Amanda Cooper (pseudonym of cozy mystery author Victoria Hamilton) begins the brand new Teapot Collector Mystery series with TEMPEST IN A TEAPOT, where former restaurateur and Manhattanite Sophie Taylor moves to Gracious Grove, the small town in upstate New York where she spent blissful summers with her grandmother.

Before Sophie can figure out how to make herself useful in her grandmother's tea room, there is a murder across the street in a competing tea room run by her grandmother's rival, Thelma Earnshaw. Sophie ends up on the scene before the police, and eventually decides to investigate a bit herself, turning any clues she finds over to the police, of course.

I have to say I am not entirely sure of motive as presented in the book for Sophie to pursue the murderer. The motives given include the murder happening so close to her grandmother, and that her friend Cissy's grandmother (Thelma Earnshaw) is under investigation. Perhaps an underlying/unstated motive is Sophie finds herself at loose ends with confidence low after losing her restaurant.

I am kind of on the fence about this particular book. It is well written, and the characters are believable, but as a reader I faintly dislike the involvement Sophie takes in the mystery.. I know, I know it wouldn't be much of a cozy mystery if the amateur sleuth could not poke and pry, but without looking deeper for a motive, it initially comes off as Sophie finding specious reasons for sticking her nose in, leaving the impression she is making excuses instead of owning her actions. I repeat 'faintly dislike'. Mostly I enjoyed the world Amanda Cooper has built in small town upstate New York, with plenty of the townsfolk providing background as well as potential suspects. The characterization is complex, with layered histories that are integral to the plot. Cooper also uses more than one narrator, and more than one sleuth (although Sophie is definitely the main investigator) which adds an interesting interplay among the multiple viewpoints.

Overall, I have to say I think this is a series worth pursuing. There was just too much I liked outweighing the slight discomfort I felt from the motivations of the main sleuth. If you have enjoyed Victoria Hamilton's cozy series' in the past, give this new incarnation under the name Amanda Cooper a try. TEMPEST IN A TEAPOT has many qualities of the best of cozy mysteries; small town drama, interesting characters and multi-layered relationships complicating a well-plotted mystery.