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Katherine Miller Mystery #1
Murder and Mint Tea
Katherine is a retired nurse and a retired church organist. The small Hudson River village where she lives in her Victorian “Painted Lady” makes her the neighborhood matriarch. Along with her Maine Coon Cat Robespierre, she guards friends and families.
When amoral Rachel moves into the first floor apartment of Katherine’s house, trouble erupts. The murder weapon is one she recognizes and makes her fear for her friends and family. Finding the killer becomes her goal.
Editorial Review
Murder and Mint Tea is a gem in its genre, combining the voice of a classic American whodunit with that of a traditional British detective novel. Murder She Wrote meets Miss Marple in a beautifully crafted tale that makes the reader want to reach into the pages and dispense justice to the villainess themselves. ~ Writer Gail Roughton
When amoral Rachel moves into the first floor apartment of Katherine’s house, trouble erupts. The murder weapon is one she recognizes and makes her fear for her friends and family. Finding the killer becomes her goal.
Editorial Review
Murder and Mint Tea is a gem in its genre, combining the voice of a classic American whodunit with that of a traditional British detective novel. Murder She Wrote meets Miss Marple in a beautifully crafted tale that makes the reader want to reach into the pages and dispense justice to the villainess themselves. ~ Writer Gail Roughton
165 pages, Kindle Edition
Published April 23, 2017
260 people are currently reading
202 people want to read
About the author
Janet Lane Walters
122 books53 followers"I am a nurse who's been spinning tales for years, especially when many of the people whose stories I tell are involved in the medical profession. Since dark nights on the front porch of the house where I lived and in the garage where my friends put on the plays I wrote, I've been a story-teller. That was my beginning and there were other steps along the way. Take third grade and my book report. I choose "Anna Karenina" and ended the book with these words; "She loved him so she threw herself under a train. There are a lot of things she could have done other than that dumb thing." After telling me I couldn't read that book, my teacher informed me I couldn't change the ending. My next experience with the world of critiquing came during my pursuit of a career as a nurse. I wrote a care study of a little boy I'd come to love. My instructor told me this was a scientific study and I should not have included emotional elements. After graduating, I married. My husband, a doctor, and I ended up in a small town where the Public Health service had a hospital. In the town was a small library. Within two months, I'd read every book and needed something to do. For Christmas, my husband bought me a typewriter and a ream of paper. Faced with a blank page, I began to write, badly at first. My first attempts were short stories, many published. Then I received a rejection that says this sounds like a synopsis of a novel. Once again, I learned. Three books and four children later, I returned to nursing to send those children to college. Once that was accomplished, I returned to exploring the world where I can change the ending, put in emotional elements and write the things I'd like to read."
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 33 reviews
February 9, 2022
Not a fan. A retired nurse solving crimes intrigued me. I love a good sleuthing! What I found was a strong woman who seemed to have allow others to rule her world.
Abuse should not be hidden and secret. People staying silent, fearing for their own safety more than for the abused makes my heart hurt.
Also, where was the editor? Left out words, wrong word chosen? Seemed like it had been run through spellcheck, but not read.
Just not a fan.
Abuse should not be hidden and secret. People staying silent, fearing for their own safety more than for the abused makes my heart hurt.
Also, where was the editor? Left out words, wrong word chosen? Seemed like it had been run through spellcheck, but not read.
Just not a fan.
February 23, 2018
Loved this mystery fiction - I felt like I was living in this old established neighborhood - as well, Janet Lane-Walter's descriptions of the bullying, extramarital affairs, and moralistic approaches defining the neighborhood were enlightening. I actually could smell Mrs. Miller's baking and drinking her mint tea every time she poured a new pot.
November 28, 2021
Good start to a new series. Mrs. Miller is a retired nurse, widow, new landlady, mother and grandmother. She enjoys her neighborhood and her young friend, a policeman. But trouble lands in her circle and managing it becomes her task.
I’ll read the next one in the series to see if it is a keeper.
I’ll read the next one in the series to see if it is a keeper.
