(Owner/Proprietor of Belle Epoque, the finest tearoom in Gracious Grove, NY, despite what some folks think.)
Day in the life, huh? Finally someone asks after my day. No one wants to listen when I talk about my gout, or my lazy employee, Gilda, or how Rose Freemont, that woman next door stole my beau 60 odd years ago, but all of a sudden you’re interested.
Alrighty, what can I say? I wake up and spend the first ten minutes looking for my teeth, my glasses and my cane. Not that I use the cane all the time, but it sure does make it handy to whack Gilda if she’s lagging behind. About then Gilda finally gets her lazy butt out of bed and into the kitchen downstairs in Belle Epoque… that’s my tearoom, and a sight nicer than Rose, next door’s, I have to say. Or it is when I can make Gilda clean the place proper. You’d think with her living here now she’d be up and at ‘em. I get her to make some tea and breakfast, while I have a peek out the window at Rose’s place, next door, to see what she’s up to.
Sometimes I call Cissy, my granddaughter, who runs her bookstore, Peterson’s. She’s a good girl most of the time. I just wish her brother, Phillip, was half as reliable.
Anyway, my day, right? You still want to know? Well, then I think about my part investigating that murder that happened in my own tearoom back in May. Never will get the credit I deserve, but that’s just the way of the world. Then I get Gilda to get some stuff out of the freezer to thaw and bake, and we get the place open for business! I sit by the cash and take the money while Gilda bakes and serves and then cleans up while I try to figure out if we did better than Rose.
I hafta admit, her Auntie Rose’s Victorian Tea House is real pretty, and I just might have to hire someone else to help out Gilda, since my pins aren’t so reliable any more. I’m getting on a bit. God and I will hafta have a talk about that. At the end of the day I pray for another murder to happen, only not at my place, at Rose’s, so her place can become known as the tearoom where a murder happened, not mine. I guess that’s not exactly true; I don’t really want anyone to die.
And then I go to bed and watch old movies, unless I have to hobble next door for one of those Silver Spout teapot collector meetings. I don’t know why I was so jazzed to join up with them, Rose and Laverne and the rest, all fussing about how old their teapots are, or how valuable. Even if my teapots mostly come from the thrift store, they’re just as good!
That’s my day, and thanks for asking. Now. . . who do I hafta bribe for a cup of tea?
You can read more about Thelma in Shadow of a Spout, the second book in the “Teapot Collectors” mystery series, published by Berkley Prime Crime. The first book in the series is Tempest in a Teapot.
About Shadow Of A Spout
Avid teapot collector Rose Freemont takes a break from her Victorian tea house only to find a new mystery brewing elsewhere. . .
Leaving her home in Gracious Grove behind her, Rose is off to the annual convention of the International Teapot Collector’s Society. Her granddaughter Sophie is minding the tea house while she’s away. Rose is eager for tough cookie Zunia Pettigrew to appraise a prized antique teapot she believes may be a holy water vessel from China.
But when Zunia declares the pot a fake, Rose is really steamed. After Zunia’s found dead beside Rose’s dinged-in teapot, Sophie must rush to her grandmother’s aid and find the real killer—before Rose is steeped in any more trouble. . .
GIVEAWAY: Leave a comment by 12 a.m. eastern on April 20 for the chance to win a copy of Shadow Of A 
Spout and a “Cozy Up To A Good Mystery” tote bag. The giveaway is open to U.S. and Canadian residents only. Winner will be notified within 48 hours after giveaway closes and you will have three days to respond after being contacted or another winner will be selected. Make sure to check your SPAM folder.
About the author
Amanda Cooper is the pseudonym for 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 also enjoys collecting vintage kitchenalia, old books, 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 loves crafts, 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.
To learn more about Amanda Cooper and the Teapot Collector Mysteries see these pages:
Website | Facebook – Victoria Hamilton | Facebook – Teapot Collector Mysteries | Pinterest
I love a good cup of tea, a new author and a tote bag! Thanks for the opportunity to win Shadow of a Spout.
I love mysteries with “mature” characters. We’re not all twenty-something anymore. 😉
This book sounds awesome. Thanks for the chance.
Moonbay7399@gmail.com
Nothing like a good cup of tea. Thanks for the giveaway.
Thank you for the giveaway! I devoured the first book in the series, Tempest in a Teapot, so I can’t wait to read this one. Thanks again!
How was I not aware of these series? Thank you for introducing them to me. Love this type of book. Thanks for the chance to win and I look forward to reading all books by this author! I’d better get busy.
Looking forward to reading this one.
This book looks great, and I love reading about older characters. Can’t wait to read this book. Thanks for the giveaway 🙂
Love anything involving tea. Would love to win this cozy mystery.
Shadow of a Spout sounds like a lovely and fun book. I am looking forward to reading it. Thank you for the chance to win.
myrifraf(at)gmail(dot)com
Oh wow…..looks like another awesome book to read…I love this author’s books and can’t wait to read this one! Guess I will now have a cup of tea and hope to win this new book…..thank you so much for the chance!!!!
