For
the first time ever, Rose Freemont and her BFF and employee,
Laverne Hodge, are both attending the International Teapot
Collectors Society (ITCS) annual convention. It is being held
at the Stone and Scone Inn located in Butterhill, NY. Rose
has left her granddaughter, Sophie, holding down the fort
at Auntie Rose's Victorian Tea House in Gracious Grove, NY.
There are, however, several flies in the ointment: Thelma
Mae Earnshaw has become a member of the Silver Spouts and
is at the convention. She rarely has a kind word for anyone
and is still fuming over the fact that Rose "stole"
her man fifty years ago. The other fly is Zunia Pettigrew
- who is known to alienate people and bad-mouth them to get
what she wants.
Rose is waiting for Stump the Expert. She has brought a teapot
with her and wants to learn more about it. Zunia Pettigrew,
president of the New York State Division of ITCS, is the expert.
She is nasty to all that come for an appraisal. She tells
Rose her teapot is a fake. After the session ends, they head
to the dining room for tea. Rose knows Thelma is up to something
- but has no idea that it will cause her a lot of trouble
in the very near future.
An alarm goes off in the middle of the night. Zunia Pettigrew
is found dead by the elevator. Rose's teapot is next to her.
Looks like Rose will have to call in the troops to solve this
murder. They had better be careful solving this murder, because
we all know a watched pot never boils.
Things to ponder: Why does Zunia dislike Rhiannon Galway?
Who wants to move the tea convention to a bigger city? Who
rang the alarm? Was Frank Barlow really drunk?
This second book in the Teapot Collectors Mystery series starts
off with a bang. The story pulled me in on the first page
and held me until the very end when I found out whodunit.
This well-plotted mystery will be enjoyed by cozy mystery
readers. The quirky group of characters make the story. Who
knew that a teapot convention would be filled with such drama!
The author has even included a yummy cookie recipe. So if
you like your mystery filled with soothing drinks and lots
of treats, then you should be reading Shadow of a Spout.
Reviews of other titles in this series
Tempest
in a Teapot #1
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