I got this hardcover at a local Savers thrift shop. It's a very light "mystery", in which tea shop owners Jan and Elaine try to figure out who's behind the unusual crossword puzzle that turned up during a puzzle-maker event. Going in, I expected someone to drop dead at any moment - a typical happening even in the cheeriest of cozy-mystery series - but this one does not involve a murder. Or a crime of any kind, really. There are family moments, especially surrounding 11-year-old Avery's concerns about changing relationships with her friends, and a subplot with notes of "Cyrano de Bergerac", and a resolution that's rather sweet - though I admit that all the talk about "grand gestures" by hopeful swains made my hackles rise, as that kind of public pressure on someone to say yes (whether to a date or a wedding proposal) is patently unfair. Still, the book's a light, fluffy read, and the characters do admit the possibility that any grand romantic gesture might not have the desired effect, and that it's all up to the individuals involved. So there's that.

As far as investigative skills go, I did get one huge laugh; our heroines have been earnestly solving the puzzles and also, in another subplot, tracking down heraldic information that's associated with a found item. After much, much paging through books of heraldic symbolism, this gem of a line comes:

"Did you know there's an index of symbols at the back of this book?"

Cue head-desk moment!

I left this book in the Little Free Library on this lovely day; hope someone enjoys it!

[See other recent releases in NH here.]

*** Released for the 2018 April Showers/May Flowers release challenge. ***