Review of A Scone to Die For by H.Y. Hanna

Title: A Scone to Die For

Author: H.Y. Hanna

Published: January 18, 2016

Genre: Cozy Mystery

~ Synopsis ~

When an American tourist is murdered with a scone in Gemma Rose’s quaint Oxfordshire tearoom, she suddenly finds herself apron-deep in a mystery involving long-buried secrets from Oxford’s past.

Armed with her insider knowledge of the University and with the help of four nosy old ladies from the village (not to mention a cheeky little tabby cat named Muesli), Gemma sets out to solve the mystery—all while dealing with her matchmaking mother and the return of her old college love, Devlin O’Connor, now a dashing CID detective.

But with the body count rising and her business going bust, can Gemma find the killer before things turn to custard?

*Traditional English scone recipe included!

Get a copy now: Amazon

 ~ Book Review~

A Scone to Die For has all the ingredients that make a good murder/mystery: a tearoom and a bunch of old ladies. Add that to my fascination with Oxford and I couldn’t wait to read this one! The story started a bit slow for me. Although the book is extremely well-written, I trudged through the first 25% or so of the novel, but then things started to speed up and the last half of the novel was delightful. The mystery itself is quite good; much better than your average cozy mystery in which you figure out who the murderer is at the start but are just waiting for the characters to catch up. There was some – very believable – suspense as well.

I didn’t love Gemma, but that may be my own prejudiced speaking. I’m really tired of 29 year olds being top executives with swanky penthouses. It really does take longer than 8 years to get to the top executive level. Like the cat, Muesli, grew on Gemma so too did Gemma grow on me. Devlin, on the other hand, didn’t grow on me at all. He was a jerk. Oh sure, there are some illusions as to why he was a jerk face, but still, I didn’t like him.

If you are unfamiliar with English culture and terminology, this is definitely the book for you. Hanna does a great job of explaining terminology and English culture. There’s even a glossary at the back of the book to give you a helping hand.

~ About the Author ~

H.Y. Hanna is an award-winning mystery and suspense author, who also writes sweet romance and children’s fiction. After graduating from Oxford University with a BA in Biological Sciences and a MSt in Social Anthropology, Hsin-Yi tried her hand at a variety of jobs, before returning to her first love: writing. She worked as a freelance journalist for several years, with articles and short stories published in the UK, Australia and NZ, and has won awards for her novels, poetry, short stories and journalism. A globe-trotter all her life, Hsin-Yi has lived in a variety of cultures, from Dubai to Auckland, London to New Jersey, but is now happily settled in Perth, Western Australia, with her husband and a rescue kitty named Muesli. You can learn more about her (and the real-life Muesli who inspired the cat character in the story) at: www.hyhanna.com.

Author Links

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~ Giveaway ~

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