New York State's Belltower Landing is a lakeside resort town where tourists spend their summer days boating, floating, and paddle-boarding on the water. It's also the perfect place to cuddle up with a good book and enjoy a cup of tea, courtesy of Tomes & Tea. Owned and operated by Jazzi and her best friend Dawn Fernsby, the book bar is beloved by vacationers and locals alike, but browsers grabbing brews in the off season aren't enough to help them make ends meet. Between brainstorming social media publicity ideas for the ...
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New York State's Belltower Landing is a lakeside resort town where tourists spend their summer days boating, floating, and paddle-boarding on the water. It's also the perfect place to cuddle up with a good book and enjoy a cup of tea, courtesy of Tomes & Tea. Owned and operated by Jazzi and her best friend Dawn Fernsby, the book bar is beloved by vacationers and locals alike, but browsers grabbing brews in the off season aren't enough to help them make ends meet. Between brainstorming social media publicity ideas for the shop and fending off flirtatious men she has no interest in or time for, Jazzi befriends a woman named Brie who has recently made contact with her biological father. As an adopted child herself, Jazzi is more than happy to give Brie emotional support, especially as her wealthy father's wife and children see her as a threat. But Brie is also looking to start a family of her own. Unfortunately, all the potential princes she's met through a dating app turn out to be frogs. Then, when Brie is found murdered, Jazzi finds herself playing detective. With a list of suspects ranging from jealous half-siblings to less-than-suitable suitors, Jazzi may need to consult some of her shop's bestselling mysteries to help her uncover a killer.
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Add this copy of Murder Marks the Page to cart. $3.92, very good condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Atlanta rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Austell, GA, UNITED STATES, published 2024 by Kensington Publishing Corporation.
Add this copy of Murder Marks the Page to cart. $3.92, good condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Dallas rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Dallas, TX, UNITED STATES, published 2024 by Kensington Publishing Corporation.
Add this copy of Murder Marks the Page (a Tomes & Tea Mystery Series) to cart. $6.39, very good condition, Sold by HPB-Emerald rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Dallas, TX, UNITED STATES, published 2024 by Kensington Cozies.
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Very good. Connecting readers with great books since 1972! Used books may not include companion materials, and may have some shelf wear or limited writing. We ship orders daily and Customer Service is our top priority!
Add this copy of Murder Marks the Page (a Tomes & Tea Mystery Series) to cart. $7.99, very good condition, Sold by HPB-Emerald rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Dallas, TX, UNITED STATES, published 2024 by Kensington Cozies.
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Very good. Connecting readers with great books since 1972! Used books may not include companion materials, and may have some shelf wear or limited writing. We ship orders daily and Customer Service is our top priority!
Add this copy of Murder Marks the Page (a Tomes & Tea Mystery Series) to cart. $10.11, very good condition, Sold by BooksRun rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Philadelphia, PA, UNITED STATES, published 2024 by Kensington Cozies.
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Fine. Sewn binding. Cloth over boards. 272 p. A Tomes & Tea Mystery. In Stock. 100% Money Back Guarantee. Brand New, Perfect Condition, allow 4-14 business days for standard shipping. To Alaska, Hawaii, U.S. protectorate, P.O. box, and APO/FPO addresses allow 4-28 business days for Standard shipping. No expedited shipping. All orders placed with expedited shipping will be cancelled. Over 3, 000, 000 happy customers.
Add this copy of Murder Marks the Page to cart. $18.13, new condition, Sold by GreatBookPrices rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Columbia, MD, UNITED STATES, published 2024 by Kensington Cozies.
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New. Sewn binding. Cloth over boards. 272 p. A Tomes & Tea Mystery. In Stock. 100% Money Back Guarantee. Brand New, Perfect Condition, allow 4-14 business days for standard shipping. To Alaska, Hawaii, U.S. protectorate, P.O. box, and APO/FPO addresses allow 4-28 business days for Standard shipping. No expedited shipping. All orders placed with expedited shipping will be cancelled. Over 3, 000, 000 happy customers.
