I’m home! Or what I think of as home, Gracious Grove, New York, the prettiest town in the prettiest region, tucked in among the Finger Lakes! My family has homes all over the place – New York, the Hamptons, Miami – but my grandmother’s modest home in GiGi, as locals call the town, is more home to me than any of them.
So, how did I end up living with my grandmother? It all started with a failure. I had my lifelong dream come true, first. I was barely twenty-six when I got the funding and opened my own restaurant, In Fashion, in the garment district in Manhattan. The next three years were a whirlwind, but then it was over. After a great start we fell victim to competition, personnel problems, investor problems and… my inability to make my vision work.
Enough about that. I’ve moved to Gracious Grove to stay with my Nana and help her in her tearoom, Auntie Rose’s Victorian Tea House. When I was a kid I stayed there often, and my greatest thrill was helping Nana dust her impressive collection of teapots. She has hundreds, and they are lined up on bureaus, sideboards and shelves in the tearoom. My own interest in them started then, and I now have a wonderful collection of my own, mostly art deco and art nouveau.
So… my day used to start with a visit to the fish market and garden market for the freshest fish and produce, then a meeting with my cooking staff at In Fashion; it was hectic, no breathing space, and I fueled myself on cups of strong coffee. But now, back in the slower pace that is Auntie Rose’s I get up, wander downstairs and have coffee with my grandmother and godmother, who are drinking tea, of course. Laverne Hodge, my godmother, is also my grandmother’s only employee at the tearoom.
Then I start my day doing whatever needs doing and trying to take some of the work off my Nana’s shoulders. I’m working right now on planning a tearoom wedding shower. Nana decided to hand over control of Cissy Peterson’s event to me, but what do I know about showers? I’ve been so busy working since I finished school that I’ve never even gone to one. I think I’ll just do a little tea talk, and let Cissy’s matron of honor, Gretchen, plan the rest.
I do want Cissy to have fun. She was my friend whenever I came to stay in Gracious Grove, and happens to be the granddaughter of Nana’s neighbor and frenemy, Thelma Mae Earnshaw. Can that woman hold a grudge? Decades later and she still claims Nana stole her beau, aka my grandfather.
Anyway, there is no normal day right now, while this is all so new to me, but as long as I can help, I guess I’ll be all right. I’m hoping to reconnect with my boyfriend from my teen years, Jason Murphy, but I broke his heart and don’t know if he’s going to trust me, or if he’s even interested.
Oh, did I happen to mention that Nana’s next door frenemy Thelma also has a tearoom? She’s holding an engagement tea there for her granddaughter because her nose is bent out of shape over Cissy having her wedding shower at Nana’s. Cissy’s soon-to-be family-in-law seems to be even more dysfunctional than the usual, but hey… what could go wrong?
I hope I don’t regret saying that.
You can read more about Sophie in Tempest in a Teapot, the first book in the new “Teapot Collector” mystery series, published by Berkley Prime Crime. Book is available at retail and online booksellers.
Tempest in a Teapot
Sophie Taylor, failed restaurateur, chef and teapot collector, is at loose ends in Manhattan until she decides on the spur of the moment to return ‘home’ to Gracious Grove and her grandmother’s tearoom, Auntie Rose’s Victorian Tea House. Her grandmother, Rose Freemont, aka ‘Nana’, welcomes her with open arms and Sophie settles in to find her groove cooking again, even if it is ‘only’ tearoom fare. At the same time she reestablishes friendships with her childhood buddies Dana and Cissy, and her first love, Jason Murphy.
Life in Gracious Grove is not usually as spirited as it becomes when there is a murder at the tearoom next door, the establishment of cranky octogenarian Thelma Mae Earnshaw. Despite Thelma’s irascibility, Sophie feels compelled to help figure out who killed a local socialite with a baked goodie at Thelma’s tearoom, Belle Époque. Too soon the danger strikes close to home with an attack on her Nana, and Sophie races the clock to figure out what is going wrong in the pretty little town of Gracious Grove.
For more on Tempest in a Teapot and the Teapot Collector Mysteries, visit the series’ Facebook page.
GIVEAWAY
Comment on this post by 6 p.m. EST on June 9, and you will be entered for a chance to win a copy of TEMPEST IN A TEAPOT. One winner will be chosen at random. Unless specified, U.S. entries only.
Meet the author
Amanda Cooper is the pseudonym of bestselling mystery author Victoria Hamilton. She writes the Vintage Kitchen 
Mysteries and the Merry Muffin Mysteries as Hamilton, in addition to the Teapot Collector Mysteries as Amanda Cooper. Cooper’s long time love of mystery novels started at age twelve when her mom handed her an Agatha Christie book and said ‘Read!’. Thousands of novels later Cooper is still reading. And writing.
But besides those two favorite pastimes, Cooper collects teacups, teapots and other ephemera. Perfume is her secret addiction. She likes to cook, hates to clean, and enjoys time spent with friends chatting over wine or tea. She adores crafting, loathes boredom, and her guilty pleasure is ‘reality’ TV, which she knows is largely fake but enjoys anyway.
Cooper thinks that people are the most interesting study of all, and more than anything, she loves to hear from readers, not just about her books but about anything and everything.
