Dead as a Scone

Royal Tunbridge Wells Mystery #1

by Ron Benrey, Janet Benrey

Murder is afoot is the sedate English town of Royal Tunbridge Wells and the crime may be brewing in a tea pot!

Nigel Owen is having a rotten year. Downsized from a cushy management job at an insurance company in London, he is forced to accept a temporary post as managing director of the Royal Tunbridge Wells Tea Museum. Alas, he regrets living in a small city in Kent, he prefers drinking coffee (with a vengeance), and he roundly dislikes Flick Adams, PhD, an American scientist recently named the museums curator.

But then, the wildly unexpected happens. Dame Elspeth Hawker, the museums chief benefactor, keels over a board meeting the apparent victim of a fatal heart attack. With the Dames demise, the museums world-famous collection is up for grabs, her cats, dog, and parrot are living at with Flick and Nigel and the two prima donnas find themselves facing professional ruin.

But Flick who knows a thing or two about forensic science is convinced that Dame Elspeth did not die a natural death. As Flick and Nigel follow the clues including a cryptic Biblical citation they discover that a crime perpetrated more than a century ago sowed the seeds for a contemporary murder.

Genres: Mystery, Cozy Mystery, Christian Fiction, Fiction, Cozy, Contemporary, British Literature

511 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

Ron Benrey, the author of "Know Your Rights, a Survival Guide for Non Lawyers" (for Sterling), and "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Writing Christian Fiction" (for Penguin), is also a prolific novelist who has coauthored nine romantic suspense novels with his wife Janet: The Pippa Hunnechurch Mysteries, The Royal Tunbridge Wells Mysteries for Barbour, and the Glory, North Carolina, Mysteries. All three series are available at Amazon and as Kindle eBooks.

Ron "wrote his way" through college as a freelancer. After graduating, he became Electronics Editor at Popular Science Magazine. He went on to become a corporate communicator and speechwriter for several of America's largest companies. Ron is also an experienced oral presentation coach who has trained hundreds of managers and engineers to give winning proposal presentations - including several multi-billion-dollar programs.

Ron taught advanced writing courses at the University of Pittsburgh (member of the adjunct faculty). He currently teaches courses and workshops at major writers' conferences on topics ranging from plotting and publishability, to copyright law and computer technology for writers.

Ron holds a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a master's degree in management from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and a juris doctor from the Duquesne University School of Law. He was a member of the Bar of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

Ron and Janet live in North Carolina.

Reviews

[Margaret Metz · Rating 3 out of 5]

I pride myself on reading a little bit of everything. This is my first real cozy mystery (that I can remember) though.

I felt it started a little slow and I think my own inexperience made me feel a little lost about what to expect with the book. It had a little romance - but not as much as I was used to. It had a little mystery, but it wasn't as intense or . . . tension-filled as I was used to.

Still, I thought the story was fun - and I liked the tea aspects added to the story. The little quirks like the manager of the tea museum hating tea and drinking only coffee (in England no less) made it that more endearing.

[Mystereity Reviews · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was so underwhelmed by this book that the only comment that comes to mind is...Meh. Just...meh.

[Library Queen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This had very little romance in it, and even though it's tagged Christian, there's not a lot of it in there.

That being said, this was a cute little mystery. I mea, what's more cozy than tea, and here's a whole book about a tea museum!

[Monica · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed it more this time than I did the first, many years ago. I love all the information about tea, and I would have loved to have been able to listen in on the research conference of lecturers of English literature from Cambridge and Oxford who get together to discuss: "the Societal Metaphors and Allegories Inherent in the Mad Hatter's Tea Party." Awesome! And then their discussion on why so many social activities in England begin with the serving of tea -- that would have been fun to hear, too.

[Gytha · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 rounded up. This was my first "cozy mystery" book and I think it was a fairly good first. I'm only used to watching murder mystery television series so this was a bit of a different format for me. It's not among the best books I've read but I definitely enjoyed reading this over the weekend. The only critique I would give was that the dialogue felt a bit off and unnatural in some parts. But that didn't really detract too much from my experience. I'd be willing to read whatever book is next in the series.

[Pamela · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun read with mystery, history and finally alittle love combined to solve the murder in the Tea Museum. As a life-long tea lover, I enjoyed the details scattered throughout the book on the history, cultivation, trade wars and value of tea. Good introduction for those who don't drink tea to understand the wide range of flavors, health benefits, why loose tea is so much better and why milk goes in the cup first.

[Sandra Holladay · Rating 4 out of 5]

A little slow starting, and although I like tea I was afraid the story would get bogged down with all tea related facts. It didn't; those snippets were just that, snippets, and handled well. I like Nigel and Flick and was glad to see their relationship blossom the way it did,and not wind up with all the sexual tension so many stories have.

[Steven Freeman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good break from work. I learned a lot about tea. The ending was satisfying.

[Serena · Rating 3 out of 5]

My Rating System:
* couldn't finish, ** wouldn't recommend, *** would recommend, **** would read again, ***** have read again.

[Pam Langer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Light hearted book about murder and thievery.

[Elizabeth]

Read 2011

[Sarai · Rating 4 out of 5]

Unexpectedly charming.

[Tricia Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun, cozy mystery

[Harvey DeFries · Rating 3 out of 5]

fun but slow to get into.