March 16, 2014
I liked it, and read it pretty much from beginning to end in one go -- I rarely do that. I like the stories and the characters, but a couple of this drove me nuts. One was the many errors -- words spelled correctly but the wrong ones for the context. I ended up marking many of them in my ebook. Another was some of the indecision and hesitancy to act by the main character, especially as I could see a couple of obvious avenues to investigate to solve the problem. All in all a good read, if you get an improved edition.
September 27, 2021
A plastic woman
Unlike other murder mysteries, murder is the last thing to happen.
Rachel is a divorced mother of two who hates her children yet, demands custody so she gets child support that she can spend on herself. She goes after the married men in the neighborhood and films their bedroom acrobatics.
At the end, she is stabbed, her landlady throws the knife in the river because, no one should pay for her death.
Unlike other murder mysteries, murder is the last thing to happen.
Rachel is a divorced mother of two who hates her children yet, demands custody so she gets child support that she can spend on herself. She goes after the married men in the neighborhood and films their bedroom acrobatics.
At the end, she is stabbed, her landlady throws the knife in the river because, no one should pay for her death.
Read
May 12, 2022Ho Hum
Good. It was a pleasing sort of book I would suggest to younger family <30. It wasn't my pace, it wasn't really for me. It was a freebie to pass the time while going through caffeine & nicotine withdrawl, griping & ego/set-tripping. I feel criminated having downloaded this. I do actually. I should write when I get home. I mean after all: the USA argued that my species, ilk, tribe & form of mankind could be taught to read and write. Years was invested making sure I learned to type. I was forced to attend school at gunpoint and now I have educators at gunpoint being asked why the fuck Johnny HAS to read. So... A murder mystery did feel and sound appropriate while I sit here craving paliperidone & demanding fried testicles...
While using Amazon only to purchase pistols, dope, parafernalia, switchblades, and having them delivered to my psychologists & social workers who have always plagued my over invested life as an Hier of Several Mohawk Estates.... and purchased by dead "friends" who've I've never liked and who have robbed myself and trust funds since infancy. Me? I did nothing I just sat here with some Oolong using the Kindle Fire to masturbate and send video of policing agents in their underwear or sexually penetrating their assailants. I just sat here pressing charges being an illustrious heir, homeless, kidnapped, and over theatrical online while completely incoherent & emotionless in person.
WOW. The Mohawk Tribe has bred blonde. What a blonde I am.
Its true...
Android OS/Fire OS has sub artificial intelligence.
Its true...
I just re-taud-id be sweet pea.
I'm too self absorbed to read. Gimme fraud charges and kill everyone assessing my accounts, stocks, bonds, assets, or medical needs. I'm just Doctor Pigeon, puss and that naughty little pudum needs taught a thing or two before she eats this canary for lunch.
Good. It was a pleasing sort of book I would suggest to younger family <30. It wasn't my pace, it wasn't really for me. It was a freebie to pass the time while going through caffeine & nicotine withdrawl, griping & ego/set-tripping. I feel criminated having downloaded this. I do actually. I should write when I get home. I mean after all: the USA argued that my species, ilk, tribe & form of mankind could be taught to read and write. Years was invested making sure I learned to type. I was forced to attend school at gunpoint and now I have educators at gunpoint being asked why the fuck Johnny HAS to read. So... A murder mystery did feel and sound appropriate while I sit here craving paliperidone & demanding fried testicles...
While using Amazon only to purchase pistols, dope, parafernalia, switchblades, and having them delivered to my psychologists & social workers who have always plagued my over invested life as an Hier of Several Mohawk Estates.... and purchased by dead "friends" who've I've never liked and who have robbed myself and trust funds since infancy. Me? I did nothing I just sat here with some Oolong using the Kindle Fire to masturbate and send video of policing agents in their underwear or sexually penetrating their assailants. I just sat here pressing charges being an illustrious heir, homeless, kidnapped, and over theatrical online while completely incoherent & emotionless in person.
WOW. The Mohawk Tribe has bred blonde. What a blonde I am.
Its true...
Android OS/Fire OS has sub artificial intelligence.
Its true...
I just re-taud-id be sweet pea.
I'm too self absorbed to read. Gimme fraud charges and kill everyone assessing my accounts, stocks, bonds, assets, or medical needs. I'm just Doctor Pigeon, puss and that naughty little pudum needs taught a thing or two before she eats this canary for lunch.
