What to Read this Summer

 
 What to Read this Summer

Murder Spills the Tea by Vicki Delany-- Cozy Mystery

Thank you to Kensington for a free advanced reading copy. All opinions expressed in this review are all my own and not affected by the gift.

Lily has been signed up, against her will, for America Bakes! a popular TV contest. Lily wants nothing to do with being on TV but Rose and Bernie insisted. The crew are staying at the B&B and Rose believes the publicity will be good for business. Lily is swamped with business right now and doesn't really have time to be on TV but she goes along with it. Filming baking for TV is nothing like it is in real life and Lily is close to her wit's end. When bad boy judge Tommy Greene purposefully trips her waitress, Marybeth, and proceeds to insult Marybeth and insist Lily fire her, Lily has had enough. To make matters worse, the owner of the local bakery is Lily's competition and come to spy and throw accusations at Lily. When Lily tries to quit, the director threatens to sue her for breach of contract. She can only continue and hope the torture doesn't last too long. Early the next morning while opening her kitchen, Lily discovers Tommy Greene bashed in the head with her marble rolling pin! Not again! This time she'll leave it to the police to discover the murderer and stick to baking. However, when Detective Williams sets his sights on Lily's waitress Cheryl, who is Marybeth's mother, Lily has no choice but to go along with Bernie and Rose's plans to get involved. Can she solve this one before Cheryl is arrested for a crime Lily is sure she didn't commit?

I liked this third book best of the three so far. The story stays focused on the mystery and the baking without veering off into the insane antics of the two sidekicks. Even Bernie remains more focused this time. I still think Chuck Williams needs to be sacked. He's still a pompous fool. I had the same list of suspects as Bernie but I discounted the obvious ones. I changed my mind about who I thought it was and ended up being right about the murderer, but I won't tell you if it was my initial top suspect. The murder doesn't make a whole lot of sense but it doesn't seem to have been premeditated.

Lily does not have any interest on being on TV. Her passion is baking. Baking makes sense. You follow a formula and end up with something delicious. She also feels no need to compete with the North Augusta Bakery. Comparing the two is not like comparing apples and oranges but like comparing Hostess and Entenmenns. There's some overlap in the types of food they make but they're different. Lily hosts a tea room for an indulgent experience where people come to linger and enjoy the whole experience. The bakery is your standard café where people can sit down to eat for soups and sandwiches or grab a tasty treat. I don't know why the owner, Allegra is such a witch. Allegra feels antagonistic towards Lily for no good reason. She makes assumptions about Lily's personality and motivations which could not be farther from the truth. Lily goes way out of her way to be nice to this woman. I would have stayed away from the crazy. Lily has enough crazy in the form of her grandmother, Rose.

Rose's helpless little old lady act fools only those who don't know her. She's conniving and spunky. She likes to be in the thick of things and know everything that's going on. Encouraging Lily to spy on the police questioning suspects is unethical but how else is the reader supposed to know what is going on since the story is told from Lily's point-of-view. I don't mind it although I would be furious in real life if someone did that to me. Bernie claims to be sticking to the outline Lily made her submit and writing is going well. She still makes time to investigate though and to appear on TV. Rose and Bernie have big egos and should back off when Lily asks them to. Bernie's romance with Matt seems to be progressing slightly-I hope. At least she's willing to hang out with him and stopped sparring with him.

Lily's romance is still stalled. She's attracted to Simon and feels jealous that he's gotten close to Det. Amy Redmond but still won't date him. He's CLEARLY into her and such a great friend. I can see why Lily wants to keep him at arm's length but how about an adult discussion on what his plans are for after the summer? How about she tell him she's attracted to him, enjoys his company but doesn't want to start a relationship that won't go anywhere. Move over Lily because Simon is swoony!

