A Sip of Murder

Japanese Tea Garden #1

by Blythe Baker

When tea and murder make a bitter brew ...

Maddie Morgan’s life is going up in flames. She’s got ex-husband troubles, a mother-in-law feud, and a cantankerous parrot to contend with. But just as old doors close, a new one opens, beginning with the sudden death of Maddie’s grandmother and an unexpected inheritance. Moving to a new town, Maddie rolls up her sleeves and prepares to revive a run-down tourist attraction that could one day be returned to its former glory as a Japanese tea garden.

But getting the tea garden up and running won’t be easy, not with someone trying to sabotage her efforts. Worse still, there’s a murderer on the loose and corpses are popping up like daisies in the tea garden! Can Maddie capture the killer before they strike again? Or will her life, along with her freshly brewed new business opportunity, get sucked down the drain?

Genres: Mystery, Cozy, Cozy Mystery, Fiction, Ebooks, Mystery Thriller, Tea

162 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 8, 2018

About the author

Blythe Baker is a thirty-something bottle redhead from the South Central part of the country. When she’s not slinging words and creating new worlds and characters, she’s acting as chauffeur to her children and head groomer to her household of beloved pets.

Blythe enjoys long walks with her dog on sweaty days, grubbing in her flower garden, cooking, and ruthlessly de-cluttering her overcrowded home. She also likes binge-watching mystery shows on TV and burying herself in books about murder.

Reviews

[Mary Hathaway · Rating 1 out of 5]

What a waste

I finished it thinking there might be some redeeming value. But, alas, from start to finish, the book was poorly written, the text jerky, the heroine her own worst enemy. What was the plot?
So silly it was not even funny.

[Evelyn Grabas · Rating 3 out of 5]

It would be nice if these writers would do a bit of research before writing a book. Although common sense will tell you that an INCOMPLETE, UNSIGNED will has no validity, if you are too dumb to realize this, then speak to someone who can advise you. And then, a lawyer who you call for advice and explain that the will is incomplete and unsigned asks to see it, then takes days before advising that he doesn't THINK? it will affect the claim of someone who was declared the beneficiary by a will that was duly signed and probated. I think he should go back to law school.
Then we get to Daniel. Maddie, at any time she feels like, can file a claim for harassment against Daniel based on verbal (she had witnesses), physical (surveyors sent by him to illegally survey her property) and by trespass (trespassing onto her property and placing a sign for his business, again illegally). And once those claims are filed let us just see how long Daniel retains his seat on the Board for Industry and Tourism. Again, a case of a lack of research.
And then there are the crows who just seem to appear out of nowhere. First there was one malevolent looking crow, then there were three, and after Agatha tries to kill Maddie, etc. they just seem to disappear. What the hell is that all about?
I know for sure I will not be reading any more of Ms. Baker's Japanese Tea Garden Mysteries.

[Deserthomemaker · Rating 2 out of 5]

1.5 stars. The writing is clunky, the heroine and the other characters populating the story are unbelievably stupid, and none of the plot points make any sense.
A will that is not only incomplete but unsigned is not legally binding. Even if our witless heroine didn’t know that, the attorney she contacted about it would have, with absolute certainty, and not after several days of study. The behavior of the quarry owner was illegal in so many ways that the police should have been involved and ended with him being prosecuted. The former employee turned volunteer, and ex-mother-in-law characters and storylines are ridiculous, as is the behavior of the detective. Even though the book was free, it was not worth it.

[Mary Rowe · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some of the sentence structure was awkward; some of the protagonist’s actions were inexplicable, and the harassment from the property owners on two sides of her property was unconscionable, actionable and somehow ignored despite the heroine having access to an attorney (ex-husband, still civil) and the local detective.

The setting is lovely but the storytelling was frustrating and the composition was grating for an OCD grammar nerd like me.

