Fatal Foliage

I received a free copy of this book from Book Sirens in exchange for an honest review. Amy Prescott's Fatal Foliage was published on March 22, 2026. It is the first book in a new cozy mystery series Ridgeway Springs Inn Mysteries. 

The publisher's summary:

A dead guest. A missing page. And a secret thirty-seven years in the making.

When foliage tour organizer Phillip Swanson is found dead in the Ridgeway Inn's beloved library annex, the town of Ridgeway Springs is ready to call it a tragic heart attack. But former archivist Eloise Stevens knows something doesn't add up. A rare first-edition book appears out of nowhere. A page has been torn from a decades-old guest ledger. And buried in her late father's private records is a notation that suggests Swanson's visit was no coincidence.

Newly returned to Vermont to run her family's historic inn, Eloise never planned to become an amateur sleuth. But as she pieces together old land disputes, forgotten easements, and the quiet connections between longtime residents, she realizes this mystery began long before the autumn leaves turned crimson.

With a retired judge guarding his composure, an antique dealer collecting more than antiques, and a small town where everyone knows everyone else's history, Eloise must untangle the past to protect the inn's future.

Because in Ridgeway Springs, some secrets aren't dead. They're just pending.

There are a few problems with the book. 95% of the writing is narration. More dialogue between the characters would bring both the plot and the characters to life. The characters were flat. We read about their backgrounds but without listening to them talk with the other characters we don't know who they really are. We don't know what makes them tick. In a cozy mystery, especially the first in a series, meeting the characters is important. It’s also important to see how they react to events in the story. I don't believe the author has done a good enough job for readers to want to continue to read the series. 

The mystery itself was plotted well and the pace was fast. I liked that the death occurred in the first chapter so the remainder of the book could be about solving the crime. The development of events was written well. The planting of clues and the twists were perfectly timed.

Concerning Eloise's amateur sleuth skills, she is a fantastic researcher. While the police were interviewing all of her customers, Eloise began to read her father’s notebooks and ledgers. She eventually finds a page about Phillip Swanson, the man who was killed in her library in the first chapter. In order to solve the crime Eloise had to run a title examination. It turns out Swanson did not come to Ridgeway Springs as a tourist but as a man who had come to finish something that he had started in 1987. At that time Swanson and two others filed papers questioning an easement to Eloise's property. I was impressed with the author's knowledge of land records. Running a title search on a piece of property is not a skill most legal professionals have. Eloise's knowledge here is amazing.

As I mentioned above, there was too much narration. This is why the story suffers. Rating the book takes some consideration because the mystery itself was plotted well. I am going to rate the book 2.7 stars out of 5 stars.

Death at a Firefly Tea

It is always exciting when a favorite author publishes a new novel. I have been anxiously awaiting the publication of Death at a Firefly Tea. It's the 30th installment of the Indigo Teashop cozy mystery series by Laura Childs. The series protagonist is tea shop owner Theodosia Browning. She is an amateur sleuth who investigates murders in Charleston, South Carolina where she lives and works. Death at a Firefly Tea is my selection for March's Calendar of Crime Challenge. I got behind in my reading last month.

The publishers summary:

As fireflies dazzle like tiny glowing lanterns, tea maven Theodosia hosts an elegant evening tea on the patio of the Tangled Rose B and B. But in this gentle darkness an intruder has made their way in and slipped deadly drugs into the baked Alaska of Mrs. Van Courtland, one of Charleston's local grande dames. Shocked by this brazen act, urged on by Mrs. V's grieving son, Theodosia begins her own shadow investigation. Soon, she finds herself at odds with a greedy developer, the questionable residents of Honey Badger House, a vengeful ex- daughter-in-law, ne'er do well relatives, and a housekeeper who knows all the secrets. As Theodosia hosts a Moulin Rouge Tea and a Queen Victoria Tea, her tea sommelier Drayton is assaulted by a masked stranger and the fiancae of Mrs. V's son is kidnapped. It's only at the Starry Starry Night black tie ball that Theodosia stumbles upon the killer and gets pulled into a dramatic life and death chase.

