The Perfect Day
It goes without saying that the perfect day doesn’t involve murder. It’s not that it’s happened a lot, but it has been a weird year. First there was the woman who died in Mrs. Earnshaw’s tearoom next door to Auntie Rose’s, and then there was the lady who died while Nana and Laverne were in Butterhill at the teapot collector’s conference, and now. . . well, I won’t talk about that yet.
I was asked about a ‘Day in the Life’ kind of thing. Day in the Life— like there are any two alike? Okay, so maybe I’ll just talk about my perfect day. It involves food, both cooking and eating; I’ve worked in a lot of restaurant kitchens and even owned one. Nothing beats having total control, and that’s what Nana gives me in the kitchen of Auntie Rose’s Victorian Tea House. I love making up new soups, sandwiches, biscuits, scones, cookies, all kind of treats. There’s a creative buzz I get from it.
It also wouldn’t be a perfect day without a chat with Nana, and my godmother, Laverne. Those two ladies, in their eighties and seventies, respectively, give me so much more hope for the future than even my friends or parents. They have so much get up and go, though Laverne complains all the time that her ‘get-up-and-go got up and went’.
After the tearoom closes for the day and I’m done cleaning up so Nana doesn’t try to do it all alone, I love getting together with my Gracious Grove pals, the most normal bunch of friends I’ve ever had. Growing up in boarding schools I had friends, but they lived all over the world, so it wasn’t like I could call them to hang for a while. I can do that here. I don’t think I’ll ever get my mother to understand why that’s important to me. She prefers the kind of friends she meets while in Tahiti, or Paris, or Milan.
And then there’s Jason; he’s my first love, the boy I fell hard for while visiting Nana in Gracious Grove, the guy my mother broke me up with when I was sixteen, and the kind she wants to steer me clear of because he’s not a doctor or lawyer or entrepreneur. He’s a college teacher of English lit, the last thing I ever would have thought he’d become. But it suits him, his new academic role. You know, I don’t think I ever got over loving him. I hope to learn if he feels the same. Maybe some perfect day I’ll get up the nerve to ask him.
And the perfect day ends in my little attic bedroom above Auntie Rose’s, watching true crime shows and petting Pearlie Girlie, Nana’s beautiful Chocolate Point Birman cat. The next perfect day starts and ends the same way; that’s what happens when you finally figure out where you’re meant to be.
And the latest dead body? Yikes. . . don’t ask. Poor Jason; it doesn’t look good for him. I just hope it wasn’t the tea that did the vic (as they call the victim on cop shows) in. I think I’m going to have to get involved. . . again. To find out what happens, read The Grim Steeper!
The Grim Steeper is the third book in the “Teapot Collector” mystery series, published by Berkley Prime Crime, February 2016.
The national bestselling author of Shadow of a Spout invites readers back to the Finger Lakes town of Gracious Grove for more tea and murder. . .
Mid-October in the charming Finger Lakes town of Gracious Grove means it’s time for the annual Fall Fling Townwide Tea Party. The highlight of the festivities is a roaming tea-tasting, which includes a stop at Auntie Rose’s Victorian Tea House. Sophie Taylor would like to share her enjoyment of the event with her sort-of boyfriend, English teacher Jason Murphy, but Jason’s dean has accused him of falsifying grades to help an athlete at the local college. Steamed and stressed, Jason shows up the night of the party with bags under his eyes.
But the dean shows up under Sophie’s Japanese Maple later that night, murdered, and now Jason is suspected of far worse than fudging grade reports. It’s up to Sophie, her Nana, and their friends the Silver Spouts to pore over the clues to find out who really decided to teach the dean a lesson.
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About the author
Amanda Cooper, aka Victoria Hamilton is the author of three bestselling series, the Vintage Kitchen 
Mysteries and Merry Muffin Mysteries as Victoria, as well as the Teapot Collector Mysteries. Victoria loves to cook and collects vintage kitchen paraphernalia, teacups and teapots, and almost anything that catches her fancy! She loves to read, especially mystery novels, and enjoys good tea and cheap wine, and the company of friends. She enjoys crocheting and beading, but a good book can tempt her away from almost anything… except writing!
To learn more about Amanda Cooper, aka Victoria Hamilton visit these social media links:
Amanda Cooper/Victoria Hamilton Mysteries
Amanda Cooper/Victoria Hamilton Facebook
Teapot Collector Mysteries Facebook
Pinterest
Twitter
Giveaway: Amanda Cooper is giving away one copy of The Grim Steeper with a bookmark to one reader who comments here! This is open to Canadian and US addresses. The giveaway will end February 22, 2016 at 12 AM EST. Good luck everyone!
