurbished and renewed Storyteller's Train, she discovers a dead man in a small room.  When trying to figure out how he died, she comes across the fact that he died from allergies.  Or so she thinks.  It's not long before she and her assistant Abigail find out the man was murdered.

Digging into his past, she and constable Ewan McGregor learn that he had many enemies.  He was an accountant, and they find that he has been cheating his clients.  Lots of bad blood there.  But who was the killer?  His partner?  His so-called friends?  Or someone they haven't discovered yet?  With the help of her friends, Emilia sees that this isn't going to be easy...and someone doesn't want her to find out anything else...

This is the fourth book in the series, and I do like the way things are progressing.  We get to see a bit more about her Scottish friends, and even Em's life is proceeding in a way she never expected, and she's at a loss somewhat.  But it's a lovely procession forward, and I enjoyed it.

The mystery is very intriguing, and not so easy to figure out who the murderer is, which I really like.  Although there are many times I know right away who the killer is, I find it refreshing when it takes me longer -- just like the protagonist -- to figure it all out.  This is one of those books, and really worth reading.

The plot is great in itself, but there are even subplots that are also a good part of the book.  They don't take away from the mystery, but add to it, along with other clues.  The clues aren't that easy to find, but they are there just the same.

Without giving anything else away, I will say that this book is delightful, full of secrets and suspense, and definitely worth the time.  I enjoyed it immensely and cannot recommend it enough.

I was given an advance copy from the publisher and NetGalley but this in no way influenced my review.

https://www.amazon.com/Death-Scottish-Train-Isle-Mystery-ebook/dp/B0DT27NBQH/ref

Goodreads:    https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/7459789800

More on Lucy Connelly's Books:    https://www.fantasticfiction.com/c/lucy-connelly/

Sour Crime Donuts

A Deputy Donut Mystery Book 10

Author:    Ginger Bolton

Genre:     Mystery

Paperback; Digital Book

ISBN #:    9781496749635

Kensington Cozies

304 Pages

$17.95; $9.99 Amazon

August 26, 2025

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

With Emily Westhill's popular Deputy Donut Cafe rolling out seasonal summer treats, everyone in Fallingbrook, Wisconsin wants a taste.  But when a limited batch box turns up near a dead body, Emily and her curious tabby are pitted against the worst kind of customer -- a cold-blooded murderer!

Emily feels like a protective big sister around bubbly twenty-something Izzy -- a new regular whose enthusiasm for peaches and cream donuts is surpassed only by her dream to start her own business.  As if blown in by an August breeze, Izzy pulls Emily into her plan to buy a property at the edge of town to grow and sell fresh produce.  But she's not the only fan of Deputy Donut's peachy delights...or the only patron vying to own the lush parcel of land.  And the competition is fiercer than the two women imagined...

Petty squabbles turn deadly when a developer with a mean streak is found murdered on the vacant stretch of land.  Worse, Emily's signature donuts are spotted nearby, leading to several potential suspects who could have left their sugar-frosted fingerprints all over the crime scene -- including the mayor, a handsome, out-of-towner, and even sweet-to-the-core Izzy.  When her detective husband discovers poisonous ingredients in the discarded desserts, a shocked Emily must reveal holes in a collection of very fuzzy facts and nab the killer before someone else takes their last bite.

✽✽✽✽✽✽✽✽

Emily Fyne owns Deputy Donut, along with her late husband's father, Tom Westhill.  They've built the business up, and are doing well.  One morning someone from Emily's past turns up, a young woman named Izzy who remembered Emily being kind to her when she was a child.  But Emily now has a plan: she's going to purchase a large plot of land and build greenhouses that will grow fruit and vegetables year round.  It seems like a wonderful idea -- until it isn't.

It seems that there's an environmental group that is against her cutting down any of the trees, and a local developer that wants the land for himself and intends to get it any way he can.  There's also a mysterious man who might have interest in it.  But then Emily's nasty cousin Hope turns up with plans of her own.

