I enjoy reading several genres, and Tempest in the Tea Room offers a buffet in one book. This well-written historical mystery opens a window into the daily life of the Jewish community of 1811 London. Author Libi Astaire pens her story from a narrator's point of view reminiscent of classics like The Great Gatsby and uses period language that transports the reader back to London at the start of the Regency Era.
The cast of characters in this first book of the Jewish Regency Mystery series spans several scenarios from an orphanage to a wealthy widow's home, the synagogue, several Jewish families, an old-clothes man and a newly arrived doctor and his unmarried sister, and more. The star of the story is a wealthy-widower-turned-sleuth, Ezra Melamed, who tasks himself with figuring out who is poisoning people in the Jewish community and how they are doing it.
This book is a page-turner. One of those books you read instead of doing what needs to be done. I recommend it to people who enjoy cozy mysteries, historical fiction, or Jewish literature.
I give this book five stars because there is nothing I didn't like about it. The story is entertaining and well written. Astaire drops little breadcrumbs to build the mystery. At first, you don't recognize them as such. Then when people start to fall sick, those breadcrumbs come into question. Could it be this? It is an easy read that engages the reader.
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