Genre: Mystery
Mass Market Paperback; Digital Book
ISBN #: 9781984804822
Berkley Publishing
288 Pages
$5.99; $7.99 Amazon
July 30, 2019
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Hana Keller and her family run Maggie's Tea House, an establishment heavily influenced by the family's Hungarian heritage and specializing in a European-style traditional tea service. But one of the shop's largest draws is Hana's eccentric grandmother, Juliana, renowned for her ability to read the future in the leaves of the bottom of customers' cups. Lately, however, her readings have become alarmingly ominous and seemingly related to old Hungarian legends...
When a guest is poisoned at a tea event, Juliana's dire predictions appear to have come true. Things are brough to a boil when Hana's beloved Anna Weatherley butterfly teacup -- which carried the poisoned tea -- becomes the center of the murder investigation. The cup is claimed as evidence by a handsome police detective, and the beloved Tea House is suddenly endangered. Hana and her family must catch the killer to save their business and bring the beautiful Budapest Butterfly back home where it belongs.
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Hana Keller helps run Maggie's Tea House, her family's establishment in Illinois. She's helping her mother and grandmother get ready for a meeting of the Maygar Women, a group of Hungarian women who meet there every month. Hana knows about Hungarian women, since she is half-Hungarian on her mother's side.
She's also a collector of Hungarian items, and she's found a beautiful teacup, a Budapest Butterfly, that is going to be used as a centerpiece for today's tea. Everything is ready and the three women are prepared for the tea service; including a French pastry chef who works for them preparing the delicious food. Hana's grandmother Juliana has even agreed to read the tea leaves for the women after they've finished. It's been said that the females in the family have "the gift," but Hana's never put too much stock in it.
But Hana notices a woman she's never seen before, sitting by herself. When she mentions to one of the ladies that the woman - Ava Novak, is beautiful, she's rebuffed; and no one will talk about her. The afternoon is indeed busy, with the three women milling about making sure everyone has enough to drink and cleaning up the empty cups. But then, while her grandmother is reading tea leaves on the table that is supposed to hold the Butterfly, Hana notices something -- her beautiful cup is missing, and it is being used by Ava! Hana vows to get her cup back the first chance she can, without being rude, and wondering how she got hold of it. Then Ava excuses herself to go to the bathroom, and Hana goes to her table to retrieve her cup but sees that there are things that shouldn't be, and goes to check on Ava. Unfortunately, she finds her -- lying dead in front of the bathroom.
The police are called immediately, and two detectives -- Wolf and Benton -- are going to ask questions. Hana's grandmother believes that wolves are bad, and doesn't want anything to do with him, but since he's the lead detective, she doesn't have a choice. When everything is completed, Hana wonders who Ava Novak was and why one of these little old ladies wanted her dead. She also doesn't like the fact that she's attracted to the tall, blond detective, but that will have to wait while she 'helps' him sniff out a killer...
This is the first book in a new series and I have to say that I was surprised. I read another of Ms. Buckley's series and it just didn't draw me in, so the fact that I liked this book should say something in itself. (I always try to give authors a second chance, as it were).
Anyway, I do like the characters in the book. The women are interesting people, and even Hana's brother Domo has his qualities. He comes off as being your typical male, if there is such a thing; yet it's apparent he's protective of Hana, which is a good thing. Hana's grandmother is a comical character; she 'knows' things that her daughter (Hana's mom) would rather not believe in, yet she's strong and funny at the same time. Hana, for her part, is not one of those idiots that goes around asking people inquisitive questions and accusing them of murder one after the other. It's a breath of fresh air.
I also like the fact that both Hana's mother Maggie and her grandmother are married, and the men aren't just wallpaper. They have parts in the book that matter, and Hana didn't return home because of a broken relationship, lost her job, etc. She actually likes what she does and makes enough money to have her own apartment. The one thing I will say is the fact that you don't have to 'feed' cats. They aren't dogs. I've owned animals my entire life, (mostly cats), and you can leave food out all day and unlike dogs, they won't eat everything in the bowl. They'll eat until they're full and walk away. It doesn't make them fat or lazy. (I give mine one can of wet food in the morning and leave the hard food out the rest of the day - it's fine).
But back to the book: the mystery was well drawn, and while we knew one of the ladies was a murderer, there were three women who came to the forefront. Finding the reason behind the murder was a different story, and it brought out a Hungarian legend that seemed to come to life, but of course, didn't; leaving it, while not a full-on deep mystery, still believable enough to carry the book.
Hana and Wolf faced their attraction to each other and while there were misunderstandings, it didn't overshadow the mystery. I did like the fact that when Hana found something out or remembered something, she went to Wolf immediately instead of keeping it to herself or going off to find out more, which made their relationship more realistic because they kept spending time together.
In the end, when we discover the murderer, as I stated above, it might not have been deep, but people have been known to carry things close to them for years, so it was conceivable. While it was rather sad at the same time, and things could have been avoided, it was still interesting enough to keep me reading in one sitting. I've also decided I might have to find a Hungarian restaurant somewhere around me. Recommended.
https://www.amazon.com/Death-Budapest-Butterfly-HUNGARIAN-MYSTERY/dp/1984804820/ref
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3291373580
More on Julia Buckley's Books: https://www.fantasticfiction.com/b/julia-buckley/
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