This book is another great entry into the Indigo Teashop series. It is a perfectly plotted mystery with several unexpected twists. I was trying to read slow in order to savor the story because I know I have to wait another year for the next book. However, that proved to be impossible. I read the book in one sitting. Author Laura Childs' last couple of books were perfectly written and this one fits into that category. Initially I didn't understand what a firefly tea was supposed to be. It all made sense in the first chapter as a group of folks had an afternoon tea of sorts after dark. The fireflies were lit up. I can remember looking at them when I was young but I certainly did not get tea. As usual, several relatives of the deceased asked Theodosia  to investigate and find the murderer. Police detective Burt Tidwell told her to not interfere but throughout the story he keeps asking for her opinion on the investigation. Tidwell is usually gruff and rough around the edges but he was different in this novel. He did not appear in the past few books so I am glad to see him again. 

The teas and food served at the Indigo Tea Shop are described so well that I began looking for restaurants in my area that serve afternoon tea.  There was afternoon tea hosted by Theo in this novel. There was a Victorian Tea. The Indigo Teashop was lavishly decorated for the event and the food served fit the Victorian era. The food descriptions made me hungry and I felt like I was there in person at the Indigo Teashop. It's the best part of this cozy mystery series. Drayton Connelley is Theo's tea sommelier and Haley is the baker. I love Drayton. He is my favorite character in the series. Drayton is always well dressed and has a debonair attitude around him. He helps Theo investigate the murders and the two of them always end up in a precarious situation. Haley basically stays in the background. Another nice feature in these books are the recipes. For every food and dessert concocted by Haley, there will be recipes at the end of the book. I am going to have to make Drayton's Shrimp Chowder.

Death at a Firefly Tea is a superb cozy mystery. Cozy fans will want to read it. 5 out of 5 stars.

The Star From Calcutta

The newest Perveen Mistry cozy historical mystery was recently published on March 3, 2026. The Star From Calcutta is the fifth installment of the series and takes place in 1922 India. In this story there was a movie censor  murdered at a movie premiere. The  leading lady disappeared at the same time. 

The publisher's summary:

India, 1922: Perveen Mistry, the only female lawyer in Bombay, has secured her biggest client yet: Champa Films, a movie studio run by director Subhas Ghoshal and his wife, Rochana, the biggest name in Indian cinema. In the public eye, Rochana is notorious for her beauty and her daring stunts—behind the scenes, she has recently left the studio in Calcutta that made her famous, and the studio owner is enraged by what he claims is a breach of contract. Rochana needs Perveen’s legal help to extricate Champa Films from the impending controversy.

To study Rochana’s glamorous world, Perveen attends a special screening and brings her film fanatic best friend, Alice Hobson-Jones. But in the aftermath of the event, one of the guests is found dead, and to make matters worse, Rochana has disappeared.

To protect her clients, Perveen begins to investigate the developing murder case, peeling back the glitz to reveal a salacious web of blackmail, deceit, and romantic affairs. For the first time in their friendship, Alice seems to be keeping a secret from Perveen. Is she hiding key information about the night of the murder? Will Perveen be able to detangle the truth from lies while protecting herself—and her closest friend?

This installment of the series was somewhat different than the earlier novels. In the past Perveen was investigating murders as a defense of her clients. In Star, Perveen was a witness because she attended the film preview and because she found the body. It was a nice twist that keeps the series fresh. However, she was still able to gather information for her investigation, although she had to ensure that the police did not know what she was up to. As a potential witness in a trial, or even the defendant, Perveen had to lay low. She hired a retired detective to help her with research into the movie companies, the censors and even her clients. 

While I have always enjoyed the Indian setting, this particular novel sheds light on the beginnings of Bollywood. Up until the time of the story, 1922, the movies that were shown in India were primarily made in Britain and had British storylines. None of the movie companies were creating stories about the lives of the Indian people nor were the actors Indian. If a character was ethnic, a mixed race actor was hired and, in all cases, the names of the actors were changed to Indian names. Around 1922 several Indian owned movie companies sprang up. They told Indian stories and used Indian actors. 

The pace was pretty quick, although the murder didn't occur until page 100 (out of 415). Perveen is a brilliant amateur sleuth. She relies on her law school education and work experience to help her create lists, in her mind that is, on how to approach each investigation in a rational manner. She pretty much knows what information she needs to obtain, in what order to obtain it and the names of those people who might have the information. Perveen thinks analytically as a lawyer would think. When she gets into trouble her father is a great resource. With twenty five years experience as a lawyer himself, he has the gravitas to know how best to handle unexpected challenges.

