MUFFINS AND MOURNING TEA
Oxford Tea Room Mysteries #5
H. Y Hanna
Wisheart Press
September 30, 2016


It's May Day in Oxford and Gemma Rose crawls out of her warm bed to meet her best friend at dawn . A 500-year-old ritual of life in Oxford, May Day starts with the ringing of bells and song but it has been eleven years since Gemma last participated. She is feeling every day of those eleven years since she works every day at her new tearoom, The Little Stables. The celebration is disrupted, however, when a young man plunges from the bridge near Gemma. It becomes clear when the body surfaces that it was murder, not an accident. With the help of the "old biddies", four pensioners who help out at the tearoom and consider themselves sleuths, Gemma (under protest) sets out to solve the murder. Could it be his on and off girlfriend, a Russian "princess" from a powerful oligarch family, or someone else? As usual, Gemma has lots going on in her life. Her overbearing mother is bringing her strange plants, her cat Muesli is spreading mischief at an old-age home, and her boyfriend, Devlin O'Connor, is behaving oddly. She is making little progress in settling into her new cottage and really doesn't have time for investigations.  

The Oxford Tearoom Mysteries are delightful reads, packed with atmosphere and quirky characters.  I really appreciate the inclusion of recipes for tearoom goodies--someday I will actually make some of them! I recommend this series for anglophiles and cozy readers alike. Thanks to the author for an advance copy in return for an honest review.


RATING- 4 Stars