When someone is murdered in an awful way, and Izzy is a suspect, Emily has her own stake in it when her donuts are left at the scene.  Now she has to prove herself innocent and keep Izzy out of jail, too.  But with so many suspects, will she be able to help or hinder?

This is the tenth book in the series and I have read them all.  This is a delicious mystery, one you can really enjoy all the way through the book.  People (suspects) are introduced throughout, but none of it is confusing, and there are plenty of secrets to go around.

Plenty of intrigue, too.  When it's discovered that Hope has her own secrets to keep, it only enhances the story, and gives us more information to sift through.  Of course, there are subplots that only add to the tale but don't overpower it; no one wants the subplot to become the plot, of course; and then there is the intrepid Dep, the cat that actually starts it all and becomes as much a part of the tale as Emily herself.  (I love Dep!)

When the person is killed, the characters become the suspects, and Emily, along with her employees Jocelyn and Olivia, are more than ready to figure it all out, all the while trying to stay under the radar of both police and suspects.  What I do love is the fact that when they find something out they inform the police immediately instead of keeping it to myself.  I love that integrity in these guys.  Yes, these characters come to life on the page, and that's one of the things I love about this series.  You're pulled in from the first chapter, and unfortunately, continue to read the book to the exclusion of all else (good thing my husband doesn't mind takeout once in a while!)

With her shop being closed for investigation, what else is Emily supposed to do?  She needs to reopen to keep her reputation, and she needs to get Izzy -- who is way too trusting -- out of the eye of the detectives on the case.  The only thing she can do is utilize her skills and try to find the killer herself.

The clues are there, but they aren't easy to find.  When Emily does start to have suspicions, it may not be healthy for her to try and go any further, but we know she will; and when she does, there is a climax that is definitely worth reading the entire book for.

With the killer caught (as we know they will be) everything seems to go back to normal at Deputy Donut.  But there is an epilogue that gives us a perfect ending, and a perfect segue into the next book, which I eagerly await.  Highly recommended.

I was given a copy of this book from the publisher and NetGalley but this in no way influenced my review.

https://www.amazon.com/Crime-Donuts-Deputy-Donut-Mystery-ebook/dp/B0DR9SQZYJ/ref

Goodreads:    https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/7445236763

More on Ginger Bolton's Books:    https://www.fantasticfiction.com/b/ginger-bolton/

Death at an Irish Village

 An Irish Castle Mystery Book 3

Author:    Ellie Brannigan

Genre:     Mystery

Hardcover; Paperback; Digital Book

ISBN #:    9798892422581; 9798892423137

Crooked Lane Books

320 Pages

$29.99; $19.99; $14.99 Amazon

August 26, 2025

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Entrepreneur Rayne McGrath's wedding venue is open for business until a dead and unburied body is found at the cemetery in the third Irish Castle cozy mystery.

With six months left to fulfill the provisions of Uncle Nevin's will and save the fixer-upper castle she and her cousin inherited, Rayne McGrath and Ciara Smith's bridal venue venture is finally bringing in money.  To unite the reluctant villages, some who'd vehemently protested their efforts to modernize the village, they agree with Father Patrick's idea to create a group of volunteers to clean the old cemetery behind the beloved church.  When a body is found by one of the historic tombstones, the cousins must work overtime to solve the newest case.

The plot thickens and an unsolved crime from the past is unearthed when it's discovered that the body was on top of a fake grave that has connections to Rayne's ancestors.  With two weddings scheduled at the castle and her mother on the way, Rayne fears she won't be able to balance it all, yet she rolls up her sleeves and dives into old family journals in hopes of puzzling out not one but two mysteries.

✽✽✽✽✽✽✽✽

When her business partner/boyfriend Landon Short stole everything she owned, and her bank account, too, it seemed fortuitous that her late Uncle Nevin in Ireland would leave her everything he owned.  Especially when she discovered that Nevin had an illegitimate daughter, Ciara Smith.  What's worse, she and Ciara, who were left to manage everything, need to work together to save the village of Grafton and Grafton Castle in one year, or they are to dispose of everything and split what is left, if anything remains.