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In this spinoff of the Daisy's Tea Garden Mystery series, we find Jazzie has completed college and has opened a book and tea shop, Tomes & Tea with her best friend Dawn Fernsby in Belltower Landing, New York. Tourists flock to the town and spend summers there but Jazzi and Dawn need to figure out how to keep their shop profitable year-round. Their friend, Delaney has a friend, Brie, who has just made contact with her biological father but she has a lot of questions. Knowing Jazzi and Dawn were both adopted she asks them to talk to Brie. Jazzi quickly becomes friends with Brie and agrees to help her in any way she can.
Brie mainly looked for her birth father because she was ready to settle down and start a family and wanted to know her history. She had been using a dating app and has gone on several dates but she has discarded them all. And while her dad is interested in having her in his life, his wife and their children have very different feelings.
When Brie is killed, Jazzi feels the need to investigate. The men Brie had dated and her half-siblings are her main suspects. She had witnessed her mother getting involved in several murder cases and now she has one of her own to solve. Will Jazzi find the killer? Will she live to tell the tale?
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Jazzi and Dawn make a good team and they have taken a huge chance in opening up Tomes & Tea. They met in college in a group for people who had been adopted. The group helped them navigate their feelings about their birth parents and answered other questions they had about searching for them. Jazzi has found her birth mom and they have a relationship. Jazzi was also very close to her adoptive mom. It now seems like those relationships are strained but readers aren't given any details. We know she is very independent and after suffering a bad breakup she has no interest in dating. As this is the first book in this series, and some years have passed from where the Daisy's Tea Garden Mystery series left off we need to give the author time to develop this new Jazzi, Dawn, and the other core characters in this series. There is a lot of potential there.
The book and tea shop is a wonderful theme for a cozy mystery series. I loved the brainstorming about bringing in more business and building a year-round customer base. Jazzi and Dawn's friends and book club members came up with great ideas. The events they held were fun and created a buzz about the shop.
The mystery was well-plotted and an interesting twist gave Jazzi the perfect reason to get involved but she is a reluctant sleuth. She doesn't want to follow in her mother's footsteps. Detective Milford urges her to stay out of his case, but she thinks he needs help. She didn't think he was questioning any of her top suspects and he was working on several other cases. She has met a lot of people opening her business and she does have some admirable observation skills. But while those skills helped her put some important pieces of the puzzle together, they also got her into trouble. I really enjoyed the showdown and that Jazzie contacted her mother afterward and shared harrowing the experience.
It is always fun when a cozy mystery protagonist has pets. Early in the story, Jazzi finds a kitten behind the shop and a friend finds its sibling and brings it to Jazzi and Dawn. They quickly make themselves right at home - a male named Zander, and a female Freya.
Murder Marks the Spot has given this series a strong start.Ã? I enjoy this author's writing style and I am excited for this series to continue so I can get to know these characters better.
Kristina
Apr 20, 2024
Not my cup of tea!
Murder Marks the Page by Karen Rose Smith is the debut of A Tomes & Tea Mysteries. This series is a spin-off of A Daisy Tea Garden Mysteries. I did not find myself liking Jazzi. She had a mother who loved her and supported her, but Jazzi does not seem to appreciate it. There is the implication that Jazzi has a strained relationship with her mother, but it is not explained. Jazzi wants to do things on her own (she makes that abundantly clear). The main characters need more development (need details on Jazzi for those who have not read A Daisy Tea Garden Mysteries). The pacing is slow which is due to the repetition and detailed descriptions. Character�s outfits are described in detail (especially the type of braid Jazzi was sporting that day) plus we get to learn about every plant Jazzi encounters. As expected, food and tea are itemized as well. I wanted more substance and less filler. Adoption and locating birth parents are a major part of the story, and it overwhelms the whodunit. Jazzi does some investigating by questioning the various men in the victim�s life. There is a good wrap up at the end. While Jazzi makes it abundantly clear that she is not ready for a romantic relationship (mentioned repeatedly), she interprets interactions with men as romantic interest. Jazzi will analyze her feelings for that person (does she like them, does that person have a crush on her, should she step back from this individual, etc.). I liked the community of Belltower Landing. It sounds like a charming town. The kittens are adorable, and we get to know all about them (how they look, their antics, what they eat, the bells on the door, and so much). As you can tell, Murder Marks the Page was not my cup of tea.
