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!