by Victoria Tait (Author) 

I totally enjoy reading Victoria Tait’s Waterwheel Cafe mysteries with police officer Keya Varma and her cop and cafe friends. And, I have to say, her new MINT TEA AND A MIDSUMMER MURDER is one of the best.  Familiar characters and settings, plus a twisty murder mystery to solve, are what I expect of Tait’s cozy mysteries, and this one doesn’t disappoint.   

Because the crime scene is an ancient stone circle, and the time is the summer solstice when all kinds of things are said to happen, the dead body that Keya and a rooky visiting cop are sent to investigate is not her usual case. No witnesses. No murder weapon. The boyfriend was asleep beside her all night.  And Keya notices a spooky chill when she gets close. 

She carries on the investigation as usual, with interviews and fact-checking. Her new handsome “friend” at the station runs lab tests. Nothing tells them the young woman was even killed, let alone how. She was healthy and well-liked. She simply leaned against an ancient stone at night and “woke up” dead the next morning. What’s up? Will this be a no-solution case?

Meanwhile, business and new opportunities are keeping the Waterwheel cafe booming.  New recipes are tried. New events are planned. And Keya feels left out.  She wants to manage, cook, and greet the customers at HER cafe.  What to do??

Then tragedy hits, and all choice about where she should be is taken from her.  This is a plot twist that I never saw coming.  Good job, Victoria Tait!  Wow.  And with this, new avenues are open to explore. But is Keya ready?

Yes, the mystery of the young woman’s death is solved… in a very big way, and Keya does have a part in it. But, again, I never saw THAT coming either. 

This book definitely shows Tait becoming a seasoned and very competent writer. What will be coming next from her inspired “pen,” I wonder.