Learn more about Amanda Cooper, her alter ego Victoria Hamilton, and all her mystery series at: www.victoriahamiltonmysteries.com
Follow dru’s book musing on Facebook for book giveaways, contests, posting about discounted books and some of my reading musings.
I enjoy the author’s other series. This one sounds just as great.
I love tearooms so this sounds like a good read to me.
Love the author’s other series, so am looking forward to reading this one.
Sounds good to me.
This sounds like a fun new series. Thank you for the chance to win
I am looking forward to reading this series it sounds interesting.
I love tea and tearooms. Would love to read this book
I always like to get in on the ground floor of a series, I enjoy it more. I happen to have a massive collection of sun faces, but I could see the attraction to teapots. I like to learn a little something with my pleasure reading, and this sounds like I could learn about teapots.
yippeys!!! another NEW series!!!!
thank you for the giveaway!!!!
Sounds like great read!
I love this author and all her different series, can’t wait to read this one !!
I love collecting teapots too, love tea houses, and we called my grandmother nana also!! This book sounds so good. I want to know who killed the socialite at old Thelma’s tearoom. Thanks for hosting this giveaway.
Lauigl[at]carolina[dot]rr[dot]com
I’m already a fan of the Vintage Kitchen series, so I can’t wait to try this one. Kuzlin(at)aol(dot)com
I’d love to read this! It sounds good! Thank you!
Two tea rooms?! The plot thickens! Looks like a great new series, thanks for the chance to win!
Looking forward to starting this one!
I look forward to hopefully reading it 🙂
I love cozies set in small towns, The residents are usually so interesting.
Love teapots. I would have a collection too if I had room. Thank you for the chance to win this great cozy.
I love pretty teapots and teacups but my collection is very small. Having tea feels so different than having coffee.
this is a new author for me. sounds like it will be a good book. Always willing to try something new.
I’ve been excited about this one since I first heard of it. And the cover is beautiful!
Sounds good, I can’t wait to read it.
Whatever she calls herself, i really enjoy this author and food or not, l’m in. 🙂
So much drama and so many tea pots! What a combination.
Gracious Cove sounds like a wonderful place to visit. I want to read this book.
suefarrell.farrell@gmail.com
I see Amanda Cooper likes crafting too. Wonder if she collects crocked or knitted tea cozies ( that ‘s the tea pot covers to keep the tea warm).
Ronna… I crocheted my own tea cozy…. made up the pattern and everything!! I’ll post a photo on Facebook!
I don’t drink tea, but this sounds good to me.
This sounds like a great read! I’m a bit new to “cozy mysteries”, so I’m eagerly learning some new authors!
I am looking forward to reading this book. I have really enjoyed the author’s other series.
This sounds like a great read! I’m a little new to “cozy mysteries” and I’m learning lots of great new authors!
Being a woman who loves to go to tea rooms and who also owns a lot of bone china tea cups and saucers (obviously sets, :)) and some teapots too, I was so thrilled to have this series announced this week. I cannot wait to get this book as I know it is going to be one of my new favorites with the subject matter of things that I have loved since being a teenager and that was MANY years ago. Thank you for the chance to win this giveaway. Would love that. Thank you so much.
Cynthia
I can’t wait to read this book/ I have really enjoyed the author’s other series.
This series is a perfect fit for me. Can’t wait to start reading it. Thanks for the chance to win.
Love her Vintage Kitchen books and I have a Tea Room in my small town.I also have a few 2cup teapots and fancy tea cups. Sounds like a wonderful addition to the books I enjoy.
I think this is going to be a great book! I can’t wait to read it.
Lovely premise. And I have lived in small towns, so I know those women. Would love to read this.
Thanks so much, all, for making me feel so VERY welcome, and thanks to Dru Ann for hosting Sophie and I! I look forward to reading more comments, and to hearing what folks think when they read Tempest in a Teapot!
I can’t wait to read a book series about my favorite collection. My teapots!
Love tea rooms, and love the premise for this new series. Have totally enjoyed the other series and am looking forward to this one.
I am looking forward to reading this book. I enjoy tearooms. Thank you for the chance to win.
I like her other series, I think I’d like this one.
kaye.killgore@comcast.net
I have never know anyone who collected teapots before. This sounds like a wonderful book. Thanks for this chance to win it.
I’ve been looking forward to this book since I heard about it a few months ago. So glad it’s finally been released.
I love Victoria’s other 2 series: Vintage Kitchen Mysteries & Merry Muffin mysteries. So I KNOW I’m going to enjoy this one. Thanks for the giveaway chance.
Love tearooms, especially in small towns. This sounds like a cool beginning for this series. Thanks for an chance to win it.
I loved your two other series so I am looking foreword to this one. Congrats on the new series
Sounds like another winner.
Tempest in a Teapot sounds awesome, I love the theme!
Thank you for a chance to win Tempest in a Teapot. I have been looking forward to reading this book.
Hoping & praying to get a chance to win the contest.
Looking forward to this new series. I would be nice to win this book.
Hope I am not too late to enter the giveaway. Just surfed in from another site. Glad I did since it is very informative
I’ve had my eye on this new series. Looks like a fun one!
Thanks Victoria for introducing my readers to Sophie.
Contest is closed.