Hana Keller is the sleuth in the “Hungarian Tea House” mysteries. One of the best ways to learn about a person is by asking questions. So, let’s get to know Hana.

What is your full name?
Hana Janet Keller.

How old are you?
27.

What is your profession?
I run a tea house with my mother and grandmother.

Do you have a significant other?
Sort of; I am dating a police detective named Erik Wolf. We only just started dating last month, when he helped to solve a murder in our tea house.

Do you have any children?
No, but I have two cats named Antony and Cleopatra, and a neighbor named Iris, who is five. I spoil all of them.

Do you have any siblings?
Yes, my older brother Domonkos (pronounced DOE MUN KOE SH).

Are your parents nearby?
Yes–they live in Riverwood, where I grew up and where I still live, in my own pretty little apartment.

Who is your best friend?
My best friend’s name is Katie, and she has received all of my confidences for many years. She works in Chicago, almost an hour from Riverwood.

Do you have any pets?
Yes- I mentioned them above. I got my sibling duo of cats from a shelter. I fell in love with them because they had their arms around each other.

What town do you live in?
Riverwood, Illinois.

Would you say you live in a small town or a big city?
Riverwood is small enough to be a quiet town and have secluded feel, but our population actually exceeds 20,000.

Type of dwelling and do you own or rent?
I live in an apartment building; I pay rent monthly.

What is your favorite spot in your home?
I love cooking in my kitchen, but my bedroom is a real retreat: one wall is lined with tree-like bookshelves built by the carpenters in my family. I have covered it with books and my collection of Hungarian porcelain. The windowsill above my bed serves as a shelf for books, a Hungarian Zsolnay scultpure that I call Fairy, and my Norfolk pine, which I named Isabella. My bed is covered by a blue and green patchwork quilt made by my mother. I like to sit on my bed when it’s raining; I can listen to the soothing sound of rainfall while reading in my cozy space.

Favorite meal and dessert?
I love Hungarian food; Chicken Paprikás is probably my favorite dinner, and my favorite dessert is Dobos Torte. I like to make both of these dishes, as well.

Do you have any hobbies?
I love to collect Hungarian porcelain and to shop for any sort of bargains, especially antiques. I have a friend named Falken Trisch who runs a shop called Timeless Treasures. I love to wander in there, stalked by the store cat, Inspektor, to see what sorts of delights Falken has found at any particular time. I also love to cook and make Hungarian noodles with my grandmother.

What is your favorite vacation spot?
I haven’t vacationed much recently, but I daydream about Italy. This daydream will become significant in a story that I tell later on.

What music do you listen to?
I like all kinds of current music, and I generally listen to a couple of favorite radio stations when I drive. In the classical world, I favor Brahms, and his Hungarian Dances. I heard them a lot while I was growing up.

Do you have a favorite book?
I like folklore, and I have several volumes of general folk and fairy tales, and some that are specifically Hungarian. I also like suspense and romance novels.

What is your idea of a really fun time?
As I said, I love shopping at Timeless Treasures. I could spend hours in there. I also find it incredibly fun to spend time with my new boyfriend. And my brother Domo and his girlfriend Margie are great fun when we have family game nights.

If you were to write a memoir, what would you call it?
**Treasure Hunt**. My life has been all about finding treasure, both in physical form and in love relationships.

Amateur or professional sleuth and whom do you work with?
I’m an amateur sleuth, but my boyfriend is a cop, and he says I have a real knack for solving puzzles.

In a few sentences, what is a typical day in your life like?
I have a calendar full of tea events; some start early in the morning, and others don’t begin until midday. So depending on the time of my event, I might have to don my tea house uniform and run right out, or I might have time to linger in my house, enjoy a morning coffee and some oatmeal at my little kitchen table while my cats regard me from the windowsill. I love quiet mornings. When I do go to the tea house, there is much to do, between setting tables, arranging decor, overseeing the food made by our amazing chef, Francois, and then dealing with customer questions, waiting on tables, cleaning up spills, arranging live entertainment when we have it. After guests leave, we spend a good couple of hours cleaning up again–we are very tidy people–and making sure everything is set up for the next event. My schedule is changeable, but I like it that way.

In my most recent adventure, I took a free morning to visit a garage sale of a man who later turned out to be a famous artist. I found a Herend wolf on his shelf–a beautiful, intact Herend wolf that would normally cost about 500 dollars, but the man was asking for only five. That didn’t seem right to me, and as it turned out it wasn’t: things were very, very wrong, and my boyfriend Erik had to get involved once more. . .

Death of a Wandering Wolf is the second book in the “Hungarian Tea House” cozy mystery series, released June 30, 2020.

Hana Keller is enjoying a day off from serving up tea and delicious pastries at her family’s Hungarian Tea House when her downtime turns deadly. . .

The only thing Hana loves more than a good cuppa is finding a delicate porcelain treasure to add to her collection. She’s usually on the hunt for teacups but when she spots a rare wolf figurine at a local yard sale, she knows it’s her lucky day. Hana also knows the wolf is valuable and tells the seller that he’s charging too little for it. His reaction is peculiar–he says he received the wolf from someone he doesn’t trust and he just wants it out of his life.

Hana is inspecting her new prize when she finds a tiny microchip attached to the bottom of the porcelain wolf. When she shows the figure to her police detective boyfriend, Erik, Hana is shocked to learn that the chip is actually a tracking device. They decide to confront the seller about the sneaky sale but when they arrive at his house, they find him dead. Erik and Hana now must hunt a calculating killer who has no intentions of crying wolf when it comes to murder. . .

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About the author
Julia Buckley is the author of the Undercover Dish mysteries and the Writer’s Apprentice mysteries. She is a member of Sisters in Crime, Mystery Writers of America, and the Chicago Writer’s Association. She has taught high school English for twenty-nine years. Visit her website at juliabuckley.com.

All comments are welcomed.