Steeped in Malice
Afternoon tea isn’t just about flavorful brews and delicious treats. It’s also about presentation—fine china teacups or fun tea sets (never mugs!) with carefully coordinated saucers and plates. With her fragile stock running low, Lily has an excuse to indulge in one of her favorite hobbies: visiting an antiques fair for replacements.
Among other finds, Lily snaps up a charming Peter Rabbit-themed tea set in a wicker basket, perfect for children’s events. But a few days later, a woman named Kimberly marches into the tearoom, rudely demanding to buy it back—then later returns and removes an envelope hidden in the basket’s lining.
An acquaintance of Lily’s named Rachel is on the trail of the tea set too. Apparently, she and Kimberly are half-sisters searching for their mother’s final will. To her annoyance, Lily is dunked into the middle of this mess—especially when her ex-boyfriend turns out to be involved. But it’s more than a storm in a teacup when one of the sisters is found dead on the grounds of the B&B owned by Lily’s grandmother, Rose.
Is this a simple case of greed boiling over, or are there other suspects in the blend? It’ll take some savvy sleuthing from Lily, Rose, and their allies to find the answers before a killer shatters more lives.
The Details
Series: Tea by the Sea Mysteries – Book #4
Author: Vicki Delany
Genre/Category: Cozy – Amateur Sleuth/Tea Shop
Publisher: Kensington Cozies
ISBN: 1496737725
Page Count: 272
Rating: 
The Review
I love tea and everything to do with it, from tea shops to tea sets and so forth and so on. Steeped in Malice feeds my tea obsession in every way. The story of sisters fighting over a tea set gave me a thrill. But finding out that there is more mystery to the story and the tea set isn’t what it seems to be, neither are the sisters’ issues, makes this book my favorite in this series.
When controversy and murder show up in Lily’s tea shop and Rose’s B&B becomes a hotbed of sisters fighting, a family tea set dispute, and a fatal argument, she can’t help but get involved, but when her ex-boyfriend becomes the center of attention, she wishes she could head for the hills. Suspects are not hard to find, and a killer’s motive becomes evident to everyone. There are some delightful twists and red herrings, along with some wonderful scenic descriptions.
The sisters are not nice people, and don’t even care about the tea set, only what is hiding in the case. When Lily and Rose figure out who the killer is and unveil the culprit, it makes readers happy, and most will have figured out everyone’s part in the mystery. Lily and Rose, as always, make you happy, and anyone who likes tea will be in heaven. This story keeps moving with no dull or unnecessary filler. If I had a single complaint, it would be about this crazy heat wave we are having this summer. It definitely doesn’t make me want to curl up with a hot cup of anything. It’s too bad this book didn’t come out in October or November; it would have been perfect!
The Author
Vicki Delany (Eva Gates) is one of Canada’s most prolific and varied crime writers and a national bestseller in the U.S. She has written more than thirty books. Vicki lives and writes in bucolic Prince Edward County, Ontario. Contact Vicki via her website or on social media.
Readers will want to start this series at the beginning with the first book, Tea & Treachery.
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