Mr. Tea & and the Travelling Teacup by Leslie Matthews Stansfield

Published by Cozy Cat Press

"Polly" put the kettle on, we'll all have tea and mystery
This 1st-in-series book makes a wonderful debut. This book is fun and fancy-free, enjoyable even with a murder mystery to solve. At first I wasn't quite sure what the mystery was, then decided I'd fallen into Alice's rabbit hole. Amidst all the turmoil going on around them, Leslie Stansfield's characters are definitively fleshed out right from the start, very easy to fall in love with...can romance be far behind? I enjoyed the way the story rolled out from the first minute the teacup flew off the shelf to the decidedly vocal and psychic macaw.

The premise of the story dates back to the late 1800s with a string of unsolved bank robberies. But somehow the past is quickly passing the present! This story spoke to me on many levels including the despondency of the aging population at a time when most would rather be in their own homes, the lives of the people involved through inheritance of money stolen 100 years ago, what happens to it if it's found? The support the two sisters give each other after their mother dies, and what happens to her plans of a teahouse and a B&B now she is gone. Happily the girls do open a Tea Shop complemented with an unusually entertaining and talkative macaw, who introduces himself as Mr. T. soon changed to Mr. Tea.

This book is well-paced, with strange happenings in the Tea Shop; thieves, murder, break-ins, strange hints from Mr. Tea, especially as he greets with "Hello Ladies!" the very dead but lively night visitors only he sees, the Guthrie Sisters. All in all, I think this is going to be a fascinating and enjoyable series, I predict a long run.

Buried Secrets at Louisbourg by Jo Ann Yhard

Published by Nimbus Publishers Ltd.

History, mystery, action and adventure for these teen heroes. An action-packed treasure hunt in historic Louisburg Fortress where the British and the French fought for control of Cape Breton Island, a prime harbour and cod fishery in Nova Scotia, Canada in the 1770s. At that time, it was a part of New France. Now it is federally protected.

Young Fred has discovered some old papers from his great-great-great grandfather's journal documenting a story of surviving a shipwreck and a map to a treasure he has buried. This is like a godsend to Fred with his family in dire straits and his mother ill with cancer. If he can only find the treasure. The map is very clear, but the buried treasure now sits in a federal heritage site. He and his friends go to an open house at the Fortress at Louisbourg, the biggest reconstructed site in North America. The public is allowed to do some archaeological digging, but unfortunately not in the area where Fred's three-times great grandfather buried his treasure. From the first moment an overzealous re-enactment soldier finds them digging to the end of the book, the teens are on a thrill-ride of trying to avoid detection by the assortment of villains who are after them.

With his mother working in the restaurant despite her illness, his father seeming to act in a clandestine manner with one of the men watching their every move, and so many eyes watching them, the young people are on high alert...yet, three of them only know a very small part of the story. What other secrets are buried at Louisbourg?

Although Fred actually found the box wth the treasure, the problem is to keep it safe until they can take it home. But are they committing a crime, taking something from a federal heritage site even with the documents? Mai thinks they are and is terrified something bad is going to happen. Jo Ann Yhard makes the adventure exciting with this well-written book. History, mystery, action and adventure all rolled into one. With a cat and mouse chase on a replicated 1770s sailing ship at sea, Fred and his friends must escape the villains, but how? All other passengers left the ship in the only launches. Exciting fare aimed at young to mid-teens, but others would enjoy it, too. I look forward to reading other books by this Canadian author.

The Beast from the Sky by Steven Donkin

Where can you find more legends than in Ireland and Scotland? This story takes place in 1950, the main characters are seniors, the mannerisms of speech are true to time and place. The people involved are Scottish, Irish and American. This is a story "written" by Gertrude from Ireland, found  by her great-great nephew and presented in Gertrude's own words.