Perveen has a romantic interest in another character. The romance cannot go anywhere because she is still married to Cyrus Sodawilla and is not eligible for a divorce. Perveen is skating on thin ice in her liaisons with him but as a twenty-six year old woman she cannot turn her passion off. To make matters worse, her best friend's parents, the Hobson-Jones, are trying to marry him off to their daughter Alice. Of course, Alice isn't interested in him because she prefers women.

To say anything more about the book would be a spoiler. Suffice it to say that The Star of Calcutta is a perfect cozy mystery. I am rating it 5 out of 5 stars.

The Hildegard Seeds

I have one additional books to read in Gary McAvoy's Vatican Secret Archives Mystery series. I will then begin reading his Vatican Archaeology series. I have enjoyed every book he has written to date and The Hildegard Seeds is no different. It was awesome. 

The publisher's summary:

When investigative journalist Hana Sinclair uncovers a cryptic reference to an ancient botanical manuscript left to by her late grandfather, she unravels a thread tied to Hildegard von Bingen, a 12th-century abbess, healer, and mystic. Her findings reveal that Hildegard’s work holds more than historical value—it may conceal the key to curing some of humanity’s most devastating diseases. But someone is determined to ensure her secrets stay buried.

As Hana teams up with Father Michael Dominic, prefect of the Vatican Secret Archives, and Marcus Russo, a Vatican archaeologist, they discover that a powerful biotech corporation, Zentara, has been systematically suppressing cancer cures for profit. Zentara’s reach is vast, its operatives ruthless, and its agenda clear: control the narrative of medical progress at any cost.

The team races to uncover and protect Hildegard’s work, their journey taking them from Geneva to Rupertsberg Abbey, where Hildegard lived and worked, to Zentara’s high-tech laboratories. Along the way, they face betrayal, danger, and the weight of their own convictions. For Hana, the fight becomes deeply personal, challenging her notions of justice and the role of science in society.

But when Zentara accelerates its plans and begins human trials with catastrophic consequences, the stakes grow even higher. Can the team expose the corporation’s crimes, safeguard Hildegard’s legacy, and ensure her healing vision is not lost to history?

A gripping tale of courage, faith, and the pursuit of truth, The Hildegard Seeds explores the timeless struggle between greed and the greater good, weaving historical intrigue with modern-day suspense in a story that will resonate long after the final page.

The action in this story began in the first chapter, must sooner than in previous novels which is a good thing.  My interest in the story began quickly as the short chapters brought the suspense level up. It was impossible to put the book down. The vial referenced in the summary above contained a substance that Hildegard's manuscript promised to be able to cure tumors.  A substance that can cure cancer would be coveted by every pharmaceutical company in the world which naturally created danger for Hana and Michael. 

The story contained alot of scientific information concerning botanicals, such as ferns and ricinus aureum as well as the scientific method of isolating the properties of these plants. Ricinus aureum isn't a recognized plant name, but likely refers to ricinus communis, the castor bean plant, known for its stunning foliage (often purplish, hence "aureum" might imply golden/colorful) and highly poisonous seeds, containing the toxin ricin, used medicinally and industrially for castor oil but dangerous if ingested. In this novel the ricinum aureum plant is referred to as a "golden castor, " so I assume we are referring to the same plant.

Also, the story includes Hildegard’s mystical language Lingua Ignota (Latin for "unknown language") which consists of 23 letters and a vocabulary with no known grammar. The only known text are individual words embedded in Latin. To write it, Hildegard used denominated litterae ignotae (Latin for "unknown letters"). It was pretty cool to see how Father Michael Dominic deciphered it. The story also contained several of the riddles in Hildegard’s writings that Hana and Michael had to decipher making this book a first rate mystery.

As I usually do when reading McAvoy's novels, I stopped reading in the middle of the book to check Wikipedia in order to determine what is true in the story and what isn't. While I know that I will find this info at the end of the story, I am too impatient to wait.

This installment of the series may be the best. The plot is more intricate and together with all the science behind Hildegard’s ideas, I was fascinated with the story. The twists and turns are ramped up and Hana and Michael find their lives in mortal danger multiple times. I am rating it 5 out of 5 stars.