The 3rd installment in A Seaside Cafe Mystery series. Everly Swan is excited to be decorating her iced tea shop for the holidays and at the Swan Christmas party Everly's Great Aunt Fran announces her plan to run for mayor just as the current mayor decides he is going to seek re-election. Aunt Fran goes outside and finds the dead mayor and picks up the murder weapon so of course she is the prime suspect. Everly of course is going to work to clear her Aunt of murder. This is an engaging cozy mystery with great secondary characters in both of Everly's Aunts as well as detective Grady. This was a quick fast paced read and I look forward to the next in this series.

Everly Swan owns an iced tea shop on the first floor of her home in Charm, North Carolina. She moved back to Charm after breaking up with her boyfriend and she’s looking forward to hosting the Swan Christmas Party. Her great-aunts, Clara and Fran are also there to help her out.

Her Aunt Clara has a fascination with gnomes, a hobby she took up after the last Halloween. Her Aunt Fran, on the other hand, is planning to announce her intention to run for Mayor of Charm. At the party, however, Mayor Dunfree—the current Mayor of Charm— upstages Aunt Fran and announces he wants to run for reelection.

Feeling humiliated, Aunt Fran steps outside to cool off. Moments later, Mayor Dunfree is found dead with Aunt Fran standing close by and holding the murder weapon— one of Aunt Clara’s gnomes.

Everly knows her aunt is not capable of committing such a crime and sets off to clear Aunt Fran’s name and find the real killer.

The characters are fun and there's a nice sense of the town.

Many thanks to Bree Baker, NetGalley, and Poisoned Pen Press for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed my second foray into this series. I thought this book did well with character development, but I felt the mystery was a bit lacking. Everly and the other citizens of Charm, NC are having a great Christmas season and murder seems to only dampen their festivities slightly! Another great entry in the series and I hope it continues to get better.

A fun, fresh cozy with a Christmastime beach setting. The third book of the Seaside Cafe cozy series features protagonist Everly Swan and her popular business, Sun, Sand and Tea, and is sure to quench your thirst with a startling murder and a surprise killer reveal!

The plot moves along quickly and the author skillfully throws suspicious actions on innocent suspects. Everly’s great aunts, Fran and Clara, are engaging secondary characters, as well as Grady Hays who seems interested in a romance with Everly. Clara’s holiday obsession with gnomes plays a huge part of the plot. Lou, the seagull, may even be a local man reincarnated and interestingly helps save Everly in an unusual way!

I highly recommend this story plus the two previous stories in the Seaside Cafe series.

I reviewed a digital copy provided by NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press. Thank you.

This novel is quirky and definitely has personality. With all the clues pointing to Aunt Fran, Everly is determined that her Aunt is not guilty and searches out the real guilty party. With a few twists and turns and lots of garden gnomes, the novel is sure to amuse.

Tide and Punishment is the third instalment in the A Seaside Cafe Mystery Series by Bree Baker. I fall more in love with this series with each new book. This year the holidays are bringing murder and mayhem ...

No one dreams of a killer Christmas. . .
It's Christmastime in Charm, North Carolina, and while Everly Swan would prefer to focus on decorating her iced tea shop for its first holiday season, Great-Aunt Fran has decided to run for mayor against her long-time nemesis. But when the other candidate turns up dead just before the first scheduled debate, all eyes turn to Fran as the suspect with the most obvious motive.

Everly knows her sweet, elderlyAunt Fran couldn't have murdered anyone, but as she struggles to find the real killer, it begins to seem like this may be the last merry Christmas her family may ever have.

Protagonist Everly I baking up her Grans Christmas cookies like crazy and trying to figure out who is framing her aunt for murder. I love the main group of characters, there each individual, quirky and heartfelt in their own way. I'm including the feathered friend Lou and fur baby Maggie in the mix. I like how she is also coming to grips with Wyatt being in town.

I did suspect the killer a few times but then was like nah, as there were just enough red herrings and twists and turns to keep you guessing.
The story was wrapped up with a nice helping of hope, kindness and Christmas blessings! I also agree with another reviewer it's about time ~squeal~

I cannot recommend this series enough!

I requested and received an Advanced Reader Copy from the publisher and NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I received this ARC via Netgalley and the publisher in return for an honest review. This is not the first in this series but is easily read as a stand-alone. Charm, NC, is located on the Outer Banks and is experiencing its first white Christmas in a very, very long time. Everly owns the 'Sun, Sand, and Tea' shop on the first floor of her historic home. She's returned to Charm after breaking up with her first love and is slowly developing feelings for Grady, the town's police detective. Her remaining family are her great-aunts, Clara and Fran. Fran is running against the long, long time mayor. When he's murdered, by a gnome that Aunt Clara painted, and found with Aunt Fran holding the murder gnome, things don't look good! Everything takes place the week before Christmas so there's an added push to get Aunt Fran cleared by the holidays and everything back to normal. Suspects and clues abound in this story. It's a gentle cosy and the setting is wonderful; the author has a way with her descriptions and there are several twists and turns to make this a different kind of cosy. I recommend it!

This was really enjoyable! A lot of past and present weaved together nicely.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. I was not paid for this review.

I used to be an avid Cozy mystery reader some years ago but shifted to other genres. However, sometimes I really get into a series and this is one of them. This is the 3rd in the series and things get dicey when aunt Fran becomes a suspect of murder. Of course, Everly goes sleuthing and gets her man/woman! Cleverly written andI never saw that killer coming!
And at the end: yes!! Finally. No spoilers however :-)

Christmas is coming and Charm, NC has gotten some very rare snow to help set the mood for Everly Swan’s Christmas party. While leaving the party the Mayor is murdered, which is becoming not so rare in Charm, and all things seem to point Everly’s Great Aunt Fran as the most likely suspect. The fact that Aunt Fran has just thrown her hat into the ring to run against the Mayor in the next election, where he countered with running for reelection at the same time, really puts the pressure on the Swan ladies to find the murderer before Aunt Fran spends Christmas in jail.

Add in the budding relationship between Everly and the local police detective and her ex, a cowboy who’s staying in Charm for the Winter, determined to win her back one day and you’ve got all the makings for a charming cozy mystery with some heat.

Each new book in this series is better than the last one and leaves you wanting more of the charming locals and the Swan ladies. The next book in the series can’t be released fast enough for this gal!

This is the 3rd in bree bakers series. It was a really good read..Everly is always in the middle of things and always trying to figure out Who the killer is . Lou is my favorite. Also cant wait to find out who the town charmer is

I fell in love with this story and hated to see it end.
I love the idea of an iced tea shop, after all, what’s not to enjoy?
When murder disrupts the town, it’s all hands on deck to solve the mystery.
I’m anxiously waiting for the next book.

Ride and Punishment is a cute cozy mystery that has interesting characters. The storyline is entertaining and it is well written.

I love the idea of an iced tea cafe, just quirky enough and it works for this series. Wonderful setting and well developed characters, that keep your interest and a fun mystery to solve. Definitely will be picking up the book I'm missing in the series after this one.

This series is really starting to hit its stride and keeps getting better and better! With the characters you cannot help but want to engage with, a setting that is beyond perfect, and a mystery that you can get lost in, this is a book that is definitely worth reading again and again.