Today, I am delighted to be taking part in the blog tour for book 4 in the The Secret Detective Agency series, The Afternoon Tea Murders by Helena Dixon
London, 1942. Miss Jane Treen is at her desk in Whitehall sipping a strong coffee when she receives an urgent message about her colleague, codebreaker Arthur Cilento. He’s in danger in Devon, and Jane needs to get there sharpish. But before her bags are properly unpacked, the local teashop owner in Arthur’s village is found lying amidst the scones and teacakes… and she’s dead.
When Jane arrives, it quickly becomes clear that the murder is a half-baked attempt to curdle Arthur’s current codebreaking mission – but how? There seem to be suspects at every turn. Is Arthur’s boss be going to extremes to cover up his incompetence? Can the teashop customers be trusted? And what about the secretary, who seems to have secret links to the village teashop…
Spurred on by scones and clotted cream, Jane and Arthur start to whip up a theory as to who the killer could be. But just as they begin to make progress, someone else is murdered – and it looks like Arthur could be next. It’s clear they need to solve this case quickly, before teatime is over and Arthur meets a sticky end…
If you love twisty crime novels, top-secret intrigue and the very best of Golden Age mysteries, then you will adore Helena Dixon’s utterly gripping cozy novel, perfect for fans of Agatha Christie, T.E. Kinsey and Verity Bright!
My thoughts
It’s been so lovely joining Jane and Arthur again as the embark on another mission as part of The Secret Detective Agency. I do love a crime novel and the ‘cozy’ nature of this means that it’s all about solving the puzzle of who did it. They are perfect to escape into but don’t leave you unnerved at all. But don’t be mistaken, there is plenty of peril and the setting of England during the early years of the Second World War means that there is plenty of interesting detail as Helena takes us expertly back to days fraught with danger.
Whilst Arthur is working as a codebreaker ,it seems that someone is out to sabotage his mission and they’ll stop at nothing to succeed. Passions run high as everyone begins to suspect each other and danger lurks for anyone who begins to get to the bottom of who the enemy spy might be. Because war time brings out the best and worst in people and makes them very deadly indeed. Helena adds just enough lighthearted moments to bring a sense of warmth to the novel and I am growing fonder and fonder of Jane, Arthur, Benson and of course, Marmaduke as each story comes along. A marvellous mystery series that is the perfect way to escape to the past, follow the clues and see if you can work out who did it. Bliss.
Thank you to the lovely team at Bookouture for inviting me to take part in this blog tour and for providing a digital copy of the book via Netgalley. It’s a pleasure as always to be onboard.
The Afternoon Tea Murders is available now in paperback, eBook and on Audiobook.
Amazon: https://geni.us/B0FXC1HYC1social
About the author
Helena Dixon is the author of the internationally bestselling Miss Underhay cozy mystery series. She is a Black Country girl living in Devon. Married to the same man for over thirty-five years she has three daughters, a cactus called Spike, and a crazy cockapoo. She was the winner of the RNA Romance Prize in 2007 and the RNA Love Story of the Year 2010.
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Thank you so much for visiting today. I hope you come back again soon.
Happy reading!
Shelley
Tales Before Bedtime 