Review: Earl Grave Tea by Gretchen Rue

Earl Grave Tea (Witches’ Brew Mystery #4)
by Gretchen Rue

My Rating: 4 stars

Genre: Paranormal Cozy Mystery
Age Category: Adult
Type of romance: m/f

Blurb:
Halloween is coming to Raven Creek, Washington, and in addition to the town going wild for themed decor, there is also brewing enthusiasm about a famed improv group coming to help stage an Agatha Christie play for the locals. When mega-Hollywood star Naomi Novak shows up, the whole town is star-struck. But local teashop owner and witch Phoebe Winchester is shocked for a different reason: the fiance Naomi has in tow is none other than Phoebe’s cheating ex-husband, Blaine.

When Naomi is found dead during local auditions for the play, suspicion quickly turns to the person who served her a seemingly poisoned beverage: Phoebe’s friend Amy! Phoebe knows Amy wouldn’t hurt a fly, let alone a famous actress, so Phoebe will need to rely on magic, meddling, and of course, her feline sidekick Bob, to help figure out who really killed Naomi. Even if it might be her own ex.

And she needs to do it before they strike again.

A charming, fall-themed cozy perfect for curling up with your cats and a cup of hot tea.

My Review

I really enjoyed the first 3 books in this series and I was excited when I saw this fourth book just released, I bought a copy and read it soon after that. Earl Grave Tea is set around Halloween and it was fun to read this during mid/ late October. This is such a fun cozy series and I had a great time reading this book.

Main character Phoebe gets involved in another mystery when a group of actors comes to town to help with the town’s annual Halloween play and the most famous actress among the group is now dating Phoebe’s ex. When the actress ends up dead Phoebe tries to solve the mystery. I have to admit the mystery didn’t fully grip me, there were some suspects and it was interesting to see it all play out, but something was missing to fully pull me in. I liked the part Phoebe played in solving the mystery and the way the pieces fell on it’s place at the end.

I liked the Halloween theme and seeing the town prepare for the Halloween festival with decorations. I didn’t really care about the play as much and didn’t know the play they were doing, I just felt bad for Phoebe as she didn’t really seem to want to be part of it, but kinda got forced into it. I did appreciate the way she still found enjoyment in it and the way she could use it to investigate. This book also resolved her emotions around the break up with her ex and that was good, but I am just not a big fan of these type of stories with the ex making an appearance.

My favorite parts of this one were reading about Phoebe, her shop, her cats as well as the fun side characters she interacts with and are friends with. This book just has such a cozy vibe and I really enjoy spending time reading about these characters. I really like reading about Phoebe running her store as well and the cozy familiar vibes of this book were really nice. I also liked seeing Phoebe and Rich now that they are in a relationship, there are some fun scenes involving the two of them.

There is also a more personal side mystery in this book with Phoebe’s late aunt leaving her a scavenger hunt. I really liked this plot line and seeing it progress throughout the book. The conclusion was really nice and the way this connects Phoebe to her aunt as well as the town’s people who help her with the scavenger hunt was nice to see.

This book isn’t as heavy on the paranormal element. Phoebe is a witch, but there isn’t as much about her magic in this book. I would’ve liked to see a bit more, but I think that might be in future books.

To summarize: I had a great time reading this one close to Halloween while the book featured a Halloween theme as well. I liked returning to this small town and reading about Phoebe, her store and her friends. The cozy vibes of this book are really well done. I didn’t feel as invested in the mystery in this book one and wasn’t as interested in the play plot line and the ex appearance. Despite that I still really enjoyed this book, especially the scenes focusing on phoebe running her shop or interacting with other characters. The scavenger hunt that Phoebe’s late aunt left her was a fun little side mystery and I liked seeing how that all played out. I look forward to the next book!

Links:
– Goodreads
– Bookbub
– Amazon
– B&N
– Kobo

You can also read my review on Goodreads and Bookbub.