The Tea Shop Witch (The Tea Shop Witch Cozy Mystery Series #1)
Author: Thora Bluestone
4.5 out of 5 stars
After Addie loses her job and her fiance cheats on her, she decides to move in with her Aunt Kate while she figures out what to do next. She always enjoyed her summers with her aunt in the small town of Stargaze and helping out at Kate’s tea and apothecary shop. But as she comes into town, she’s unable to get a hold of Kate. That night, she finds her aunt unconscious in the middle of her shop with blood on her head. However, by the time she returns with help, Kate is gone. After talking to a detective, she gets the sense that they might not be very interested in searching for Kate. With help from her old friend Chelsea, a new friend named Bennett, as well as a dog that seems to read minds, Addie begins her own investigation. Soon she stumbles across a hidden magical community in Stargaze and realizes she might have her own abilities, but will her abilities be able to help her find Kate? Is Kate even still alive?
I really liked this book. The characters were very well written. I was sympathetic towards Addie immediately. Her life has fallen apart, and now she doesn’t even get to talk to her aunt before she disappears. She and Chelsea have a solid friendship, and Chelsea works as a foil for her. Addie worked in biotech, so she’s more scientifically minded, while Chelsea is more free spirited and open-minded. Chelsea can see auras, but Addie doesn’t believe in such things and has to see it with her own eyes. We’re introduced to a lot of characters early on as Chelsea and Addie walk around and look at what’s changed since Addie’s last visit. And even these side characters were well written.
The reader is thrown into the mystery quickly, with Addie not being able to contact Kate right from the beginning. And the plot is really interesting. Is Kate dead or alive? Was it connected to the secrets Addie begins to discover about her aunt? The only negative about the story was that it did sometimes bounce around a bit. They’d talk to one person, then a different person. Then they’d learn something that would send them back to the other person, and they would just go back and forth between all the suspects. It all made sense for why they were talking to various people again, but it was on the verge of being overwhelming with too many suspects and people to talk to.
Due to the negative I just mentioned, I’m rating this book 4.5 out of 5 stars. I did really enjoy this book though, and I liked the characters. If you like books with witches, magical dogs, and interesting characters, then you’ll like this book.
Current price through Amazon Kindle: $0
Link to buy: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09FYLDHY5
(I do not benefit from the use of this link.)