At first Rayne decided to do just that, since Ciara didn't seem to like her at all.  But then, Rayne chose to stay and try to make it work; first by working on Modern Lace, her business, from the castle.  Then to host weddings there as a venue, and hope that it will bring in enough to save them.  If not, she can always sell her designer handbags, right?

But the first wedding didn't go off as planned, nor the second.  This next wedding is her last hope for salvation, and they both plan to do anything to make it work.  Plus, they have to gain the trust of the village, by helping them as well.  That includes cleaning the cemetery for Father Patrick.  The first day all goes well, with many volunteers; most of them are seniors, but they do the job and never complain.

However, the next day when Rayne and Ciara arrive, there is a body by one of the gravestones.  It is of a local, and the stone he's propped up against is one of their ancestors.  They wonder why the man wasn't buried in the McGrath plot, as he should have been.

But there's more going on here -- Ciara is having doubts about her future marriage; Rayne knows that Landon has escaped from jail but not where he is; an old trunk is holding a century of secrets; a neighboring village wants to swallow them up  -- and will, if they can't make this work.  

Finding a killer is the main thing, but not the only one.  They also are trying to keep the information from their wedding guests, because they want this to go off without a hitch.  But how can it, when a killer is on the loose, and one of their friends is a prime suspect?  Saving the village is important, but saving their friend even more so...

I have read the other two books in the series, and they just keep getting better.  I'm becoming attached to the residents of Grafton Village, and I want the best for them.  The book is full of action, surprises, and intrigue; the two women aren't the only ones who are hiding a secret, and one of them may lead to clues to find the murderer.  We learn more about others who work on the grounds, and even some history of their own Irish ancestors.  I love the fact that both Rayne and Ciara are growing and realize that they need each other, in their own way.

I loved how everything came together; the struggles, and the realism of the characters and the village.  It makes me want to visit.  That's the best compliment I can give.  The book does tell a wonderful tale, and I heartily look forward to the next one.  Highly recommended.

I received an advance copy of this book from the publisher and NetGalley, but this in no way influenced my review.

https://www.amazon.com/Death-Irish-Village-Castle-Mystery-ebook/dp/B0DP3RB3R6/ref

Goodreads:    https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/7425275389

More on Ellie Brannigan's Books:    https://www.fantasticfiction.com/b/ellie-brannigan/

Last Wool and Testament

 Knit & Nibble Mysteries Book 12

Author:    Peggy Ehrhart

Genre:     Mystery

Mass Market Paperback; Digital Book (Audiobook Available)

ISBN #:    9781496749598

Kensington Cozies

288 Pages

$8.99; $7.99 Amazon

April 29, 2025

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Spring has sprung in Arborville, New Jersey, and Pamela Paterson and Bettina Fraser are keeping busy with their knitting group, Knit and Nibble.  But it looks like April showers have brought May murders...

Fiber artist Ingrid Barrick has just been found dead in her ransacked house, but the fact that she'd seemed a bit troubled lately -- and had been obsessively doodling pictures of bees -- has the Knit and Nibblers wondering if this was really a burglary gone bad like the police think.  There had been tension with a neighbor who was fuming (and sneezing) over the ragweed in Ingrid's garden -- but allergies don't seem like grounds for murder.

As they chat with a local beekeeper, learn more about Ingrid's knitwear designer ex, and look into a suddenly cancelled tapestry exhibit, Pamela and Bettina are intrigued to find more nature-themed sketches by Ingrid.  The question is which of these many threads will lead to the truth about her unnatural death...

