Author: Vicki Delany
Genre: Mystery
Hardcover; Digital Book
ISBN #: 9781496737694
Kensington Cozies
304 Pages
$23.99; $9.06 Amazon
July 26, 2022
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
The country's hottest TV cooking show is coming to Cape Cod. And against her better judgment, Lily Roberts is entering America Bakes! with her charming tearoom, Tea by the Sea! Filming is already proving disruptive, closing the tearoom during Lily's busiest season. But tensions really bubble over when infamous bad-boy chef and celebrity judge, Tommy Greene, loses his temper with Lily's staff, resulting in an on-camera blowout with Cheryl Wainwright. Just as Lily thinks the competition can't get more bitter, Tommy is found dead in Tea by the Sea's kitchen...murdered with Lily's rolling pin.
Suspicion immediately falls on Cheryl, but the temperamental star has racked up plenty of culinary clashes in the past, both on- and off-screen. And nearly anyone associated with Tommy or the show could be the killer: be it one of Lily's fierce competitors, a member of the beleaguered film crew, or even one of Tommy's fellow judges -- struggling cookbook maven, Claudia D'Angelo or beauty contest winner, Scarlet McIntosh. Now, while she's baking up a storm for the show, Lily must also whip up an impromptu investigation...before the murderer rolls someone else away.
✽✽✽✽✽✽✽✽
Lily Roberts owns Tea by the Sea, a lovely tearoom centered right in Cape Cod. Her grandmother Rose, transplanted from Yorkshire long ago, owns a lovely Victorian B&B nearby, and they live happily in the seaside town. That is, until Rose and Lily's best friend Bernie enter her in a TV reality show, and she's been chosen as one of the contestants. Now, the cast members are staying at the B&B and the crew is overrunning the tearoom and telling her what to do. Lily is not happy.
She's especially not happy when one of the judges, Tommy Greene, purposely trips her employee MaryBeth and MaryBeth's mother Cheryl has a few harsh words for him. When Tommy is discovered dead the next morning in the tearoom, Cheryl is the main suspect. But Lily is sure Cheryl's not a killer, but she's not sure about his castmates. Even though the police tell her to leave it alone, she's not going to, and with the help of Bernie and Rose, she intends to find the killer before they get away with it...
This is the third book in the series and I have read them all. I've become fond of the characters in this series, finding not a one of them evil or flighty. (Except for Allegra, but she's new and no one could possibly like this woman). The main characters are full of ideas about who might have killed Tommy, especially Bernie, who is able to get information due to her background as a forensic accountant.
But the more information they have, the more they discover that Tommy was actually a nice guy who was devoted to his wife and family, making it harder to find out who might have had a grudge against the man. Lily just watches the players in the TV cast, hoping that one of them will accidentally spill information. And with them fighting amongst themselves, it's not long before she sees that there's more to them than what meets the eye. Now all she has to do is find out who wielded the rolling pin...
I love this series, and while the killer didn't surprise me much (only because I read a lot of mysteries), at the very end we are given a glimpse of what the future might bring, and once again peace is brought to Cape Cod...for the time being. I eagerly await the next in the series. Highly recommended.
I received a copy of this book from the publisher and NetGalley but this in no way influenced my review.
More on Vicki Delany's Books: https://www.fantasticfiction.com/d/vicki-delany/
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