[michaela · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nice easy but entertaining read, I really enjoyed the witty brittish word Play and banter.

[Karen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Slow, slow, slow. Much dilly dallying in the first half of the book. About the last 100 pages are interesting. Finally the mystery gets revealed. Not worth my time.

[Andrea Guy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great example of a cozy mystery. Dead As A Scone starts out a little slow, but once it finds its footing it really takes off. Nigel and Flick are at odds with each other during the regular workday, but when Elspeth is murdered, the two seemingly unusual pairing get together to solve the crime and keep the Tunbridge Wells Tea Museum's collection.

It takes a little longer than necessary for the two of them to start really investigating the murder, but the appearance of a MI5 agent gets the ball rolling and from there on, things get moving. There's also a little hint of romance brewing (pun intended) between Nigel and Flick as the story moves on. Flick even gets him drinking tea, something Nigel doesn't really care for, even though he works at a tea musuem.

What really makes this mystery so fun, is that it is really two mysteries in one. There is the mystery of who poisoned Elspeth...and then the mystery of the stolen antiquities. It is obvious that the two are connected, but as we learn about Elspeth's ancestors, it comes into question who really owns the antiquities.

Discovering the history of Elspeth's family was half the fun of this story.

Ron and Janet created a wonderful whodunit, because I wasn't able to pinpoint the killer until it was revealed in the story. That is something that seldom happens for me in a cozy mystery.

I can't wait to find The Final Crumpet.

[Joyce · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well in some ways this was better than I anticipated - a lot of 99c books are aptly priced. The book held my attention better than I anticipated, and the denouement was more interesting. The characters started out annoying and gradually fleshed out into real people.

I admit that if I'd known this was "Christian Fiction" when I started I would have run in the other direction as anything labeled as such and that feels the need to call itself that generally annoys me.

I only found out later it was considered as such and then I had an ah-ha moment. There were a couple of references to couples going to church that had nothing to do with the plot and I found them strange and odd (in mystery novels, I assume all extraneous details may be related to the mystery so I pay more attention to them than I might in another book) It stuck out and seemed forced in there when the story would otherwise have just worked.

Other than that, it was okay. Will I rush to get the next? No. I probably will read more but I have a huge TBR with much better written and more interesting mysteries ahead of it. But not a bad book and won't offend anyone, really, although how a grown woman could move to England, live there awhile and still be so clueless on how the British behave tells me she isn't very aware or is just a ditz... but I've lived overseas and may have much greater sensitivity to cultural differences than the average bear.

[Sharon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Setting is a tea museum in /England. Nigel Owen, the director, and Dr. Felicity (Flick) Adams, curator of the museum investigate the murder of Dame Elspeth, board member and owner of many of the antiques displayed. Sir Simon, Dame Elspeth's doctor, declares her death to be a heart attack, but Flick who has had extensive forensic training sees evidence of poisoning. In the course of their investigations, Nigel and Flick find that their separate talents and knowledge make them a good team-- and romance ensues. A good cozy mystery.

[Christine · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was so good! The first time I looked at this book I thought it was going to be another cheesy mystery you might pick up at the dollar store or grocery store, but I was pleasantly surprise. There's a lot of information in this book about tea, as a lot of the plot takes place in a tea museum. There was a cute romance and people almost died, and the story overall was very charming. A good read especially for people who like tea or mystery.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story is set in a tea museum in England, and the plot centers around the death of the spinster whose family started the museum. There is quite a bit of information about tea in the book which didn't always help to move the story along. I enjoyed the book,especially Nigel and Flick's relationship, but felt the author could have developed the other characters more so that there would have been clues to who the murderer was.

[Rachel Lauto · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dead as a Scone was a cozy, charming, witty murder mystery with likable characters. I found it just the thing to enjoy on a cold Winter day, and would recommend it to anyone who likes rural England, tea, mysteries, and a humor. My only qualm with the book was the fact that in moments, you felt the author resorted to an information "dump" about all things tea-related. But I didn't mind it too much, and actually learned something--the authors did their research!

[Mark Baker · Rating 4 out of 5]

When the board member of a tea museum is murdered, the directors must come together to figure out what happened to keep the museum afloat. I enjoyed the characters but found the pacing a little off.

Read my full review at Carstairs Considers.

[Terri Barrentine · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book while recovering from surgery and while I figured out who done it so to speak I did enjoy it and had my daughter run off to the local tea shop to pick me up a scone & tea while I was reading it.

[Jennie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Was a fun book to read. Liked that the setting was in in a real English town. Will be reading the sequal. Plot was interesting and different. Took a bit to warm up to the characters. Will give 3.5 stars but had to round up.

[Becky · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a cozy mystery solved by 2 amateur detectives
in England (can't you guess by the title?) in a tea
museum (another hint that it's England-they love their
tea.)

[Victoria · Rating 5 out of 5]

A delightful mystery with Christian overtones. Even better, it revolves around tea!

[Tiffany · Rating 4 out of 5]

Starts out slow but I ended up really liking it. Set in England.

[Christina · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a fun mystery, set in the "Royal Tunbridge Wells Tea Museum." There was a lot of information about tea, which was interesting, and the characters were fun.

[Kathryn Witzel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyed reading this cozy set in an English village. Clever twists and turns. Immediately started the next one in the series. Always a sign of a good read.