MURDER WITH CHERRY TARTS – Karen Rose Smith
A Daisy's Tea Garden Mystery , Book 4
Kensington Mystery
ISBN: 978-1-4967-2392-5
December 2019
Contemporary Mystery

Present Day Willow Creek, Pennsylvania

Willow Creek is a small town in Lancaster County with a mixed population of Amish and non-Amish. Among the latter is the Swanson family made up of Daisy, a widow, and her two daughters, Violet and Jasmine. Vi is to be married very soon and Jasmine, a teenager, is called Jazzi. While they are just one segment of the larger group, this story centers on Daisy and her Aunt Iris. Daisy and Iris are partners in a successful tea garden that features tasty food and beverages. While not in any way a professional crime fighter, Daisy has thrice been mixed up in murder mysteries. She just seems to have a talent for following leads. This time, she has a boyfriend who was a policeman in Philadelphia before moving to Willow Creek and opening a furniture making and selling business. His name is Jonas Groft. Though the relationship is fairly new, Jonas is quietly protective of Daisy. 

Willow Creek is a friendly place and Daisy a very sociable person. She cares about her family and her employees at the tea garden. The story opens with her worried about one of the servers who has been taking home soup and leftover baked goods after her shift. More than she could eat herself.  

I won't go into the many characters and storylines that make up this complex, compelling tale. I'll just mention that one of them gets bludgeoned to death with a marble rolling pin, and Daisy can't help but get interested . . . much to the annoyance of the police detective in charge.  

Readers should find that once beginning MURDER WITH CHERRY TARTS, they won't want to put it down. And if they haven't read the earlier tomes, they'll want to investigate Murder with Lemon Tea Cakes (2017), Murder with Cinnamon Scones (2018), and Murder with Cucumber Sandwiches (2019). All good, and they all have recipes at the conclusions. J  

Jane Bowers