Matcha Do About Murder

I enjoyed this book even more than the first one in the series!
Rosemary has inherited her grandmother's teashop in the seaside village of Pebble Cove and decided to keep it and run it just as her grandmother did. She is supported by Asher, a ghost living in the building, because apparently she can see and communicate with ghosts after she had two near death experiences as a child.

When Rosemary visits her competitor's teashop in the centre of town, a man dies after sipping a matcha. As it is her impression that the police do not really investigate the case for reasons of their own, she decides to start enquiries herself, once more asking the local ghosts for help.
I did like this case. It sounds like an old story, but it was interesting show more and kept me guessing for a long time. There was much more to it than I thought at first, and it gives more background to Pebble Cove.

There is also Asher's storyline, which I enjoyed even more. He died during World War One and needs Rosemary's help to find out why. I'm not explaining more to avoid spoilers (for this book and also book 1), but I must say that this storyline is totally gripping me and makes me much more emotional than I expected from a cosy mystery series!

I am already looking forward to the third book, to see how Asher's story will continue as well as to see how Rosemary will develop the teashop and what kind of case will be next. show less

Love how this story is progressing.

I love that the ghosts have their own story line that progresses through out these books. In this installment we get to know many of them better, and discover what is holding a few of them back from passing over.

That being said, I am concerned with Rosemary's mental state. As she spends the majority of her people interacting time, talking to ghosts. If this isn't addressed or keeps up throughout the entire series it's going to make me really depressed for her as a person. She went from being under her mom's supervision to now, and adult woman that only communicates with the dead. With the caveat that I am thankful for no insta-love type plot line happening. These two books are giving a great deal of show more insight into everyone that lives in Pebble Cove. I just want Rosemary to have some living friends!

The writing in this book is way more flowery than the first book, there are metaphors so often in this story, it starts to pull me out because I can't stop laughing at how ridiculous they are. Not sure why they increased here, but hoping they decrease for book 3.

The mystery for this book was great, I kept rethinking who was really the guilty party, because I kept telling myself, 'there was no way it would be that person' for a few people. The end layout explains a lot about the towns history. I like that these books seems to be solving a cold case, with the current case. Gives more complexity to the town, and the hidden secrets that are berried there.

Rosemary isn't great at everything she touches and I really appreciate that. Her struggles in running the teashop make her character relatable. I look forward to seeing how she grows as a business owner in the next installments. show less