A Treacherous Tale is the second in a charming new cozy series from Elizabeth Penney, set in an English bookshop and following Molly Kimball, who has a habit of bookmarking trouble...

“A cozy mystery that will delight your booklover’s heart and satisfy your hunger for intrigue—and crumpets!” —Paige Shelton, New York Times bestselling author of the Scottish Bookshop series on Chapter and Curse

Lately, Molly has been feeling that she might have fallen into a fairy tale: she's reinvigorated the family bookshop Thomas Marlowe—Manuscripts and Folios, made friends in her new home of Cambridge, England, and is even developing a bit of a romance with the handsome Kieran—a bike shop owner with a somewhat intimidating family pedigree.

Having recently discovered The Strawberry Girls, a classic children's tale, Molly is thrilled to learn the author, Iona York, lives nearby. But while visiting the famous author at her lovely cottage in nearby Hazelhurst, an old acquaintance of Iona's tumbles off her roof to his death.

Then, when one of Iona’s daughters—an inspiration for the original Strawberry Girls—goes missing, Molly begins to worry this story might be more Brothers Grimm than happily-ever-after. Especially after Molly learns about the mysterious long-ago death of Iona’s husband and co-author of The Strawberry Girls…could past and present crimes be linked? Molly must put the clues together before someone turns this sweet tale sour.

Molly and her mother moved to Cambridge from Vermont after the death of her father. Joining her great-aunt in running the family’s bookstore - a family business for over 500 years - she is happy with her new life, new friends, her hunky, aristocratic boyfriend, and an adorable cat but she could do without the murders. When she and her mother go to visit author Iona York to discuss her upcoming reading they never expected that the tour of the property - the inspiration for the setting of Iona’s book - would lead to the discover of a dead man. Then one of Iona’s daughters goes missing and Molly begins to suspect that current events may be linked to Iona’s husband’s death twenty years earlier.

These are delightful mysteries. The setting of the historic bookstore and the city of Cambridge are wonderful. The characters are fun and showing growth even after two books. I look forward to many more entries in this series. Recommended ~~ Stephanie L Bannon

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