A Scone to Die For

Oxford Tearoom Cozy Mysteries, Book 1

By: H.Y. Hanna

Narrated by: Pearl Hewitt

Length: 6 hrs and 53 mins

Publisher's summary

"They say you have to make sacrifices to follow your dreams. I just didn't expect the sacrifices to involve an American tourist and a killer scone."

Gemma ditches her high-flying job and returns to Oxford to pursue her dream of opening a traditional English tearoom. It means giving up her savings, moving back with her parents, and coping with her bossy, matchmaking mother, but she's sure it will all be worth it. In fact, business is already booming—that is, until she opens up shop and finds an American tourist murdered by one of her signature scones! Now Gemma is apron-deep in a puzzling mystery, with her past coming back to haunt her when the handsome CID detective leading the case turns out to be her old college flame. And with the nosy "Old Biddies" from the local village meddling at every turn and her baker's cheeky cat terrorizing her kitchen, she's beginning to find herself in a real pickle....

Who was the American, and what was he really doing in Oxford? Is his death linked to a long-buried scandal at the historic university, or was he just the unlucky victim of a brawl at the village pub? What about the sultry new member of local book club—is she lying about her relationship with the murdered tourist?

The question that's really bothering Gemma, though, is how she can keep serving warm buttery scones with jam and clotted cream, and fragrant tea in pretty bone china...when her customers think her baking is more deadly than delicious! With the body count rising and her tearoom going bust, can Gemma find the killer before her dreams turn to custard?

A Scone to Die For is the delectable first book in the Oxford Tearoom Mysteries. If you like deliciously endearing characters, intriguing whodunits, and hilarious British humor—not to mention cats with big personalities!—then you'll love the first book in H.Y. Hanna's best-selling culinary cozy mystery series.

©2016 H.Y. Hanna (P)2023 H.Y. Hanna

Just okay

Many of the reviews say don’t judge this book by the cover. Well, it may be a bit smarter than the cover suggests, but it is still a very lightweight mystery and a bit more of a romance than I expected. There were some pieces that didn’t make sense...the tourists staying away due to tabloid stories, the absolutely ill tempered people no one remembers as such. This was a good distraction from a long commute, but not much more.

Beware: This is included in a compilation

It seems to be a thing for Amazon to avoid critical information for books in a series, namely the sequence number of the book in the series, or the fact it is also included in a partial compilation. Don’t end up buying the same book twice: Check carefully. Check Goodreads or some other source for sequencing.

Great narration!

Cute story with some unexpected twists and turns that kept it interesting. Pearl Hewitt offers one of the best audio performances I’ve heard in a long time.

A fun mystery

The characters were well-developed. The story line was enjoyable. Pearl Hewitt's narration was incredible. She nailed Gemma's character and it was easy to discern which character was speaking as each voice was unique. The flow was excellent. I felt like I was listening at the key hole.

Typical Serial Murder Mystery

Kind of a silly book and it follows the formula for these things a bit too closely. Nothing horrible but nothing to recommend.

Thoroughly enjoyable

What a fun story. This is the first of a fun series. Gemma leaves a job she hates in Australia, moves back to her home town, and takes a chance on pursuing her dream and opens a tea room in England. I've been to the Cotswolds area and fell in love with it. This book brought back some wonderful memories and I could picture the places I'd been to again. And of course, there's the lovely little Muesli, an employee's cat. Good mystery, murder, a love interest and a cat. What more could you want? The writing is wonderfully clear and well-written and enhances the well-thought out story. Pearl Hewitt is absolutely the perfect person to narrate. She does a marvelous job.

GREAT STORY

the story was great! the narrator was great and the story had a surprise endinh.

Surprisingly Good!

When I started listening to A SCONE TO DIE FOR I thought that maybe I had made a mistake and this listen wasn’t for me. Quite soon I realized that I was going to enjoy the book. The story was interesting and events moved smoothly. The only drawback was the narrator. She did a competent job but her voice did not fit the story. That is just my opinion. I would highly recommend this book. Very enjoyable

I love my British whodunnits

Charming, delightful, humorous and hard to stop listening. Funny, quirky and interesting characters perfectly narrated by Pearl Hewitt. Author H.Y. Hanna makes this cozy mystery a must-listen. Highly recommended. I found the box set after starting this first one and am restarting with the prequel, book 1 and 2. Since the single book was on special, the credit was well worth the box set.

Panicsville

Instead of using some common sense and realizing she may be in danger if she panics instead of playing it cool, she always panics and puts herself danger. She needs to stick to baking scones instead of involving herself in a mystery.