All comments are welcomed.
Would love to win, thank you for the chance!!!
Love this series and all her others. This was a great review post. Thanks for the chance to win.
I would love to add this to the others in the series. They sound great & I haven’t gotten to start them yet but I know they’ll be good.
Love the chance to read this book. I have the first book , so i’ll need to read the second but love to get the chance at this one. Thanks 🙂
I really enjoy her books.
This is a fun series – thank you for sharing – this new addition looks fun
This would be a great book to add to my cozy challenge list. Thanks for a chance to win a copy. (I love the cat on the cover.)
I enjoy the author’s other series so I’m sure I’ll enjoy this one. Thanks for a chance to win a copy!
Sounds like a lovely tearoom. I want to read the book!. Thanks for a chance to win.
Oh goody goody!!
This sounds like my cup of tea! I’d love to win.
Pearlie Girlie – what a fantastic name!!!
It would be wonderful to run a tea room. I can only imagine all the visitors you might have. robeader53@yahoo.com
Sounds like a great read.
A captivating and intriguing cozy. Thanks.
I will read anything and everything by Amanda Cooper aka Victoria Hamilton.
I haven’t read any of these books, but I love mysteries. I’d love to win this book and add this author to my favorites list!
I grew up not far from the Finger Lakes so the setting (and story) is of interest to me! Thanks for the chance to enter!
I love this author, great mysteries. Thanks for the giveaway.
This seems like a fun series. Although I have read and enjoyed other books by this author, somehow I missed this series. With the delicious foods described, I can’t imagine how I missed it! 😉 Thanks to Dru for calling this to my attention, and to Amanda/Victoria for the great opportunity to win a copy! 🙂
Thank you Amanda/Victoria for your writing and the hard work you do to give your readers pleasure. And, thank you, Dru, for featuring such wonderful books!
That must be Pearlie Girlie on the book cover—she looks like a perfect cat for a cozy/ Thanks for the contest.
suefarrell.farrell@gmail.com
Sounds like a perfect cozy mystery to me! I’d love to read your book. Thanks for a chance to win.
Would love to win this book as I enjoy any book by Amanda Cooper or Victoria Hamilton. I love teapots and have a few, not many,. Now days it’s little 2 cup pots especially from places I’ve eaten ate in the far distance past.
The Grim Steeper sounds like a great read.
Thank you for the opportunity to win.
A teapot mystery sounds divine. I’ll have to look for the first two. Enjoyed the perfect day description. I could go for that perfect day!
How perfect: a tea cozy.
I would love to read The Grim Steeper (great title!). Thanks for the giveaway!
Sounds like a wonderful book. I love the rich interplay of perfect day and my day in the post. Very entertaining!
This looks like a great read. Would really enjoy reading. Like the setting for the book. Thanks for the giveaway.
My perfect day would be sitting down with some tea and reading this book.
Thank you for the chance to win!
I have really loved Victoria’s two other series especially the Vintage Kitchen Mysteries, but have not gotten any books in this series despite loving my bone china tea cups that I collect along with a few tea pots that I still have left after downsizing. So, I really should get the books in this series as I know I would enjoy it. Please add me to the list for this book to get me started if I possibly win.
Great blog post.
Cynthia
Love visiting tearooms – sounds like a fun read.
Love going to tearooms with my mom. Thanks for the chance to win a copy of The Grim Steeper.
My mom and I celebrate events going to tea. I think I’ll love this series!
My mom and I live to go to tea to celebrate events! I’m sure I’ll love this series!
The Grim Steeper sounds like a fun read! Thank you for the giveaway.
I love this series. Happy to see a new one.
Thanks
This series has been on my TBR list. Thanks for the chance to win!
I LOVE this series and can’t wait to read this one!
I love Amanda Cooper!
A book that has a cat and tea in it written by one of my favorite authors? I’m in. So looking forward to reading The Grim Steeper. Thanks for the chance to win.
Aren’t teapots great, I love them. Thank you for a chance to win a copy of this fun sounding book.
wfnren at aol dot com
Sound like a must-read!!!!!
Thank you for the giveaway…..
I really look forward to Sophie’s escapades with “nana”.
Love your other series as Victoria Hamilton. This is new to me an rd I would love to win and read this.
I haven’t tried this series yet. Looking forward to it.