Cheryl Wainright is a Mama Bear when it comes to her family. She will defend her cub no matter what. She may be abrasive at times and have a hot temper but I don't think she's a murderer. Marybeth is an adult and Cheryl shouldn't have stepped in. Marybeth was upset but she handled the situation and should have told that to her mother. It wouldn't have changed anything though. If Marybeth was a kid, I could see why Cheryl would step in to rescue her but she's a grown adult with children of her own. Cheryl may have been a wild child in high school but judging her based on past behavior 30 or more years ago is just silly. People grow and mature. Marybeth is more timid than her mother, sweet and hard-working. I feel bad for her that she was put in that ridiculous situation and the moronic police accuse her mother of murder. She doesn't deserve that.

We learn more about Amy. She's a real straight shooter but this time she seems to be leaning towards believing Cheryl is the murderer. She knows she needs to gather the evidence, unlike Chuck. We also learn more about her personal life which shows a softer side of her and reveals she really is a kind person. Unlike Chuck who lacks brain cells and initiative to actually solve a murder case. How many times does Lily have to be nearly killed before the chief fires Chuck and promotes Amy? That idiot should have been fired for the first investigation!

The TV people are not a very pleasant lot. The only nice one is Melanie, the hair and makeup person on set. She sure likes to gossip though. The victim, celebrity chef Tommy Greene, is the bad boy of the cooking world. He continually loses his temper at everyone and everything. Like Rose, he's English and working class. Tommy champions the workers and the common man. He turns his nose up at Lily's posh tea room and sneers at the ladies who enjoy Lily's tea parties. Yet he owns more than one home, restaurant, a boat, etc. He'd probably say he worked for it all and clawed his way to the top. So did Rose! Rose has lived the American dream and made it possible for Lily to live her dreams. It's Tommy who sets in motion the events that lead to his death-or did he? Tommy has a few surprises up his sleeve.

Josh Henshaw, director, is really mean and tough. He's also a sleazy womanizer of the first order and I was hoping he would be murdered. He doesn't bother to learn the names of anyone from Tea By the Sea or Victoria On Sea. He always refers to Lily as "the pretty blond", suggests she wear something more revealing and doesn't understand why hair should be up and covered when working in a kitchen. It's all about TV for him. I think he's the murderer because right away he knew Tommy had been killed. Reilly, the assistant director, is even more nasty than Josh. I think they have a rivalry to see which one can be as loudmouthed and rude as possible. Reilly acts more like the director than Josh and is not happy with anything less than MAJOR drama.

Claudia D'Angelo, a legend in the New York City baking world, cookbook author and Lily's inspiration, seems nice enough at first. She acts mild mannered and soft spoken but the longer she stays, the more she becomes unraveled. Her temper flares and she becomes snappy and rude. Some of the clues point to her as the murderer but what was her motive and why would she frame Cheryl? Just opportunity? Scarlet McIntosh, former beauty queen, lacks a background in food. She's more of a femme fatal. She supports Tommy's anti-posh people crusade and seems interested in currying favors from him. Did he reject her and she took her revenge? Scarlet is disinterest in Cape Cod, the murder and Lily's tea room. She's very selfish and annoying. I do think she could be the murderer.

Other suspects come from within the North Augusta community. Gary Powers is married to the mayor but you'd never know from the way he acts. He's a serial cheater, a womanizer and so obviously sleazy. The way Bernie deals with him is fabulous. I think he's too obvious and too dumb to be the murderer. The other suspect is Allegra from the North Augusta bakery. Allegra is a local woman who inherited the bakery from her mother. She doesn't have the training, the passion or the drive that Lily has. Lily puts love into everything she does, uses locally grown produce and bakes original baked goods. Allegra produces standard café/coffee shop fare like cakes, cookies and tarts. Allegra believes she should win the show and how dare anyone think Lily deserves it. Allegra has a giant chip on her shoulder, hates everyone and is even nasty to her own nephew. Her brother-in-law Gary owns a stake in her business. How far would Allegra go to win? How far would Gary go to see her win? I can see Allegra as the murderer because Cheryl is framed. Allegra is the only suspect who has a personal reason to frame Cheryl and using Lily's rolling pin would even implicate Lily, someone she sees as an enemy.