✽✽✽✽✽✽✽✽

Pamela Paterson lives in a small town in New Jersey.  She's a widow with a grown daughter, and lives with her three cats; and her best friend Bettina Fraser lives down the street.  Pamela learns that a local artist has been killed, and she and Bettina visit the neighbor, who insists that it was a murder, not a burglary, as the police think.  She shows them doodles that Ingrid Barrick has been doing, all of bees.  But Pamela doesn't know what this has to do with the woman's death.

When she and Bettina attend a celebration of life for Ingrid, she hears two men arguing about her.  It seems heated, but the conversation never really gets to the crux of the matter -- only that one wants to write a book, and the other wants him to leave part of it out.  Later they discover that the men are an ex-boyfriend of Ingrid's, named Nestor, and the other is a professor, Eilert.  But are they suspects in Ingrid's death?  

Pamela soon discovers that not everyone was a fan of the woman -- including another neighbor, who hated Ingrid's garden because it caused her allergies to surge.  Is that enough to kill?  The neighbor on the other side, Coco, seemed to like Ingrid.  However, Pamela isn't ruling anyone out, and when something else occurs, Pamela wonders if the two incidents have anything to do with each other.  With the stakes raised, it's only a matter of time, but Pamela needs to put the pieces together sooner rather than later to find the truth...

This is the twelfth book in the series and I have read them all.  I do think the stories have progressed, and I liked the storyline of this book, which basically centered around the murder (as it should) leaving the subplots as interesting, but not interrupting the solving of the crime.

Finding the killer was the main, and there are clues throughout the story, although they aren't easy to find, nor to put together.  We discover that Ingrid -- although already deceased by the time the story begins -- was a multi-faceted woman, who loved her art yet had secrets of her own that she didn't wish to be revealed.  But in death, they usually are, right?

It is in this that we look into why the murder occurred, and the reasons aren't easy to discover.  I must say that I didn't know who the murderer was until the time that Pamela had it all figured out, so it came as a surprise, and I enjoyed that immensely.  I do love mysteries, but sometimes it is easy to find out who did the deed; in this case, it was not.

The reasons, as they were, are rather sad, yet murder itself is also sad.  In the end, the story was woven nicely and all threads came together at the end, leaving us an intriguing picture that left me feeling satisfied with the story.  I eagerly await the next in the series.  (There are also a couple of yummy recipes that I intend to try).  Recommended.

I received an advance copy of this book from the publisher and NetGalley but this in no way influenced my review.

https://www.amazon.com/Last-Wool-Testament-Nibble-Mystery-ebook/dp/B0DCK79XWP/ref

Goodreads:    https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/7403004892

More on Peggy Ehrhart's Books:    https://www.fantasticfiction.com/e/peggy-ehrhart/

Chillers, Thrillers and Killers:

 Radio and Film Noir

Author:  Frank Krutnik

Genre:    History/Entertainment

Hardcover; Paperback: Digital Book

ISBN #:    9781978836396

Rutgers University Press

286 Pages

$120.00; $120.00; $39.95 Amazon

May 13, 2025

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Film Noir is one of the most exciting and most debated products of studio-era Hollywood, but did you know that American radio broadcast many programs in the noir vein through the 1940s and 1950s?  These included adaptations of such well-known films as The Maltese Falcon, Murder, My Sweet, and Double Indemnity,  detective series devoted to the adventures of private eyes Philip Marlowe and Sam Spade, and the spine-tingling anthology programs Lights Out and Suspense.  Thrillers, Chillers, and Killers  is the first book to explore in detail noir storytelling on the two media, arguing that radio's noir dramas played an important role as a counterpart to, influence on, or a spin-off from the noir films.  Besides shedding new light on long-neglected radio dramas, and a medium that was cinema's major rival, this scrupulously researched yet accessible study also uses these programs to challenge conventional understandings of the much-debated topic of noir.

✽✽✽✽✽✽✽✽ 

I wanted to read this book because I love mysteries, any way that I can get them.  I have never heard a mystery on the radio, but I've seen them in movies, and I've always wondered about what life was like before television, when radio was the only medium in one's home.  I've seen old photos with the huge radios, and I remember that my uncle had a floor-length one, and as a toddler I was completely fascinated with all the buttons and channels that it could receive.

