This was an enjoyable and fun read. In this installment Callie has to clear Aunt Iphy’s name in a murder investigation. There were many twists and turns throughout.
Many thanks to Crooked Lane Books and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

I randomly started reading this as it sounded comfy during these winters. This is a third book in a series and Joy Avon is a really good writer. The book was quite a light read even though it being a crime novel. There is a murder, but you aren't too interested nor are you not interested at all, it has just the right amount of interest and is quite predictable. You don't keep reading it for the murder mystery but because the situation it presents, the leading character dating a police man and how their relationship gets affected. Also, an age old romance which is full of regrets.

So if you want to go for a light murder mystery, to get out of a reading slump or just to feel comfy these winters but not wanting to read cheesy romances. Will totally recommend.

I received a copy of this book from Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

I honestly wanted to like this one more than I did. Don't get me wrong, it's a solid mystery but the characters didn't seem to spark and in particular Ace.
He'd always seemed charmingly gruff but he was awful in this book!

In Cold Chamomile is a perfectly good cozy mystery. It lacks a lot of the charm of In Peppermint Peril and no one in town feels quite as vivid in this installment. I think a big part of the problem is that there is not enough of a sub-plot in this one to bring the little town to life like in the others, I also had a lot less patience with Ace in this book. Once gruff, but endearing, he has gotten to the point where he's just controlling and borderline demeaning. It feels like he's very dismissive of Callie and I don't really like reading our protag just sitting back and putting the ball in some guy's court. Still, the mystery itself kept me reading and I liked the introduction of a bit more backstory to Iphy. She is an interesting character and I liked seeing her as more than a cardboard background figure.

I am a little bit in love with this book. I am not a fan of Valentine's Day and was hesitant about reading a book featuring it. However, falling in love with a book is definitely a theme that I can get behind and is the theme of Callie's party where not everyone leaves alive. It wouldn't be a Valentine's Day book without a little romance and this had just the right amount and a well plotted mystery. This is the third book in the Tea and Read series, it does work as a standalone but I think it would help to read the first two. I look forward to my next visit to Heart's Harbor.

It was a decent cozy type of mystery. I didn't find the characters evolved enough and the story was a little too fluffy for my taste but it was still not too bad.

This cozy mystery has a few curious twists and a killer with a devious and vicious mind. I don’t get it though, what’s deputy Falk’s problem why keep Callie in limbo like that?. Is it because she has an independent spirit?. Poor Callie the heart knows what it wants, this has been an interesting intriguing read, which is quite entertaining.

In cold Chamomile by Joy Avon
While I did enjoy aspects of this book it’s not up to par as the first two books .
Plenty of suspects and twist as a book appraiser is found dead.
A little disappointed with the roles that Peggy,Quinn,Callie and Ace are playing.
What a let down !.
Usually love Aunt Iphy but she was a bit stand-off in this book too.
Let’s hope the next book is better .
I will look out for the next one as I would like to know what happens next with all that’s going on .

A Tea and Read Mystery #3

Callie Aspen and her Great-Aunt Iphy run the delightful shop Book Tea, with her aunt's mouth-watering treats and the best tea and coffee in town. Although Heart's Harbor, Maine is not exactly a huge place.

Callie is still working to save Haywood Hall and with Valentine's Day approaching it's the perfect time for a different type of party. Turning the Hall into a place full of hearts and special books, music and even a book appraiser who has volunteered his time to come.

But from the start, there is a lot of tension. People are acting odd. One of their singers backed out and the replacement has caused Iphy quite a bit of anxiety. 

When the book appraiser is found dead, everyone is under suspicion and while she can't explain it to Callie, she has to prove that the man accused is innocent. With Ace already reminding Callie she can not get involved, we know she will.

This is the third in this series and was not my favorite. Callie seemed wimpy and her aunt came off as really rather mean. For me, this one fell flat.

NetGalley/ February 11th, 2020 by Crooked Lane Books

This is the 3rd book in this series. I completely enjoyed the first 2 books and in this book I struggled with liking the characters that I usually find charming. Hopefully, they will be back to normal in book 4. The book is well written, the characters just aren't enjoyable this time around.