Though presented as based on fact, the book is fiction. I enjoyed reading it as based on a legend, a creation supposedly told by Gertrude. She is heading to Scotland with some visiting American friends, embarking on a relaxing visit to another of her old friends from the war, Marit Baltry. Considering this sparsely populated coastal area, it is not so strange that there would be legends. But within days the population has grown as a circus comes to the tiny village, while at the same time, scientists have rented a carriage house to do "experiments" at Marit's closest neighbour's home. Quite a crowd to suddenly appear in a somewhat unknown locale.

Gert and her friends immediately hear of the legend when they take a break at the local pub before carrying on to Marit's home. The legend has been resurrected upon a mysterious case of a circus performer balloonist who has disappeared from the high roof of the home of the widow Marit, and the disappearance has sparked rumours of the return of  the "Beast from the Sky." The tale of the disappearance immediately brings the sleuthing instincts of Gertrude and her friends from earlier adventures to the fore. Henry and Judith, the Americans, decide they must solve this mystery. The legend itself goes back in history to a sect of Druids who occupied Groll Island, believed to house the Beast. The Druids died out long ago. The Beast was said to be guarding a treasure of some kind.

It happens that the island "home" of the Beast is part of Margit's land. That and the disappearance from her home make this all-too-tasty a morsel to investigate, much to the displeasure of Inspector McInnes, and the discomfort of Gert, who is inveigled into pursuing the mystery. What is even more enticing is that the first person to have encountered the Beast and kept a journal was Lord Baltry, ancestor to Marit's deceased husband. Cryptic references were made to the possible location of the treasure. Legend has it that anyone who sees the Beast will soon be dead, and this certainly seems to be the case over the decades with few daring to defy the Beast.

What are these people seeing, and what is killing them or causing their complete disappearance? The very small islands around Groll Island certainly appear to be uninhabitable. Tempestuous seas and rocky shores preclude that on all but Groll Island. Where the Druids lived in their insular community, there are only ruins. About the only way one would actually be able to view the vista of Groll would be from overhead, and there lies a clue to be deciphered.

An interesting mixture of what is in the eye of the beholder; is the Beast real, and who knows but isn't telling? Steven Donkin has presented an unusual and imaginative story, I might have preferred a sharper ending, but perhaps it is leading into a further adventure. Overall, a tantalizing look back in time only to find it is now.

Alexis Tappendorf and the Search for Beale's Treasure by Becca C. Smith

Published by Red Frog Publishing

Well! Becca C. Smith certainly knows how to capture her reading audience. What a great ride! This Young Adult book is a real treat. Starting with Alexis' stormy feelings against her parents for going off to do "research" of an unknown nature and in an unknown location (to Alexis), she is determined to play the "abandoned" role to the hilt, especially spending the summer with Great Aunt Mae, who she has never met and lives on the opposite coast. As they drive from California to Virginia, she has plenty of time to stew about leaving her friends behind and having a horrible summer.

Once Alexis meets her Great Aunt Mae, as well as Olivia, a girl her own age, things look more promising. Little does she know the exciting adventure ahead of her. When Aunt Mae invites Olivia's family to come and live with her because of her father's serious heart condition, things really begin to look up. Already Alexis thinks of Olivia as a sister. Hearing the story of a hidden treasure, a pirate treasure at that, and a cipher keeping the secret unsolved,  the girls immediately start working on breaking the cipher to break the code and find the treasure.

In every town or mystery, there are always some bad apples, and in this town the baddest apple is the Mayor, supplemented in his quest for the treasure by his brother the Sheriff and using his son to spy on the girls. The kind of villain you love to hate. He is sure they have learned something he needs to know.

Alexis, working hard at the code, begins to think like her hero, Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot, who looks at things from a different angle, or as Alexis says, "...outside of the box." Between the girls and borrowing Poirot's methods, their perception changes and clues begin to fall in place.

Very well-written, this book would be great for any age, particularly over 10 I would think. Had I read this as a child I can easily see myself wanting to find a treasure! This is a book I would definitely enjoy as a young person, as much as I enjoyed reading it as a grandmother, especially when Aunt Mae turns out to be so much fun and completely undauntable. Great action, great mystery, and enough danger and adventure to satisfy any age. I highly recommend this YA book, and it looks like a series is planned. What fun!