Dual Review of Tempest in the Tea Leaves by Kari Lee Townsend

Publisher: Berkley Prime Crime

Release Date: August 2, 2011

Series: #1 in the Fortune Teller Mystery series

More Info:  Amazon     The Book Depository

Book Blurb (from Goodreads):

Leaving the Big Apple for the quaint town of Divinity, New York, Sunny is determined to make it on her own as a psychic. With an ancient Victorian house as her place of business, Sunny uses various psychic methods to aid the town's residents. But when she uses tea leaves to give a reading for a frazzled librarian, what she finds at the bottom of the cup is anything but helpful.
Sunny informs the police of her deadly vision, but her warning is too late. And with hard-nosed, ruggedly handsome Detective Mitch Stone denying her abilities and naming her prime suspect, the situation is dire. Now Sunny has to use her visions to clear her name, before the killer can put an end to the psychic's future...

Our Thoughts:

Jax:

This was a fun book, not too long, and a great way to start a series. Light, with a quick pace, it sets up characters that you want to learn more about. There are lots of little twists, and while I had a good idea of who the villain might be, I still had more than one suspect by the time of the big reveal.

I like Sunny. I like Sunny and Detective Stone together, both as crime solving partners and a potential romantic pairing. And Morty the cat! Creepy in the best of ways, I look forward to seeing more of Sunny's odd little protector.

This is my favorite kind of summer read, one that I can peek up from to see what the kids are up to, and delve back into without losing that feeling of being into the story. It's welcoming, even for a murder mystery.

Bea:

This was a light story but unlike Jax, I didn't find it to be quick. I had trouble staying interested, and kept putting it down. It did keep me guessing, there were twists and turns in the mystery; unlike Jax I didn't catch on to who killer was until almost the end. I also found it refreshing that Sunny didn't have an easy time getting people to talk to her, the answers didn't fall in to her lap; she had to work for them. That is one of the more common weaknesses of cozy mysteries and Townsend avoided it.

Sunny could be naive, was rebellious with her parents in a manner that reminded me of a teenager, and was headstrong at times but her heart was in the right place and she came across as genuine and like someone you might meet around town. The conflict with Mitch, the detective working the case, felt manufactured to me - young, flaky, new agey psychic versus the conservative, stubborn, know-it-all detective. I didn't really feel the attraction between them but the dialogue could be fun and snappy.

Morty was intriguing, I'd like to learn more about him. I can't quite figure him out. I think I liked him the best of all in the book.

Overall, I found it to be light, standard cozy mystery fare, nothing special. If you like the fortune teller angle (it's what initially caught my interest), don't mind some stereotypes, and want an easy way to pass the time, curl up with a cup of tea and give it a try.

We each received a copy of this paperback from the publisher.