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A review by kimdavishb
Death in a Budapest Butterfly by Julia Buckley
5.0
DEATH IN A BUDAPEST BUTTERFLY, the first in the new Hungarian Tea House Mystery series by Julia Buckley, is a delightful introduction to the author’s Hungarian culture. It’s packed full of mystery, folklore, and three generations of strong women who run Maggie’s Tea House. The protagonist, Hana Keller, along with her mother, Maggie, and grandmother, Juliana, are known for serving European High Tea and specialty events with a Hungarian flair. Ms. Buckley did an outstanding job capturing the essence of the Hungarian community through the use of vernacular and accents added to speech between the characters. Her introduction of Hungarian heritage via myths and legends, along with amazing food descriptions, added to the authenticity of the setting. The characters are well-developed and I enjoyed the touch of paranormal, especially with Grandma Juliana and her tea leaf readings.
When a woman is murdered with poisoned tea served from Hana’s special butterfly tea cup during one of the Tea House events, she gets involved in the investigation to help clear the Tea House’s reputation after clients start cancelling. Detective Wolf, the investigator, pulls Hana, her mother, and her grandmother into the interviews, to help translate the Hungarian spoken by the event’s attendees. These scenes add some light humor as the women help the detective understand their culture, plus it gives Hana an insider’s opportunity to sort out the clues from the witnesses. As the book progresses, so does Hana’s involvement with the detective, and a romance blossoms. Clues were liberally sprinkled throughout the plot but instead of trying to guess, I sat back and enjoyed the story as it unfolded until I’d read the very last page.
Hana’s grandmother is quite the accomplished cook and I was excited to see the author includes recipes for several of her own family’s Hungarian dishes.
I was provided an advance copy via Netgalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
When a woman is murdered with poisoned tea served from Hana’s special butterfly tea cup during one of the Tea House events, she gets involved in the investigation to help clear the Tea House’s reputation after clients start cancelling. Detective Wolf, the investigator, pulls Hana, her mother, and her grandmother into the interviews, to help translate the Hungarian spoken by the event’s attendees. These scenes add some light humor as the women help the detective understand their culture, plus it gives Hana an insider’s opportunity to sort out the clues from the witnesses. As the book progresses, so does Hana’s involvement with the detective, and a romance blossoms. Clues were liberally sprinkled throughout the plot but instead of trying to guess, I sat back and enjoyed the story as it unfolded until I’d read the very last page.
Hana’s grandmother is quite the accomplished cook and I was excited to see the author includes recipes for several of her own family’s Hungarian dishes.
I was provided an advance copy via Netgalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.