[Richard · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a fairly light, cute, and short novel; and the first of a series. For the tl-dr crowd: young newly divorced woman inherits a decaying Japanese Garden business from her grandmother, and no sooner has she begun to fix it up than there's a murder on the premises. Oh, her annoying ex-mother-in-law has barged in to stay, with a scrappy parrot; and the a**hole next door wants to bully her into selling the land so he can expand his quarry business. (It's never quite explained how a restful Japanese garden right next door to a quarry that employs a bunch of burly guys with big rock-crunching machinery manages to be quiet enough for people to relax and enjoy the wa of the place. I guess these businesses are both on really large tracts of land!)

One of the cute and amusing aspects of the writing was stylistic: the protagonist, Maddie, in this first-person narrative often gives agency to various objects and body parts. Her feet carry her here and there, her hands do this and that, various objects become active performers in the goings-on...

Oh, and it's not a cliff-hanger so even though it's a pretty short novel, you won't be left hanging about the clean-up of that murder. But there is also enough loose material lying around everywhere for the next story, and probably several more after that.

This is an indie publication, and the editing is quite clean. I didn't notice any real typos, which is nice. However there are at least two instances of automobile breaks that probably want some of their letters re-arranged into working brakes before someone really gets hurt zooming around the little town.

[Annika · Rating 2 out of 5]

Everything about this book feels rushed, from the minimal description of the titular tea garden to the plot and everything in between. No proper description of the garden or the work that was done....it takes me two days to fix up my tiny balcony, and she fixes what is supposed to be a neglected (for weeks, months?) park in a week?
The motive for the central murder is ridiculous and the red herring is so bright that it's just annoying.
There is a reasonable book in there somewhere, but it needs a heck of a lot more effort to be put in before I would recommend it. Second star added for the character of the boozig mother in law and her parrot.

[Susan Barton · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was another super short cozy that I found incredibly thin in terms of plot and character development. Cozy does not equal silly. It doesn’t mean take an overused formula and fill in the names. I love cozy mysteries, but if I’m going to read one, I want it to be different from all the others at least to some degree.

The overly dramatic and poetic descriptions of practically everything seemed so out of place here and nearly had me giving up. Yet I persisted because I hoped it would get better. It didn’t.

There was little here for me to invest any more time in the series.

[Judy · Rating 2 out of 5]

A lightweight cozy with an interesting setting but not much of a plot. 2.5 stars

[Chanover55 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Maddie is starting a new life, having inherited her grandmother's house and tea garden a host of characters make her new life too interedting, when there is a murder in the garden on it's first open day under her care. Enter a helpful former employee, an ex-mother -in-law and her parrot, an ex-husband who thinks she can't cope & a cute police detective and Maddie 's hopes of a new start are in jeperdy. Will she find the killer before he/she finds her? A fun read.

[Jane · Rating 3 out of 5]

Maddie Morgan has just finalized her divorce when she learns her long-lost grandmother, Mrs. Matsuki👵🏻 who lived in Little River had passed away, leaving Maddie her house and several acres of land, as well as her business—a Japanese tea garden.

The tea garden is in disrepair and needs to be touched up. She gets in touch with Kelly Dawn who previously worked for her grandmother. When they meet, Kelly Ward offers to help her renovate the tea garden for free.

Some neighbors of Maddie’s grandmother, twins, Angela and Agatha Jenkins are against her reopening the tea garden. According to them, the tourists who come to visit the tea garden are noisy and always throw trash 🗑 in the twins’ yard. Kate insists that will go ahead with her decision to reopen the tea garden.

On opening day, however, the body of one of the Jenkins sisters is found floating in the pond and a sinister message painted on a rock wall above the body. Someone is trying to frame her and sabotage her business.

Detective Michael Sullivan brings Maddie in for questioning. Against her ex-husband’s advice, she decides to do a little investigation of her own and clear her name.

Well crafted mystery and warm characters. A great start to a mystery series. Overall an interesting read.