April 12, 2022
Okay not what I was expecting for a mystery. It was well written and does show a good understanding of people but it just wasn't for me. Mainly because I wouldn't call It a mystery, the murder didn't happen until the last hour of the book, it was more a family drama or a study in people's behaviour.The victim wasn't nice and to be honest I am surprised she lasted as long as she did. I did like the main character but thought she would have done more than argue with her son, to help an abused child. It was also a little be annoying that the uncle used the exact same words every time to describe his niece.
Katherine breaks her hip and when she comes out of hospital it's to find changed have accrued in her street. A new family have moved in but it is not long before she realises the single mother of two, isn't the kind of neighbour you want living next door. She manipulates men into doing what she wants, is two faced to there wives, her son is a spoiled brat that bullies all the other kids and her daughter is scared of her own shadow. It's no wonder the woman ends up dead but can Katherine protect all her friends from being accused of killing her?
I liked the narrator. She used her voice well to portray young and old characters making it easy to follow along with who was speaking.
I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.
Katherine breaks her hip and when she comes out of hospital it's to find changed have accrued in her street. A new family have moved in but it is not long before she realises the single mother of two, isn't the kind of neighbour you want living next door. She manipulates men into doing what she wants, is two faced to there wives, her son is a spoiled brat that bullies all the other kids and her daughter is scared of her own shadow. It's no wonder the woman ends up dead but can Katherine protect all her friends from being accused of killing her?
I liked the narrator. She used her voice well to portray young and old characters making it easy to follow along with who was speaking.
I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.
January 10, 2024
TW: Child Abuse
Katherine Miller, a recent retiree, and Robespierre, a Maine Coon feline, live on the second floor of Katherine’s Victorian home. Sadly, an anticipated dinner and lovely evening at a neighbor’s home during a snowstorm did not come to fruition as a fall took Katherine to the hospital with a broken leg. Trying to be helpful, Katherine’s son Andrew found her a new tenant for the apartment on the first floor. Andrew shared the tenant’s name, Rachel Rodgers, and awareness that Rachel has 2 children. Katherine’s ill-at-ease feelings in not personally selecting her tenants will come back to haunt her and the neighbors too.
The characters are well-developed and become an exposé of everyone who meets Rachel Rodgers and how they respond to her personality, words, and actions.
Reviewer’s Note: In the location I discovered this novel, it is marketed as a cozy mystery. In my opinion, it is not a cozy mystery.
Katherine Miller, a recent retiree, and Robespierre, a Maine Coon feline, live on the second floor of Katherine’s Victorian home. Sadly, an anticipated dinner and lovely evening at a neighbor’s home during a snowstorm did not come to fruition as a fall took Katherine to the hospital with a broken leg. Trying to be helpful, Katherine’s son Andrew found her a new tenant for the apartment on the first floor. Andrew shared the tenant’s name, Rachel Rodgers, and awareness that Rachel has 2 children. Katherine’s ill-at-ease feelings in not personally selecting her tenants will come back to haunt her and the neighbors too.
The characters are well-developed and become an exposé of everyone who meets Rachel Rodgers and how they respond to her personality, words, and actions.
Reviewer’s Note: In the location I discovered this novel, it is marketed as a cozy mystery. In my opinion, it is not a cozy mystery.
November 25, 2019
You know those murder mysteries where, from the first page on which the victim appears, you WANT someone to get him or her? Well, this is one of those. Even the retired nurse-turned sleuth considers it, since the obnoxious lowlife is threatening her and, more importantly, her family, friends, and two innocent children. (Okay, one’s not so innocent, but he’s still just a kid and, under the circumstances, it’s understandable for him to have issues.) Definitely one that keeps you reading. If only for the satisfaction of having someone finally do the deed. Granted, that takes a while, but I think the build up of antagonism towards the victim is necessary in order to properly flesh out the characters, their motivation, and the amount of revulsion and frustration required by the perpetrator in order to do what seems best for all concerned.