This is the third book in the A Tea and Read Mystery Series, I have not read the first 2. This is set around Valentines day and Callie Aspen and her Great Aunt Iphy Aspen have organized an event to raise money for Haywood Hall. However, instead of love there is a murder. As I have not read the previous 2 books, I was not attached to the characters, in fact I hated most of them. I felt as people they were shallow, and selfish, and dumb, they made a lot of poor choices based on dumb reasons. Callie spent all her time moaning about her maybe boyfriend Ace, and seems like a weak pathetic woman. I expected as one of the lead sleuths that she would have a backbone and it was very much, "oh no! I didn't do what my boyfriend told me to do, oh is he breaking up with me?" Iphy should also have been a spunky 70 year old sleuth who at her age didn't care about what people thought, instead her character came across as a lovestruck 16 year old who didn't know how to use logic at all. Ace was a controlling jerk, who just wanted his girlfriend to "do as he said" and not disrespect him. Peggy was a whinny pathetic woman, who caused a lot of drama for no reason at all, besides to get Callie further "in trouble" with Ace. I knew it was a cozy mystery and I was hoping for something light and fun, but the characters were a little too light for me. Joy Avon's writing was good, the story moved at a nice pace, there was just the right amount of death for a cozy mystery. But I didn't like a single character in this book. I hope that for fans of the series this was just a one-off, and that I am missing a great series because I won't pick up the others.

Loved this mystery. Enjoyed the setting and the characters. It held my attention from the beginning until the very end. Thank you Joy Avon. I look forward to reading more.

I didn't like the characters that much, they aren't very well developed and have a tendency to jump to conclusions without listening to the people around them. The story is ok but the characters are similar in what they do and the cast to other cozy mysteries. It is ok as a casual read but I'm not that interested in reading the next one. I also don't know what the title has to do with the story as there's very little tea and no Chamomile tea in the story. #InColdChamomile #NetGalley

I love the concept of these books and really enjoy descriptions of the many delicious Book Tea creations. Having enjoyed the other novels in this series so much, this one fell a little flat for me. Iphy and Ace in particular seemed quite self centered in this novel, and while it was needed to get the narrative to it's conclusion, it also lost some of the magic and harmony the previous novels had for me. The novel was still well written and a good read, but not my favorite in the series.

A cozy crime, situated in Heart’s Harbor on Valentine’s day. Callie Aspen, working in her great-aunts vintage tearoom, is organizing a Valentine’s event in Haywood Hall, with books, tea and music. Everything is fine, until a murder is happening. Then things got worse, and Callie is unwillingly part of all of it.
It’s a nice story and an easy read. It’s the third part In the Tea and read mystery series, so characters should already be known. Reading only part three is no problem, but for the background of the characters it’s nicer to read part one and two first.
The story is great to read. A lot is happening. Friends of Callie are in personal trouble, but there is not much she can do about it. But she can help her great-ant solve the murder and find the real murderer. There are multiple suspects. Boyfriend and deputy Ace Falk doesn’t like her interfering, because she’s got in trouble before.
The murderer is caught, but people around Callie are leaving town. Will they come back, and how will it all work out? These questions will probably be answered in a new part of The tea and read mystery series, I guess.
It was a nice cozy crime, and I enjoyed reading this story.

A great read that you won't be able to put down! This series is definitely getting more and more engaging with each installment, and has finally hit its stride. The author does a great job setting the stage for the characters and the mystery.

Okay story, but I'm in no hurry to find the other books in the series. Quite possibly I'm getting fed up with women coming new into town and immediately hitting it off with a local police officer, who always happens to be single too. While they date, murder after murder happens and the cop tells the woman, repeatedly, not to get involved. Then I'm thinking: why are they dating? Why is this woman seeing someone that tells her what to do and what not to do? And why is this cop continuing to spend time with someone that could cause trouble for them in their work? Possibly even jeopardize the criminal proscution of a murderer?

Or maybe it was just this book, where everyone had love trouble and our sleuth spent as much time wondering about who was the murderer as fretting about whether her cop boyfriend was still her cop boyfriend.

The story is straightforward: obnodious person gets killed; police suspect everyone that argued with the victim prior to the murder. Apparently, that is called looking at the evidence. I'm never sure whether the cop should be sent back to cop school to relearn the concept of circumstancial evidence and you need a lot of it to make a case, or back to elementary school to relearn how to add up things (argument + walking with scissors does not add up to stabbedy-stab).

