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Tempest In The Tea Room (2012)

by Libi Astaire(Favorite Author)

3.52 of 5 Votes: 4

ISBN

0983793166 (ISBN13: 9780983793168)

languge

English

genre

Historical Fiction

publisher

Aster Press

series

Ezra Melamed Mystery

review 1: Tempest in the Tea Room is an entertaining read--a mystery set in London in the early 1800's, and written in a style that captures the flavor (or should I say "flavour") of the time. Replete with well-researched historical details and colorful characters, the book takes the reader into the heart of the Regency era Jewish community. While the reader has all the clues as to "whodunit" long before the characters in the story, the quest for answers reveals schemes within schemes. The story is told with sensitivity and humor, and the characters are well-drawn and believable, from the cynical heiress to the tragicomic gang of altruistic pickpockets. True to its Regency era charm, this would be a fun book to read aloud in a family setting.
review 2: The Tempest in th... moree Tea Room is a light, entertaining mystery of the cozy sub-genre. Despite the period setting and details, this book is more like an Agatha Christie than like an Austen classic or a Georgette Heyer novel. Each character--including our eventual suspects--is introduced slowly, one-by-one, at the beginning of the novel. Two mysteries are introduced (poisoning and a missing bracelet) and then Mr. Melamed must discover the perpetrator.Ms. Astaire writes her characters to be both humorous and sympathetic, and leaves just enough clues along the way to hint at the ending...but not so many as to entirely give the solution away. Unlike most books of this type, there are no actual murders, all relationships between the genders are entirely modest, and the secrets revealed during the investigation are nothing that would scandalize a reader. The details about Jewish life are handled so they are a part of the text and don't overwhelm the characters or plot. A slower pace with more suspense in the last third of the book--perhaps with a false solution that turns out to be wrong, or maybe a greater threat of arrest to the innocent doctor--would have improved the book, but I do recommend it for readers (especially but not exclusively ladies) 12 years old through adult. less

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