Sounds like another winner. Thanks for the chance to win a copy of the newest book and the tote bag.
Really need too read this series. Love tea and collecting tea cups myself. Does not help my friend sells loose leaf tea (and is also an author) so she tempts me constantly with her delicious blends…
Love to add this to my collection and could always use an other book bag…
Thank you so much for the chance!
I would love to read this book—thanks for the chance to win a copy!
skkorman AT bellsouth DOT net
I love mysteries and this sounds good!
Sounds like a good book. Thank you for the chance to win
Love love love these book. Love to.win
Thelma Mae sounds like quite a character.
lag110 at mchsi dot com
Looks great and thanks for the chance to win 🙂
Sounds terrific! Thank you for the opportunity to win.
Sounds like a fun read. And one can never have too many tote bags.
Love the cover and the story sounds great! Love me some tote bags too!
Would love to win a copy of Shadow of a Spout. And the tote is cute.
Bettyjo.English@gmail.com
This book sounds amazing! I love the cover and title~perfect! Thank you for the post and the contest! And, of course, I love the tote!
I love tearooms and a win in this give-away would be a great way to celebrate my eightieth on the 27th.
I’m reading the first in the series right now. It is interesting. I’d love to get a head-start on the next book. thanks.
Sounds like a great read.
I enjoyed the first book and can’t wait to read this installment
I enjoyed Tempest in a Teapot and am looking forward to reading Shadow Of A Spout. Thank you for a chance to win this giveaway.
I’m just getting into drinking tea–and I love cute teapots. I also enjoy a good cozy so please enter me in your drawing.
suefarrell.farrell@gmail.com
Woot-woot! A chance to win a good book to read! Thank you and have ordered the first book! Love starting new series!
Ah, jealousy raises it’s head
Thanks, Dru and Thelma Mae/Amanda/Victoria! We could compare aches and pains (physical and “in the butt”) over a cup of tea, Thelma Mae! 🙂
Thanks for a chance to win this!
Thanks for this lovely giveaway. What a great series.
Thanks Dru for having wonderful authors on your blog. This books sounds so good and a wonderful series to get into to. I like people watching as one of my fav things to do when i need to waste time like at the airport etc.
Sounds like a fascinating character!
I read the first of this series and really enjoyed it. I can’t wait to continue on with it. I find the whole idea of collecting tea pots interesting and all the different styles.
Amanda Cooper has a great eye in choosing covers to draw the reader into her books. Tea pots are a great way to research history and to focus a book around them is a unique idea. robeader53@yahoo.com
Thanks for the chance! This book sounds perfect!
Thelma sounds like a hoot. Looking forward to this tea pot mystery. Thanks for the chance to win!
love a good cozy and this author is new to me….
When I worked at a coffee shop, I was always tempted to buy all the unique teapots in the store. Such fun was there were! The book sounds very good! Thanks for the giveaway!
ElaineE246 at msn dot com
Sounds like the perfect series to cozy up to with a cup of tea. Thanks for the chance to win!
Love a good tea mystery and a pretty tote bag.
Can’t wait to read this book.
I love a good cozy, and the tote is a special treat. Thanks for the giveaway opportunity.
Hi, I am NOT entering as I have already won a copy of the book and am looking forward to receiving it – I want to compliment you, Dru, on this great post! Thelma Mae was such a character in the first book, I can’t wait to see her in this one! Thanks much for such an entertaining and insightful musing!
Looks like my type of book.
this sounds interesting
I just love the teapots on the cover. Thanks for the giveaway.
sounds like another great mystery – would love to win – thanks for the chance
Great series with fascinating tea tips! servedogmom@yahoo.com
I loved the first one and I really enjoy the author’s two other series. Happy to see a new one.
I would love to read the book and win the tote too!
Would so love to win Shadow of a Spout and the tote bag! Can never have too many books or bags. Thanks for the
opportunity!📖📚
Would love to win this. Thanks for the chance!
cupcake92504@yahoo.com
Can’t wait to read this one!
Great cover with the teapots and cats. I also love Agatha Christie. I have the first book in this series.
I don’t care that Thelma Mae is old. She is a nasty character. I look forward to the author bumping her off in an upcoming book, lol.
Love this title & the dangling teapots on the cover…
Thank you for the giveaway….
OMGosh, the thrill of winning books makes my heart pitter-patter! What a wonderful chance at a great prize! Thank you!
I collect teapots and am interested in reading this book!
Shadow of a Spout & a tote bag for my books– wow! Thanks for the opportunity to enter.📖📚
This book sounds so appealing to me in a number of ways, and I would love to become the recipient of it. Being a tea cup and tea pot collector this holds a special appeal to me.
Thank you.
Cynthia
This sounds wonderful:) Always have a cup of tea and a great book together to start the day. Thanks for the giveaway.
I’ve had a life-long love of mystery books, tea & teapots. Thanks for the chance of a giveaway. This one sounds great!
You had me at Earnshaw. I love Wuthering Heights. But the lovely cover, your bright smile and the giveaway kept me reading.
Sounds good. Thanks for the giveaway!
New series to me
Contest is closed