[Sharon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Maddie has inheirted a house and a tea garden from her grandmother. She packs her clothes, quits her job and moves. She believes she will be able to make a living running the tea garden just has her grandmother did. The house is old, dirty and in need of repairs. The gardens are even worse. A lot of hard work, extra help and money spent soon gets the gardens in order. On opening day a dead body is found on the grounds. It is a next door neighbor. Maddie is taken downtown and questioned. She is allowed to leave but remains a suspect. She doesn't know who she can really trust. She decides she will have to investigate. Get a copy and come along with Maddie on this roller coaster. See how she goes about solving the crime. Find out the harrowing experiences she goes through. Will she be able to clear her name? Will she even survive?
This story is well thought out and well written. I really like the characters.
I voluntarily received a copy of this book before publication and I'm voluntarily posting a review. My opinion is entirely my own.

[Krystyna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tea, peace and murder

A good read. She has decided to step outside her safety zone by chucking in her job and moving away from her ex-husband to the inheritance left to her by her Grandmother. A Japanese tea garden and house. The only problem is it needs more work than she anticipated. Plus a quarry owner wants her land and her next door neighbours don't want the tea garden reopening. Her first day she certainly didn't expect to find the body of one of her neighbours in the koi pond and to have accusations of murder hurled at her. What is a slightly neurotic, OCD woman to do. Investigate! A nice plot but the characters are still a bit rough around the edges.

[Disney14604 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great new cozy mystery. First in a new series. It moved so fast that I read it in hours.

Our heroine has major life changes happening to her. Inherits tea garden in time to start a 'new you'. While starting new life, the murder happens and and she has to figure it out. So read the book. You will be done before you know it.

Hoping that will have more Japanese tea gardens information in coming books. Hoping that titles in this series will make sense. In this book no one sips tea; the tea garden is plants. this why I am puzzled.

This is my honest and freely given review for the ARC I received.

[Deanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this first book of the series. The setting was lovely, the characters were a little superficial but the final climax interesting. I did not quite see that coming.

Maddie was not the typical sleuth you read in other cozy mysteries, she really didn't do much to solve the original crime, but I enjoyed this quick & easy read.

There was not much of a back story, but we get little glimpses of what went wrong in her marriage. Perhaps her next book will expand on it a little, so we can connect with the character.

I have to say I want to see how the story goes with her nemesis neighbor trying to force her out so he can have her land.

[Valorie Hunter · Rating 5 out of 5]

New changes!!!!

10 stars!!!!
This is a interesting story line. A new author I am reading.
Maddie Morgan's life has sure gone in a new direction and boy does things start jumping at her one right after another.
She sure has a lot of determination to honor her grandmother by getting things in order to reopen the garden, even with all the opticals coming at her.
The detective Michael Sullivan is a great character in the book along with Kelly her only helper at the gardens.
I can't wait to read the second book in this series.
You will be pleasantly surprised.

[p garcia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tea for trouble

When Maddie Morgan inherits her grandmother's tea garden just as her divorce is finalized, she sees it as a sign to charge her life. She has no idea what the moves holds in store for her. Not only is the place in worse shape than she was lead to believe, it also came with neighbors who include a set of elderly twins bent on keeping the gardens close and a bully of a quarry owner wanting to expand. When a death marks her first day of business, the suspects are plentiful and include Maddie. Brew up a cuppa tea and enjoy a well spun mystery.

[Emily · Rating 1 out of 5]

I read it because of the Japanese Tea Garden theme, as I've studied Japanese tea ceremony. But there was nothing about tea, or much about Japanese culture, in the story. The first rule of writing is write what you know. The author clearly did not do this. One example was when the main character goes to a quilting club and someone, what she thinks, is knitting. First it makes no sense for someone to be at a quilting club knitting, even if they are a knitter. I've never been to a knitting circle where someone is working on such a different craft as quilting. Then, the person is introduced as crocheting. Fine, the character said she didn't know the difference between crocheting and knitting. But then mentions the clicking of the crochet needles. Crocheting uses 1 hook; knitting uses 2 needles. If I could, I would give this no stars.