I know it's a cozy and therefore doesn't have violence or gore in it. But if the murder victim was stabbed, I expect there to be some blood on the murderer's clothes. It should be mentioned, even if the phrase 'splatter pattern' is too gorey for a cozy. It would have ruled out one or two of the suspects. Unless everyone was wearing very dark clothes.

Callie was an okay character, but I don't think I liked any of the others. At least I didn't like her cop boyfriend Ace. And I didn't much care for his sister either. I didn't believe Iphy as a woman in her seventies. Fifties, sure, seventies, not so much. (Or is fifty they new seventy?)

Once again I am at a loss what the title of the book has anything to do with the story. No one in the book drank chamomile. The murder victim didn't even drink tea; he was offered coffee. One last gripe: the people who work for Book Tea are called Helpers. Which sounds like they are helping out rather then getting paid to do a job.

In cold chamomile is the third book in A Tea and A Read Mystery series by Joy Avon. Our heroine, Callie Aspen, is helping her aunt Iphy host a Valentines Day fun raiser for an historic building in Hearts Harbor, Maine that ends in murder. Ace Falk, the acting sheriff and Callie’s boyfriend is on the case with the unwelcome assistance of Callie and Iphy. One of the surprise guest performers at the event is an old boyfriend of Iphy’s that she hasn’t seen or talked to in 50 years. When he is arrested for the murder of a prominent antique book appraiser volunteering his services at the fundraising event, Iphy and Callie try to clear his name. In the meantime, Ace’s sister Peggy is having a meltdown and he blames Callie.
Not having read the first two books in this series, I felt like there was a lot of history that I was missing. The main problem I had with the book is that none of the characters were likable. I would have liked for Callie to have more backbone but instead she lets everyone boss her around and walk all over her. Iphy comes across as obstinate and irrational as well as very selfish and like she’s gone off the deep end. It doesn’t make sense that she would go to such great lengths to defend someone she has had no contact with in half a century. Peggy is a basket case and Ace is a wimp. The one thing I did like about the conclusion of each characters saga is that it leaves room for a completely different direction for each one of them in a future book.
Thanks to Crooked Lane Publishing for the Advanced Reader Copy of this book.

Callie and her great aunt Iphy own a vintage yes room. The host tea away from the shop on occasion. Valentine's day is here and Callie and her aunt are hosting an event at Haywood Hall. There will be books, tea, music and treats. Nice cozy mystery. Enduring characters you want to get to know. I will be going back to read the other books in the series and look to future ones

Callie Aspen is looking forward to the Valentine's Day event that is being held at Haywood Hall, an historical mansion in Heart's Harbor, Maine. Everything is going well and she's excited about the way it's turned out. However, it seems that the town's librarian, Miss Forrester, has persuaded a television antiques appraiser to appraise books at the event, and he seems pretentious to her.

Then, the baritone who was scheduled to appear has been replaced by another man - Sean Strong - and her Aunt Iphy seems shaken by this fact, but won't tell her why. Everything else seems to be going along swimmingly, until the librarian's assistant comes to her and asks her to call the police, stating as how the appraiser is dead. What Callie doesn't know is that Mr. Strong and her aunt have a history, Deputy Falk's sister is having issues of her own, and now it's all beginning to cause problems for Callie herself. Will she be able to find the truth or will her questions put herself or someone else in danger from a killer?...

I was looking forward to reading this third book in the series, but I'm left wondering exactly what was going through the author's mind when she wrote it. The reason I state that is the fact that this book is nothing like the first two in the series, and it seems as if an attempt is being made to create an entirely new series after only two others have been written. Why, you ask?

However, I have hidden the entire thing in a spoiler due to the fact that not only has this book not as yet been published, but there are people who probably have not read the first two in the series and so will have not noticed the changes. I have, and I did. Please be aware that this spoiler not only contains major plot points, but major points regarding the ending (although not of the murderer or the reason why the victim was killed. So please do not read unless you don't mind the ending exposed.

