In Too Steep by Kate Kingsbury

Hello my cozy friends,

Today I am reviewing "In to Steep” the 2nd instalment in A Misty Bay Tea Room Mystery series by Kate Kingsbury set in the town of Misty Bay, Oregon.  I did have trouble getting into this instalment much like book one, but do recommend giving it a try.

The peace and tranquility of the Misty Bay Tearoom is rocked by murder and a long-buried secret hidden in a most unlikely place in bestselling author Kate Kingsbury’s second charming book for fans of Cleo Coyle and Laura Childs.

It seemed like a simple case: the murder of Lewis Trenton, a beachcomber who lived alone in a cabin in the Oregon hills. But the newspaper article piques the interest of Vivian Wainwright, owner of the British-style Misty Bay Tearoom. The photo accompanying the article shows Lewis’s cluttered living room, and on the shelf is a replica of Big Ben. Vivian is sure she sold the clock a week before in her shop. Who could have given the replica to Lewis?

Unable to keep from doing a bit of sleuthing, Vivian hunts down the replica in a local thrift shop, noticing that the base is missing, rendering it worthless, but just as Vivian is about to throw it in the trash, a sparkle catches her eye. It’s a diamond, hidden away in a crevice in the clock. Vivian takes the diamond to Detective Tony Messina, who identifies it as part of a jewelry heist in Portland a month earlier. Portland police think Lewis was the fence who sold the jewels, and that he was killed after double-crossing the thieves—but Messina doesn’t believe the story.

What was the true motive behind Lewis’s murder? How did he come upon the diamond? And what secrets can the clock tell—before the killer strikes again?
 

I struggled to read this story, I’m thinking it was maybe just me although others seemed to have trouble too.

Vivian, Jenna and Gracie are all from different age groups so we see the different perspectives, which I liked.  We get to see how they have progressed since the last book and some romance is in the air for at least two of them.

Felix , Vivian's rescue is a joy and she struggles with giving him the attention he needs and the tea shop.  The surprise ending kind of made me feel like the author was wrapping everything up neatly, in case there is no book 3 or the series will take on a whole new direction.

The mystery is interesting and well plotted, and kept guessing and second-guessing myself on whodunnit but in the end I was correct. 

I requested and received an Advanced Readers Copy from Crooked Lane and NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

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