[Kat · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Murderes Start

A new beginning full of strangers, murder , mayhem and intreage makes for an interesting read .OH ! Did I mention that it also happens to have a surly ex-mother-in-law and her spirited parrot hu fun times, not. The outrageous caracters are so vibrant,some full of spit and vinegar , others ready for friendship ,bringing together an exciting and enjoyable read from start to finish. Pick up a copy of " A Sip of Murder " so you yourself can enjoy reading it as much as I have. 🙄😖😒😯☺🙄😮🤔😏😊Kat

[Ruth Caves · Rating 5 out of 5]

Horror

When your life has been completely turned topsy turvy you set a goal and head towards the light. For someone who has been handed a goal the main character sure has a lot of quaking in her boots to do. Hiding from the world with your covers pulled over your head never got you a solution. Only standing your ground and fighting back will stop the horror in its tracks, and that includes former mothers-in-law.

[Mona · Rating 3 out of 5]

Needs an editor.

Much of this book is poorly written. Some of the writing is just over the top, too melodramatic. In the beginning of the book, the tea gardens are described in extremely poor condition, yet Maddie was able to reopen in less than a week. A little incongruous in a book filled with similarly unedited scenes. Plus the many misused words. Poor okay but very predictable.

[Angela · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really struggled with this one. I felt that the main character went from the excitement of starting a new, fresh life to judging everyone around her. Her paranoia with nothing (like a girlfriend or partner in crime) to balance her out brought me to the point that I started to dislike her :/

I did finish it only because I liked the detective and wanted to find out the ending, but I can’t bring myself to attempt book 2.

[Joni · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Sip of Murder

The first book of the Japanese Tea Garden Mysteries. Blythe Baker has set up the start of this series beautifully. A newly divorced woman inherits a house and tea garden from her grandmother. The next door neighbors don't want the garden to reopen. The neighbor behind the garden wants to buy it to extend his quarry. Garden opens, neighbor dies, the adventure begins.

[monacia williams · Rating 3 out of 5]

New life in the Garden

An easy read, not overly exciting. The characters are good, Mama Jackie and the twins, Agatha and Angela are a bit over the top. Maddie starts out being fearful and nervous but ended up growing on me.
The story line is OK, despite the fact that the untold story (quarry master) seems to be shaping up to be a much stronger story. Definitely not a bad start to this new series.

[Tim Seabrook · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a sweet murder mystery set around a Japanese tea garden with a new owner who quickly finds herself unpopular with her neighbours for reasons that slowly become clear to her.

A light hearted story of murder with plenty of chuckles mixed in with the characters and events that provide a comfortable read for a day or two and you just have to love the villains.

[sandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Different plot mechanism

What I enjoyed about this cozy mystery, was the setting, a Japanese tea garden I especially enjoyed her first description of the setting. Many books start with the heroine receiving an inheritance, but getting a tea garden provides unique possibilities. Suitable for ages young adults up.

[Carlin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really didn't like the protagonist in the first of a cozy mystery series. She was neurotic to the point of unbelievability. Although the premise had potential, it just didn't quite hang together. I wonder if the writing improves as the series goes on, but I'm not willing to pay to find out. If another one is given away as this one was, I would give it a try.

[jane beasley · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a fun read. unfortunately I don't care for hanging endings to get me to order the next book. But I will probably do so as I would like to finish that part of the story. The story was interesting and I am hoping future books get a bit more into her history. I just got a taste of her grandmother and would like to know more.

[Diana Stone · Rating 4 out of 5]

An easy, cute book

It's an easy to read a book. I like the descriptions of the garden. For me, I wish the heroine wouldn't walk into danger as frequently as she does. She's kind of a dummy in that respect. Other than that, I enjoyed the book. Oh, the parrot drives me nuts... good job describing an annoying bird, and the mother in law.

[Ellen White · Rating 4 out of 5]

Maddie taking some rather drastic steps to become a different person. From dying her hair a copper color, reminded her of blood).To a slip from a fortune cookie reading adventure awaits. Had she known it would be a place in shambles that she inherits and a body, would she had been so willing. A fun read as all the authors books are.

[Ann Bahil · Rating 3 out of 5]

The worst thing about this book is that every time the character used her "BRAKES" , the incorrect word "BREAKS" was used. The writing was choppy and characters were underdeveloped. The setting and plot held promise, but the book just was unsatisfying. It was a freebie, if one of the later books in the series is free, I might try it in hopes of improvement.