I consider myself a crime buff -- I love Film Noir, true crime, and books about crime/mysteries, etc.  So naturally I am drawn to anything that has anything to do with it, and this book explains it all, and more.  The author parses the films and explains them, as he does the radio versions, and, as a side note, the endings are revealed.  I have seen everything in this book, so no surprises there, but I just thought others should know as they read it.  As far as classic films go, I own thousands of them.  So, I think that I'm a pretty good judge of books of this genre, I add humbly.

But I was not young enough -- we had a television (albeit black and white) and were relegated to watch what was on the mere channels that we received at that time.  (Here I am again aging myself!)  When I learned that many popular actors lent their voices to the mysteries they starred in, in the films, to the voice on the radio, I found it intriguing; for why would a highly paid actor do this?  It wasn't until later that I understood, and yet I am still fascinated by the issue and would love to be able to hear a real radio broadcast as it was.  So far, I have only listened to the well-known War of the Worlds with Orson Welles.  It is not enough.

But here we have a full-length book to explain to us how important radio was to people; and the films on which the programs were based.  We learn the differences (for most programs were only half an hour or a tad longer; not two hours as the films); and they were done in episodes, so you did not get the entire play in one sitting, as you would a movie.  Or they would condense a film to a thirty-minute time slot, abridging it.  You could not show scenes, so you had to describe them, and for that, you sometimes needed to change the scene so that it would fit the timeline or "show" better on the radio.

I will take my favorite Film Noir picture as an example: Laura.  No matter how many times I watch it (and I do watch it often), I am fascinated by the actors, the scenes, their faces, reactions, and everything about it.  But obviously, we can show none of that on the radio.  So even if all the actors lent their voices to the radio version (which they often do not), there is still the problem of people being able to imagine what is going on in a vast space that they cannot see.

How do you show a detective that has just fallen in love with the painting of a dead woman?  How do you show the snideness of a man who loved that woman and discovers the detective staring at it?  All this and more is explained in the book, and it brings to life what people heard long ago as they sat around the radio in their living rooms.  Watch an old movie, and you might even catch a glimpse of people doing this.

As a bonus, we are shown old movie posters of these films, and actual cuts of the movies themselves.  It gives you something that you can connect to both, and I will say that this book does a good job of connecting film to radio programs and how the public reacted to it; the screenwriters, and the actors themselves who filled the roles.  I also learned trivia such as Jeff Chandler (a wonderful actor) filled the radio role of Michael Shayne, along with the original player, Lloyd Nolan.  There are bits like this throughout the book.

Anyone who is interested in media history, entertainment, Hollywood of long ago, or is just a curious viewer like myself, will find this book of value.  I will say that Film Noir is the best of classic films, and the author does a wonderful job in this book.  Wouldn't it be nice if we could purchase an old antique radio and it came 'loaded' with all these programs?  Ah, well.  Read this book!  Recommended.  

I was given an advance copy of this book from the publisher and Edelweiss but this in no way influenced my review.

Now I think I'm going to sit down and watch Rebecca again...

https://www.amazon.com/Thrillers-Chillers-Killers-Radio-Film-ebook/dp/B0DDY5CH42/ref=

Goodreads:    https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/7375569355

Tea with Jam & Dread

 Tea By The Sea Mysteries Book 6

Author:    Vicki Delany

Genre:     Mystery

Hardcover; Digital Book (Audiobook Available)

ISBN #:    9781496747303

Kensington Cozies

304 Pages

$27.00; $12.99 Amazon

July 29, 2025

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Cape Cod tearoom owner Lily Roberts leaves New England for old England to attend a party for an aristocratic centenarian -- but what goes on there is anything but noble...