January 26, 2023
Interesting read. Katherine, a retired nurse, lives in a nice, nurturing, loving neighborhood where they all look after each other. Then she falls and breaks her leg and while she is in the hospital her son rents out the bottom floor apartment of her house to a “poor woman who is really going through a rough patch because of her divorce and her kids”. She does not really want to, not knowing anything of the woman. When she meets her she instantly regrets it. The woman is selfish, mean and feels like she is entitled to whatever she wants and schemes to get it. She especially tries to entrap all the men in the neighborhood and elsewhere that have money. She sets the whole neighborhood at loggerheads, abuses her children and is abusive to the neighborhood children. Then one morning, Katherine finds her dead and hopes no one ever finds out who killed her..…….
November 29, 2021
Evil personified
I am not quite sure what to make of this book, if the aim was to demonstrate how evil human beings can become, then success was achieved, since Rachel was the personification of evil. Her character was intense, almost to the point of being over developed. I kept asking myself what next is she going to do. There were no winners in this story, not even the children. I am wondering if Susie's story will continue in a subsequent book.
The story, although it painted a very bad picture of human nature, one that was unpalatable at times, was fairly short and worth reading. There were some editing mishaps but these did not affect its readability. Go ahead and read, see what you think.
I am not quite sure what to make of this book, if the aim was to demonstrate how evil human beings can become, then success was achieved, since Rachel was the personification of evil. Her character was intense, almost to the point of being over developed. I kept asking myself what next is she going to do. There were no winners in this story, not even the children. I am wondering if Susie's story will continue in a subsequent book.
The story, although it painted a very bad picture of human nature, one that was unpalatable at times, was fairly short and worth reading. There were some editing mishaps but these did not affect its readability. Go ahead and read, see what you think.
May 31, 2024
Not much of a mystery
The cast of characters in this story are all too human: each of them is flawed, including the protagonist. The protagonist is no Miss Marple, although there are similarities.
The story basically concerns a 65-year old woman whose son illegally rents an apartment in her house to a tramp and her two children. The tramp is a mandated and causes havoc in the neighborhood, including seducing and manipulating the protagonist's son. In the last quarter of the book, the tramp is murdered. There's no search for clues or other investigative sleuthing like you'd expect.
The writing is good, although the author needs to hire a good proofreader. There are enough copy errors that I was annoyed.
The cast of characters in this story are all too human: each of them is flawed, including the protagonist. The protagonist is no Miss Marple, although there are similarities.
The story basically concerns a 65-year old woman whose son illegally rents an apartment in her house to a tramp and her two children. The tramp is a mandated and causes havoc in the neighborhood, including seducing and manipulating the protagonist's son. In the last quarter of the book, the tramp is murdered. There's no search for clues or other investigative sleuthing like you'd expect.
The writing is good, although the author needs to hire a good proofreader. There are enough copy errors that I was annoyed.
July 3, 2021
Ms. Walters is a superb storyteller. In Murder and Mint Tea, she keeps us guessing and builds the tension with her excellent painting of a broad picture filled with well-developed characters and situations before she lets the hammer down on who is the victim in the story. Then she wraps it all up with a satisfying conclusion by revealing the murderer and motive. Yes, instead of opening with the crime, we learn all about the people in the neighborhood. I kept reading to figure out who was going to be murdered and how. After the murder, I kept reading to find out the guilty person! If you like reading mysteries, this one is just right for you.
May 28, 2021
Mrs. Miller and the Renter
Katherine Miller had renovated her home into two apartments. Her son rented out the lower apartment while she was in the hospital with a broken leg. The renter was a woman with two young children and an uncle. One of the children was a terrible kid and the other was an abused little girl. The woman was a mean horrible woman who felt any man was prey. Mrs. Miller befriends the girl. The story goes from bad to worse until there is a death. Who was the killer?
Katherine Miller had renovated her home into two apartments. Her son rented out the lower apartment while she was in the hospital with a broken leg. The renter was a woman with two young children and an uncle. One of the children was a terrible kid and the other was an abused little girl. The woman was a mean horrible woman who felt any man was prey. Mrs. Miller befriends the girl. The story goes from bad to worse until there is a death. Who was the killer?
