Needing to get away from her stressful life in Tinker's
Cove, Lucy Stone and her three best friends go to England
on holiday with a group of college students and their
parents. But while on the flight there, their tour guide
and college professor dies for what people assume to be an
asthma attack. Was it an allergic reaction? Or was it
something else? Lucy is suspicious, as usual, but why would
anyone want to murder the well-liked professor? And who
exactly are these people on the tour? There is
something "off" about the whole thing and Lucy is
determined to find out.
Meanwhile, the group continues on with the tour with a
replacement flown in by the school, one Professor Quentin
Rea. Lucy's close familiarity with Quentin (he's had a
crush on her for some time) is awkward, but the distraction
isn't enough to keep Lucy from wondering at the collective
tense behaviors exhibited by everybody else on tour. The
younger ones run emotions hot and cold - acting like
carefree teens one moment then paranoid co-conspirators the
next - while the parents hover close as though to protect
their young. Is it just parental protection or could it be
something more sinister? Lucy can't decide, but her
reporter's instinct remains sharp throughout the story as
secrets about the late Professor Temple and the others are
finally revealed.
But perhaps the biggest mystery of all is -- will Lucy and
her friends ever get their proper English tea? With ENGLISH
TEA MURDER: A Lucy Stone Mystery, author Leslie Meier once
again treats her readers to a fast-paced, fun adventure
involving the intrepid Lucy Stone. Taking her beloved
character on a trip out of country is a first in this long-
running series (this is book 17), but Lucy manages to get
into just as much trouble abroad as she does at home. This
is a thoroughly enjoyable romp of a mystery! Tally-ho!
Lucy Stone is saying cheerio to Tinker’s Cove and jetting
off to jolly old England! But when things get dodgy, it
appears murder may have followed her across the Atlantic...
Between a busy family and her duties as a reporter for the
Pennysaver, Lucy could use a break. So when her friend Pam
tells her about a trip to England sponsored by Winchester
College, she jumps at the chance for a girls getaway. But
when tour leader Professor George Temple dies mid-flight
after suffering an asthma attack, Lucy’s glad she packed her
sleuthing skills...
In London, Lucy and her pals try to forget their harrowing
journey across the pond by indulging in some retail therapy
and searching for the perfect afternoon tea, from the Tower
of London to the shores of Brighton. Professor Quentin Rea,
a ladies’ man and former flirt of Lucy’s, arrives to take
over the tour, and she finds that while his hairline may
have receded, his amorous intentions have not. She also
begins to notice the peculiar behavior of other members of
the tour group. And when she discovers that all of them have
pasts connected to Professor Temple, she suspects that his
death was an elaborate act of revenge.
The truth is as elusive as the perfect cup of tea, and it
seems that anyone-or everyone-could be the culprit. But when
another tour member dies Lucy is suddenly ensnared in a
daring scheme that could lead her to a mastermind of
murder-or make her the next victim...