Scan barcode
theavidreaderandbibliophile's review against another edition
2.0
Death by Tea by Alex Erickson is the second book in A Bookstore Café Mystery series. Krissy Hancock is part owner in Death by Coffee (named after a book by her father, James Hancock) with her best friend, Vicki Patterson in Pine Hills. Rita Jablonski (a big fan of James Hancock) has decided to move the Pines Hills and Cherry Valley Book Club Competition to Death by Coffee. A beautiful silver teapot is the prize. They are a vocal group, but it will bring business into the store. But then one of the Cherry Hill members, David Smith, ends up dead inside Death by Coffee. Krissy is a suspect thanks to her late night activities (taking a cardboard cutout of her father out of the store that belongs to Rita). Krissy sets out to prove her innocence and she will do whatever it takes. She will have to evade Officer Buchanan who is determined to put her in jail (he just does not like her) and her very nosy neighbor, Eleanor Withrow.
I was hoping that Death by Tea would be better than the first book in the series. Unfortunately, I was disappointed (I think it was worse). Krissy is just not a likable character. The story is written in the first person so we get to hear all her ramblings and nonsense. She likes Officer Paul Dalton (with the Pine Hills police department) and does not understand why he does not call (this goes on throughout the whole book). The mystery was secondary in the novel to Krissy’s life (she would forget what she was saying or doing when a handsome man was present). We get to hear more about her awful cat, Misfit (who destroys furniture), than about the mystery. When Krissy questions or interrogates people she is not very polite (actually can be rude and pushy). It is like she feels she is entitled to get the answers she wants (even though the people have no reason to talk to her). Krissy rushes into situations (frequently) without thinking things through (leading to embarrassing moments for her and the person she accuses). I give Death by Tea 2.75 out of 5 stars. As you can tell, I am not a fan of this novel. The mystery was extremely easy to solve (despite the attempts of the author to mislead the readers). One clue was the key to solving the mystery.
I received a complimentary copy of Death by Tea from NetGalley (and the publisher) in exchange for an honest review.
http://bibliophileandavidreader.blogspot.com/2015/11/death-by-tea.html
I was hoping that Death by Tea would be better than the first book in the series. Unfortunately, I was disappointed (I think it was worse). Krissy is just not a likable character. The story is written in the first person so we get to hear all her ramblings and nonsense. She likes Officer Paul Dalton (with the Pine Hills police department) and does not understand why he does not call (this goes on throughout the whole book). The mystery was secondary in the novel to Krissy’s life (she would forget what she was saying or doing when a handsome man was present). We get to hear more about her awful cat, Misfit (who destroys furniture), than about the mystery. When Krissy questions or interrogates people she is not very polite (actually can be rude and pushy). It is like she feels she is entitled to get the answers she wants (even though the people have no reason to talk to her). Krissy rushes into situations (frequently) without thinking things through (leading to embarrassing moments for her and the person she accuses). I give Death by Tea 2.75 out of 5 stars. As you can tell, I am not a fan of this novel. The mystery was extremely easy to solve (despite the attempts of the author to mislead the readers). One clue was the key to solving the mystery.
I received a complimentary copy of Death by Tea from NetGalley (and the publisher) in exchange for an honest review.
http://bibliophileandavidreader.blogspot.com/2015/11/death-by-tea.html
calycat2's review
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
bkworm4life4's review against another edition
3.0
The story was good, however I found the main character very whiny and woe is me, everyone is out to get me. Just wanted to reach in every once in a while and shake her and say grow up! Half of your problems are your fault.
lindz_reads's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
cat_mom's review against another edition
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.75
peggyemi's review against another edition
2.0
I am a big fan of cozy mysteries and I am always looking for new authors to read, so I was excited when I received a copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. I really wanted to like the book. Tea and book clubs are so typical of cozy mystery genre. However, I had a hard time getting into this book. I could not connect with the main character and did not find her to be all that likable. I found the plot to be slow moving and hard to follow and just could not see the authors vision for this book. As a result, I was not engaged in the story so it took longer that I normally take to read a book.
katieeliza's review against another edition
3.0
Meh. Frustrating characters, a plot that didn't do much for me. Not impressed.
asanford's review against another edition
3.0
There are parts of this book, the series, and the author that I love. But as a whole, I’m not loving the series. I will keep reading them because they are interesting and fun enough. One of the things I love is that Mr Erickson does such a fun job of writing from a female’s perspective. Krissy is a bit of a character and her quest for solving the crimes is always clumsy and entertaining. I’m still more bugged by the cats, misfit and trouble, than feeling like they add to the story.