I still don't get a Cape Cod vibe from this series but it's enjoyable for a bit of light reading.

Louisa May Alcott Summer Reading Challenge Week 4

Louisa May Alcott Summer Reading Challenge Week 4

More to the Story

by Helena Khan

Middle Grades Fiction

  

Jameela Mirza is an American teenager struggling with being the second of four sisters. She loves being part of a big, close-knit Pakistani-American Muslim family but sometimes her sisters drive her crazy. Jameela dreams of becoming an award-winning journalist like her late grandfather was and her father dreamed of. Baba always supports her but he takes a job half a world away for six months and Face Time and phone conversations are limited and shared with her sisters. Jameela is frustrated because the middle school paper editor always wants bland, boring stories. When Jameela is asked to profile her new family friend, Ali from London, she finds a way to write the story she's always dreamed of. A misunderstanding threatens her friendship with Ali and her future as a journalist. Then her younger sister Bisma becomes sick and Jameela is devastated, confused and worried. What can she, a 13-year-old girl do to help her sister? Can she discover how to use her voice to make a difference after all?

I really, really liked this adaptation of Little Women. It's different enough so that readers who unfamiliar with the original story can still read and enjoy this but also similar enough to be appreciated by those who know and love Louisa May Alcott's novel. It's a story of four sisters and their daily lives. 19th-century values are translated to NO DATING for the Mirza sisters and Transcendental philosophy is equated to no phones for the two younger girls and no social media. That makes sense but there should be more to it than that. These sisters fight a lot, as much as the March sisters, sometimes more, but at the end of the day they're family and they love each other and support one another.

I appreciated the changes to the story to update it for present day. I liked learning more about Desi culture. For example, instead of the opening scene being set at Christmas, it's set during Eid, which that year fell during the hottest summer in Atlanta. I also really appreciated the discussion on microaggressions. Some I didn't even realize and others are absolutely appalling. Baba, Mr. Mirza, has to fly to a job interview on Eid, a big Muslim holiday. One of the sisters points out he would never be asked on a job interview on Christmas. Good point and very true, a fact a local school board recently had to contend with when they put the first day of school over the most important Jewish holiday! Mr. Mirza chose not to fight it though. Also wonderful is Jamilla's struggle to become a real writer. I was surprised by the outcome of the school paper subplot. It was refreshing to read about (view spoiler)[an adult who takes the time to listen and consider what a child is telling them, learning from the child and changing their mind about something. Too often in middle grades books the adults are cardboard villains. (hide spoiler)] This story only takes place in less than a year and doesn't include the second half of the novel.

The characters in this story are younger than Alcott's. Aleeza, the youngest sister (Amy) is only 10 and Maryam (Meg) is 14. In Little Women, Amy is 13. That skews the story a little younger, especially for a modern reader but that was fine with me because I'm tired of the Jo/Laurie dilemma. However, it makes Jameela and Aleeza's fights awkward because Aleeza really is very young and lacks an understanding of some things Jameela feels strongly about. Certainly 10 is too young to understand cancer and all that implies. So in that regard, I felt that sometimes the squabbles between the sisters were too much. Otherwise, I really enjoyed Jameela's voice. It took me awhile to get into the first-person narration. I would have preferred to know more about all the sisters but once the story went along, I got caught up in Jameela's struggles and identified with her even though I'm not a teenager or a person of color. I DID however write for the Junior High newspaper and wanted to write stories about an issue I felt strongly about and realized no one was actually reading anything in the paper except the personals column and certainly not my "real" journalism. Like Jameela, I also broke the ethics rules sort of by accident so I could certainly relate to that part of her story. I could also relate to her casual dressing style and lack of interest in fashion, unlike Maryam who is into clothes and makeup.