Long ago, Lily's grandmother Rose worked as a kitchen maid at Thornecroft Castle, and now Elizabeth, dowager countess of Frockmorton, is celebrating her one hundredth birthday.  Rose still has fond feelings for her onetime employer, so a group trip to Yorkshire is planned.  It's also an opportunity for Lily to visit her boyfriend, who's currently working in England -- and to indulge in some British tea.

Much has changed, however, and the ancestral home is now a hotel, which will be closed for a week to accommodate the big bash, much to the chagrin of Elizabeth's grandson, Julien -- leading Lily to overhear an argument among the younger generation about the fate of the family fortune.  Little do they know that Elizabeth plans to sell the famous Frockmorton Sapphires out of the family for the first time in centuries...

The icing on the cake comes when the jewels suddenly vanish -- and things really go nuts when a party guest dies from an allergic reaction to almonds that someone smuggled into Lily's coronation chicken sandwiches.  Now she'll have to scour the property to find out who would commit murder in such a manor...

✽✽✽✽✽✽✽✽

Lily Roberts owns a tearoom on Cape Cod, and her grandmother Rose owns the neighboring B&B, which they have closed down for a week so that Rose can attend a birthday celebration in England for her old employer, Lady Elizabeth Crawford, dowager countess of Frockmorton.  Along with them is Lily's best friend Bernie, who will be visiting her boyfriend Matt Goodwell, a writer who is researching his next novel in England.

At a pub, Bernie and Lily overhear a family argument, and later learn that these are Elizabeth's grandchildren, and all of them (or most) are worried about what Elizabeth is going to do with her fortune.  Even though they have turned the ancestral home into a hotel, they have also closed it for the week for the birthday.

Elizabeth and Rose's reunion is a happy one, as they grew to be friends when Rose was working as a kitchen maid and Elizabeth was the countess.  Despite their opposite statuses, they grew close and are still so to this day.  When Elizabeth arrives at the party wearing the Frockmorton Sapphires, everyone is in awe.  Beautiful, ostentatious, but still overwhelming.  And when Elizabeth wants to show Bernie, Lily, and Rose the sapphires privately, they discover them missing.

But even more disturbing is when one of the party guests collapses at tea, and is later declared dead.  But the worst part is it seems it was the chicken coronation sandwich that they ate -- and was prepared by Lily herself.  Now she's a suspect in the murder, along with a several others.  Calling her boyfriend Simon, who is working nearby but has taken a holiday, he arrives to help her find the person who committed the crime.

Even if the local police ask her to stay away, they seem to know that she won't, having investigated her past and discovering that she's involved herself in other murders.  Yet Lily has an innate curiosity that won't let go, even as she's worried about a killer in hotel, her relationship with Simon, and who stole the sapphires.  Will she discover the truth, or will she be put on ice forever?...

This is the sixth book in the series and I have read them all.  I do try to write reviews without giving away any spoilers, and this one is no different.  Lily is lost in England, mostly by the different driving methods, but still...and she doesn't know how to go about asking questions without it seeming like a true inquiry to the murder.  Yet she wants to clear her name, and it won't be easy as she doesn't know these people, and many of them are related to Elizabeth, whom she herself has grown fond of in the short time she's known her.

But Lily does what she does best, and with the help of others around her, she perseveres until she gets to the truth.  And the truth isn't what anyone would expect, nor want to know in the long run.  Yet sometimes truth is strange, and sometimes killers aren't what you expect them to be.  But in the end, Lily finds out a bit more about herself, and has something to look forward to when she returns to the states.

I urge you not to have a peek at the ending, as you will enjoy this book more if you read it straight through.  The final clue comes and should you find it, you will find the murderer as well.  I loved this book and look forward to the next in the series.  Highly recommended.

I received an advance copy of this book from the publisher and NetGalley but this in no way influenced my review.

https://www.amazon.com/Tea-Jam-Dread-Mysteries-Book-ebook/dp/B0DLQMLB1T/ref

Goodreads:    https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/7348701427

More on Vicki Delany's Books:    https://www.fantasticfiction.com/d/vicki-delany/