Oxford Tearoom Mystery

When Gemma Rose returns to England from years in Australia, she never thought her first encounter would be with an angry American wielding a knife. A Scone to Die for by H.Y. Hanna introduces the first (well not exactly) in a new Oxford Tearoom Mysteries.

Gemma has given up her corporate job in Australia and settled back in Oxford, living with her parents. At 29 there are some serious adjustments to that arrangement, but life is more complicated, especially as she is an Oxford graduate with parents who dream of more. Undaunted she opens her dream tearoom - The Little Stable Tearoom - in Oxford with childhood friend Cassie as a server and a quiet, almost reclusive chef named Fletcher Wilson.

Her first few customers are four old ladies who could give MI5 a run for their money in intelligence gathering. Then Gemma encounters a rude, loud American who claims to be a tourist with no knowledge of Oxford, but something seems amiss. When Gemma attempts to clean a water spill from papers the American has left on his table, he nearly flips out brandishing a knife. When he calms down and leaves, Gemma hopes she has seen the last of him.

Bright and early the next morning she encounters him again in her courtyard. This time he is dead with a scone stuffed into his mouth. But the biggest shock comes when Gemma meets the police detective in charge of the case. He turns out to be her former boyfriend Devlin O'Connor, now Detective Inspector, Oxfordshire CID.

The ins and outs of this murder lead Gemma back to Oxford University with old school rivalries, big money, unkempt promises and a shocking conclusion.

An enjoyable read, but I never felt the author captured the English flavor well. Sometimes I felt this book could have been set anywhere in the world. As for not being the first book in the series as it is billed, there is a prequel entitled All Butter Short Dead. Not sure what the concept of prequel is all about, but there it is.

For other books by HY. Hanna, click here.