“For never was a story of more woe, Than this of Juliet and her Romeo” (Shakespeare). Well, the love and loss in this mystery is not at the level of Romeo and Juliet, there is a lost love and many subsequent consequences. Daisy helps her good friend Tessa unravel secrets and solve the mystery of who killed Reese.
This is book #2 from A Daisy’s Tea Garden Mystery series by Karen Rose Smith. In this novel, Daisy is both discovering love and helping her friend discover truths about her lost love. Daisy offers sensible advice with the perfect cup of tea and a scone. The cozy mystery highlights friendship and a wonderful Cinnamon Scone recipe.
Murder with Cinnamon Scones by Karen Rose Smith
Cozy Mystery Novel with Recipes
Book Review
Murder Mystery Books🔪🔪🔪🔪🔪
Book Review Outline and Tone:
Trigger warning. This novel contains a character that is in recovery from drug abuse. The novel doesn’t revolve around this topic, but it is addressed. If you or someone you love has been affected by drug abuse, parts of this novel may be difficult.
Daisy and her Aunt Iris run a tea and pastries shop that I wish I could visit in real life. The way she describes the setting makes me want to visit another tea shop. Tessa is a good friend to Daisy and one of the kitchen workers. Her boyfriend is found dead at a covered bridge near the town of Willow Cree, PA.
This chapter in the series involves not only Daisy and her family, but the reader meets a new order Amish family. We learn a bit about what new order Amish families do differently. It appears that new order Amish interact more with English (that is what they call everyone who is not Amish). Rachel, an Amish resident, works with Daisy on a quilting festival.
Daisy also has to deal with Jasmine’s biological mom who comes for a visit and Jonas trying to decide if he is ready to make his relationship with Daisy official. How in the world Daisy had the time to investigate Reese’s killing is a mystery of its own! But investigate. There were so many suspects, I simply could not figure out how this was going to wrap up until someone drew a gun. This mystery will keep you guessing.
Visiting a tea garden:
Having a high tea is a wonderful experience. All you need to do is Google Search High Tea near me. That’s what I did with my mom and sister. The tower of treats has sweet on top and savory on the bottom. We were able to enjoy endless cups of tea of our choice and enjoyed charming English décor.
The author:
Karen Rose Smith writes both mystery novels and romance novels. The tagline on her website is “Romances & Mysteries with heart and emotions.” Smith has been publishing novels since 1992. She has received writing awards from around the country in places such as Colorado, Phoenix, and Washington, just to name a few. Her work has been on USA Today’s and Amazon Romance bestseller lists. Her website reveals to the reader that she has a love for cats as well as tea. She has even given Daisy Swanson (the main character in this novel) her own webpage.
Karen Rose Smith can be contacted through her website or follow her on Facebook or X (Twitter) @Karenrosesmith.
What is not to like?:
I go back and forth between wanting to be able to figure out mysteries in novels before the main character and being kept guessing until the end. If you fall into the former category, you may be disappointed.
The verdict:
A good sophomore book (second in the series). I am looking forward to seeing how the characters grow even more in future installments of this series.
Book Club Recommendation: 3.75/5 Books 📚📚📚📚
Disclaimer: In the name of full transparency, please be aware that this blog post contains affiliate links and any purchases made through such links will result in a small commission for me (at no extra cost for you).
Cinnamon Scones
Assemble the Ingredients
Daisy’s Cinnamon Scones
Easy to make dessert: 5/5 on the easy as pie scale 🥧🥧🥧🥧🥧
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
In a large mixer bowl, stir together flour, ½ cup sugar, ½ teaspoon cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
Baking Hack: Make baking easier! Grate frozen butter.
Add grated butter.
Add the grated butter to the flour mixture and cut in with a pastry blender.
Stir in cinnamon chips and pecans.
At this point I “forgot” to add the pecans. I simply don’t like nuts in my baked goods. The good new here is the scones were delicious without the nuts.
In a separate bowl whisk the egg with the buttermilk.
Add to flour mixture and mix with a mixer or a sturdy spatula.
Scoop out eight large scones (I use a 4-cup scoop or measuring cup with handle) and place on a cookie sheet lined with parchment. Or use a silicone baking mat.
Use a large cookie scoop. There was plenty of dough to make large scones. The recipe calls for 8 scones scooped and dropped, biscuit style, rather that rolled to a circle and cut in triangles.
This set has small, medium, and large scoops. Perfect for even cookies or filling cupcake liners.
Sprinkle with cinnamon/sugar mixture.
Bake for 17-19 minutes at 400 degrees until golden brown.
Taste: 5 stars! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
So delicious 😋😋😋😋😋
Cinnamon Scones Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- ⅓ cup granulated sugar plus 2 tablespoons
- 1 tsp cinnamon (½ tsp in the dough and ½ teaspoon mixed with the 2 tablespoons sugar)
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp salt
- 8 Tbsp 1 stick frozen salted butter, grated (I let it sit unrefrigerated 5-10 minutes before grating)
- ¾ cup cinnamon chips
- ½ cup ground pecans (optional)
- 1 large egg
- ¾ cup reduced-fat buttermilk
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
- In a large mixer bowl, stir together flour, ½ cup sugar, ½ teaspoon cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- Add grated butter to the flour mixture and beat it in.
- Stir in cinnamon chips and pecans.
- In a separate bowl whisk the egg with the buttermilk, then mix into flour dough with a mixer.
- Scoop out eight large scones (I use a 4-cup scoop or measuring cup with handle) and place on a cookie sheet lined with parchment.
- Sprinkle with cinnamon/sugar mixture.
- Bake for 17-19 minutes at 400 degrees until golden brown.
What would I do differently next time?
I already made a modification to the recipe and that was to leave out the pecans. If I had company over, I would make them with the pecans, just to get their feedback.
Will I make it again?: Absolutely Yes! But I still won’t put nuts in them. 😋😋😋😋😋
I am a big fan of scones. Try these scone recipes.
Sour Cherry Scones from Carry On by Rainbow Rowell,
Cinnamon Date Scones from Eggs Benedict Arnold by Laura Childs, and
Cranberry Scones from Sconed to Death by Lynn Cahoon
At this moment I am going to do my breakfast, once
having my breakfast coming over again to read additional news.