THIS IS HIDDEN IN A SPOILER AND CAN ONLY BE READ BY CLICKING ON IT:

First, there are the little things (which really don't need to be in a spoiler, but I added them anyway: For the people who had their books appraised - in this day and age it's so easy to get to a computer (and I'm sure local libraries have them even if you don't), why didn't any of these people check beforehand to get an idea of what their books were worth? Even if they didn't exactly know for sure, they would have gotten a rough estimate. Sorry, but they deserve to be cheated. NEVER would I sell a book without checking its worth online. Plus, anyone who worries about what other people will think really are morons.

The police hear from several people that they were cheated out of their books and they just shrug their shoulders and say, 'Oh, well, not our problem?' They don't look into it to see if they're telling the truth or what kind of history this guy might have had? I'm sorry, but if there was a con man out there with the history this guy had, the FBI would have been all over it. Is the author attempting to make police officers look inept? Chances are the police would have already been following everything he'd been doing and would welcome these people to give their stories so they could catch him.

Ace is a complete ass in this book, but maybe he was meant to be so we'd be glad to get rid of him. In the first two books, he was nice, and was obviously attracted to Callie and it didn't make him crazy that she was doing her own 'side investigating' because well, that's the way she's wired and who wants to change someone, anyway? Why would Ace believe the worst of Callie without listening to her side of the story regarding Peggy instead of jumping to conclusions? Why didn't Peggy tell him the truth instead of allowing him to treat Callie that way? Well, thanks a lot. You invest two books in teasing us about the relationship between Callie and Ace, but then Ace, who's supposedly an intelligent police officer, now all of a sudden decides he "can't handle" the fact that his girlfriend reluctantly involves herself in the investigations? What kind of wimp is he? Has he no emotional intelligence at all? He also doesn't know if he can handle everything thrown at him because the sheriff has been ill? Seriously? He needs to retire from the force right now...and Callie needs to find herself a real man. Ace needs to disappear altogether (which the author seems to want him to do, anyway) and bring in a man who can handle whatever the world throws at him and doesn't resent a woman for being who she is. Who wants a police officer boyfriend who has a meltdown if he has an 'emotional crisis?' .

Then, what the hell is up with Peggy? She practically chased Quinn in the last book, almost begging Callie to talk to Ace and keep Quinn from leaving town and didn't want him to go. Now she's trying to convince us that she only wants 'friendship?' What. A. Crock. She suddenly decides she doesn't want to get involved after she's already sort of involved with him and introduced her kids to him - and even left her kids with him while she ran off somewhere? What kind of mother is she, anyway? Allows her kids to get close and then decides to change her mind? Then she decides to get a job out of town to get away from the man she wanted to be around in the last book? We're supposed to buy this stuff?

To top it off, what's wrong with Iphy? She spends her life building her business and just walks away without a care in the world to run off with an old boyfriend for three months. She doesn't even ask Callie if she wants to stay and run the tearoom. How is Callie supposed to order supplies and pay bills? And since Iphy was the one who was doing the cooking and baking all of the pastries, what is Callie going to serve? One can only assume that the tearoom will close shortly and Iphy will have lost everything, since there is no alternate baker in place, Callie more than likely isn't on Iphy's bank account or supplier list, etc. Little things like this add up.

I didn't like the ending at all. Why? Well, here's a recap: Iphy runs off and her business more than likely will shut down due to just leaving and not having a contingency plan in place. Peggy runs off and leaves after letting everyone know that she wanted Quinn in her life. Ace runs off and leaves when he decides (after two books) that he can't handle his job and can't handle the fact that Callie is who she is. Why didn't the author just put Callie back on the road again as a tour guide if she was going to eliminate the other major characters in the series? What's next? Callie and Quinn fall in love and decide they were meant for each other all along? Because they're really the only two people left in the book that matter at all. You can't write two books establishing characters and relationships and then just get rid of everyone except Callie in the third book and expect people to be pleased (I seriously have no idea how it got any five star ratings unless those people didn't read the first two or are afraid of not previewing other books.)

Needless to say, this book completely disappointed me. The ending was bizarre for the reasons I've named above. If this is the way the series is going to go, then I won't be reading any more of the series.

END OF SPOILER

Having enjoyed the first two in the series, I really wanted to like this book. However, with the way it was, this was not possible. Sorry.