I loved Jameela's relationship with her father, whom she calls Baba. It felt Austenesque in the way Mr. Austen supported Jane and tried to get her published. Baba's father was an award-winning journalist and Baba always wanted to be one too but it was a risky profession so he went into science instead. He studies infectious diseases and ironically, he lost his contract with the National Institute for Health. The story clearly takes place pre-COVID! How quickly it feels dated! As a consequence of losing his contract, Baba is out of work and money is tight. Jameela is acutely aware of this, much as Louisa May Alcott was aware of her family's precarious financial situation. Fortunately for Jameela, her father wants to work and does not ask or want the children to get their working papers. Maryam babysits and Mama works.) Jameela worries about money a lot but keeps her feelings bottled up inside. She isn't as close to her mother and doesn't want to worry Mama with her concerns while Baba is away. Jameela also keenly feels the loss of her only ally in the family and the author is a good enough writer to make ME feel that loss FOR Jameela. I felt sad with her and mad at the others for not giving her time alone to speak with Baba.

The other sisters are less developed because of the first-person narration. We only see them from Jam's perspective. Maryam is a teenager. At 14 in high school, she wants to fit in with her peers. She's always looking at her phone and has her headphones on. She's a little disconnected from Jameela and they're not very close. Jameela accuses Maryam of spoiling Aleeza, their youngest sister but I didn't see it that way. Maryam tries to mediate but it sounds to Jameela like Maryam is taking Aleeza's side. I didn't see Aleeza as spoiled or bratty, certainly not like Amy. She's younger and therefore more innocent than Amy. While at 13, Amy is fully capable of understanding why she's being left out even if she doesn't like it and the consequences of her actions. Aleeza doesn't feel left out, she's just very young and acts young. She never does anything to deliberately provoke Jameela and therefore I think some of Jam's anger is unjustified.

Bisma is super sweet. She's a little shy and very loving. She is still a little girl and wants harmony in the household. Bisma loves music like Beth. I admit to tearing up a bit when Bisma becomes sick; not at the same level as Beth's near deathbed scene but still, I cared enough about this sweet little girl to be upset. Her illness is scary and so is the treatment.

Ali is not Laurie. He's not the spoiled, wealthy, lonely young man next door. Ali's father died recently and his mother is busy trying to sell their house so they can move to Atlanta to be near family. Ali was sent alone so he could start school right away and not arrive in the middle of the year. He also has a little sister back home he misses very much. His relationship with his sister makes him great with Bisma and Aleeza. He's especially wonderful with Bisma. Ali has a darker side to him. He's brooding and there's something weighing on his mind. It makes him a more well-rounded character but he could be a little bit better developed. He's fun and funny most of the time though. He's friendly and bonds with all of the sisters. His comments on British vs. American English are funny but today kids have YouTube and TikTok to introduce them to other languages and cultures so I'm not sure that sort of miscommunication happens today. It did in my day but I figured out trousers vs. pants pretty quickly. (A fellow intern, British born and middle schooled in the U.S. had a really funny story about the language difference though). I didn't like all the times Jameela worries about him checking out Maryam and their conversation about it. That felt a little too forced.

Mama is not as wonderful as Baba. She has to take care of the four girls and the house and work outside the home. She has little time to intervene in sibling rivalry and she doesn't share Jameela's passion for writing so Jameela can't confide in her. I did appreciate the inclusion of Marmee's angry every day of my life speech and wise counsel on learning to control your temper. Her advice works today as well as it did in the 1860s. The secondary adults are fabulous. I love Uncle Saeed and Farah Auntie. They're so vibrant, warm and loving. They don't have an equivalent in the original novel. Even though they come from a different background than my family, I see similarities between Farah Auntie and my great aunt Mary. They both express love with fabulous food and in spite of being childless, love and care for numerous family and friends.

As much as I enjoyed this, it felt a little short. I would like a sequel to catch up with the Mirza sisters and see how Bisma is feeling. Maybe it could be from Aleeza's point-of-view to better understand her and see how she feels being the youngest of four girls and the sister of a sick person. How does Bisma's illness change her? I would imagine she has to grow up faster and learn about things her parents would rather not have her worry about at her age.

I highly recommend this novel to tweens, teens and adults whether they're fans of Little Women or not.