I enjoyed this first in Galenorn's Chintz 'n China mysteries. We are introduced to Emerald O'Brien, who owns a small teashop (more like a tea room actually) in northern Washington state. In addition to selling fine china, serving tea and the occasional lunch, she also reads Tarot cards for her customers and is inofficially known as the town Witch. Because of her psychic abilities, she's also a beacon to the ghost of a recently deceased romance writer who lived nearby.

I found the story engaging enough to hold my interest though I did think the author got a bit overly descriptive at times, but not too much so. Some of that could just be my recent reading of lots of books that either had a lot of action or are young adult reads which usually don't include overly descriptive paragraphs. Though the mystery part was resolved satisfactorily, the part to do with Emerald's personal life left me looking forward to the next in the series. :-)



DreamSE22 (USA: CO) (2007/08/05):
I LOVED this book! It was very involving, easy to read, and so fun I couldn't put it down and finished it just in a matter of hours. I really liked the Bohemian feel to the novel and I found myself enjoying reading about Emerald's friends and family moreso than the actual mystery portion itself. I think the mystery portion had some opportunities, as they didn't feature the killer's character quite enough throughout the book, but the author fluffed it up with so much fun New Age stuff that I didn't care. I am looking forward to reading the remainder of the books in the series! :)



wss4 (USA: FL) (2008/02/18):
My Opinion
This was an okay read.

The idea behind the story is interesting and the main character is believable.

Emerald is a divorcee, raising two kids on her own, trying to support her family with her business which is a tea/china shop where she also does the occasional tarot card reading. She is known as the town witch, so it is no surprise when a ghost appears at the foot of her bed one night asking for help. The story takes on a bit of a mystery and I did not figure out the twist, so that is something. I had a little trouble with the added subplot of the Mr. B & U. It seemed almost like an unnecessary part of the story and it seemed to me that the author was attempting to put more of a horror twist on the story than I could read into it. (If that makes any sense) I did enjoy the interaction between the other characters, although I don't really care for Andrew much. I almost feel like he is going to be a problem. I suppose we will see in the other books in the series.

Anyway, I have the second in the series as well and will read it as well as the rest as I come across them.**Update -- I have read the second book and loved it. So don't give up on this series if this book is only so-so for you. It gets better!!