Tide and Punishment

by Bree Baker

Overview

In the third book of the popular Seaside Café Mysteries, Tide and Punishment, it's not all Christmas sweets, tinsel, and wrapping paper. Everly Swan will have to follow a string of clues before it's too late—because no one dreams of a killer Christmas...

Hitting all the sweet-tea spots, this series is:

A delightful Tea Shop and Café Culinary Mystery

The ideal cozy beach read

Perfect for fans of Laura Childs and Kate Carlisle

It's Christmastime in Charm, North Carolina, and while Everly Swan would prefer to focus on decorating her iced tea shop and café for its first holiday season, Great-Aunt Fran has decided to run for mayor against her long-time nemesis. But when the other candidate turns up dead just before the first scheduled debate, all eyes turn to Fran as the suspect with the most obvious motive.

As a rare blizzard threatens to bury all evidence, small-town holiday cheer turns to suspicion and the tension between Everly and the handsome Detective Grady Hays builds. Everly knows her sweet, elderly Aunt Fran couldn't have murdered anyone, but as she struggles to find the real killer, it begins to seem like this may be the last happy holiday her family will ever have. Can she tie this Christmas mystery up in a bow before it's too late? This next book in Bree Baker's cozy mysteries will keep you guessing right up to the end!

INCLUDES DELICIOUS FOOD AND DRINK RECIPES

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781492664819
Publisher:	Sourcebooks
Publication date:	09/24/2019
Series:	Seaside Café Mysteries , #3
Pages:	296
Sales rank:	73,239
Product dimensions:	4.20(w) x 6.70(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Bree Baker is a Midwestern writer obsessed with small-town hijinks, sweet tea, and the sea. She's been telling stories to her friends, family, and strangers for as long as she can remember, and more often than not, those stories feature a warm ocean breeze and a recipe she's sure to ruin. Now she's working on those fancy cooking skills and dreaming up adventures for the Seaside Café mysteries. Bree is a member of Sisters in Crime, International Thriller Writers, and the Romance Writers of America. Visit her online at breebaker.com.

Editorial Reviews

"This is a food- and tea-filled story, but Baker never loses sight of moving the mystery plot forward and providing ample opportunities for fans to catch up with the engaging series cast." — Booklist

"I've said before that I want to live in Charm, and that's still the case...I love the cookie baking, delivery service, gnome "issues," tea drinking, Christmas celebrating, and mystery solving in Tide and Punishment. " — Christy's Cozy Corner

From the Publisher

2019-07-01
A gnomish murder muddles Christmas festivities on Charm Island.

Charm is a small, clannish island on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. Mayor Dunfree wants to keep it that way; Fran Swan, one of his opponents in the current election, is supported by Charmers for Change. One such Charmer is Everly Swan, owner of the cafe Sun, Sand and Tea, who returned to Charm after a difficult breakup and gave widowed police detective Grady Hays the key to her heart. Clara and Fran, Everly's eccentric and beloved great-aunts, own Blessed Bee, a shop that features all things bee-related. When Dunfree is bashed to death with one of Clara's gnomes at Everly's Christmas party, Grady must consider Fran, whom Everly found clutching a shattered gnome, his first suspect. To add to the difficulties, Charm is in the midst of a rare major snowstorm that threatens to bury evidence in drifts. The morning after Dunfree's demise, Everly (No Good Tea Goes Unpunished, 2019, etc.) fires up her trusty golf cart and plows through the snow to town, where someone has stolen all the gnomes outside Blessed Bee. Everly is busy baking cookies night and day and planning her food for the progressive dinner, a long-standing island tradition, but she can't resist investigating the murder, much to Grady's dismay. Though she begins to receive threats, Everly is undeterred. Grady has his own problems with his rich and powerful mother-in-law, Sen. Olivia Denver, who's just bought a house on Charm and plans to run for mayor. Everly learns that there are a long string of people with grievances against Dunfree. Now she just has to pick out the killer before Christmas is ruined and her aunt's arrested.

Oodles of Christmas cheer bolster a thin mystery.

Kirkus Reviews