July 4, 2021
Very interesting
A good introduction to an unusual character, who like Miss Jane Marple, watches the people around her. Katherine Miller lives in the upper floor of her house, and rents the lower floor to a tenant. Trouble begins when Rachel and her two children move in and change the dynamics.
A good introduction to an unusual character, who like Miss Jane Marple, watches the people around her. Katherine Miller lives in the upper floor of her house, and rents the lower floor to a tenant. Trouble begins when Rachel and her two children move in and change the dynamics.
August 9, 2021
A surprisingly good story for a freebie. Much of the book is getting to know the characters, including one of the nastiest, most manipulative villains I have come across. I wanted her to be the victim. Deep characterisations of the neighbours and their families shared their strengths and their weaknesses, in such a way that they were very real.
September 7, 2021
A very sad depressing story
I suppose this was a slight mystery at the end but I wouldn't put this in the mystery section. More of a drama psycho feel. It really makes all the men (or at least most of them) out to be weak, ineffectual human beings. I gave this 4 stars because it definitely needs an editor.
I suppose this was a slight mystery at the end but I wouldn't put this in the mystery section. More of a drama psycho feel. It really makes all the men (or at least most of them) out to be weak, ineffectual human beings. I gave this 4 stars because it definitely needs an editor.
May 2, 2022
I liked the story although there were a lot of errors in writing, words were spelled right but not right in context. And I couldn't believe the main character would put off so long getting help so she could get her troublesome and scary tenant out of her house. I guess it did fit with the uncle's personality, but I got so tired of reading that the troublemaker was "golden when she was a child".
November 10, 2022
Rachel
This book was very well written . I would hope that in real life someone would put an end to poor Susie's suffering much sooner. Maybe the moral of this story is to point out that we are all our brother's keeper. It is our duty as Christians to protect the weak and down trodden.
This book was very well written . I would hope that in real life someone would put an end to poor Susie's suffering much sooner. Maybe the moral of this story is to point out that we are all our brother's keeper. It is our duty as Christians to protect the weak and down trodden.
August 28, 2021
WOW!! I got all caught up in the emotions of this story. How one person can destroy the lives of so many good people it seems inconceivable that someone could get away with so much evil and yet she did. This is a very well written book and I applaud the author for her talents.
May 30, 2022
Walters creates a small town with characters you might recognize as your next door neighbor or the family who lives three doors down. She involves you in their lives and when one is murdered keeps you guessing until the very end.
June 27, 2022
I actually enjoyed reading this novel, and its cast of characters & their supporters, although the plot was pretty much limited to be exact, but I enjoyed the drama as well! I hope for the next to book to read wholly like its debut novel!!
July 2, 2023
DNF'ed it on page 40. Is impossible to read, nothing about this is thriller, just an older lady's everyday life. Rather uninteresting.
According to other reviews I've seen, the murder only happens towards the end of the book.
According to other reviews I've seen, the murder only happens towards the end of the book.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 27, 2018
Nice character development believable story line. Only complaint is that there were quite a few typographical errors.
September 23, 2020
Cozy murder that can sometimes tend toward the dark. Lots of twists and turns and well-observed characters. It's part of a series which features a senior citizen as the detective.
July 22, 2021
A good read
This should have more stars. I couldn't put it down. If you love mysteries this is the book for you.
This should have more stars. I couldn't put it down. If you love mysteries this is the book for you.
September 19, 2021
it was a nice fast read, kept your interest.
October 1, 2021
Some people are just evil
Meeting Mrs. Miller for the first time was a delight. She is a caring person who loves children, music and her neighbors until a new tenant moves into her
Meeting Mrs. Miller for the first time was a delight. She is a caring person who loves children, music and her neighbors until a new tenant moves into her
November 30, 2021
I really like Mrs. Miller. Kind of like a modern Agatha Christie. Rachel was pure evil. A bit over the top.
October 20, 2022
Means to an end
Loved This book I didn't want it to end she got what she deserved I wou!d have liked a clearer ending though like how did TBE children make out
Loved This book I didn't want it to end she got what she deserved I wou!d have liked a clearer ending though like how did TBE children make out
Displaying 1 - 30 of 33 reviews