One Bear's Opinion -- Book Review

Tempest in a Teapot by Amanda Cooper

My housemate saw this in the bookstore and bought it as a surprise for me. She thought we would enjoy it. I guess we did. The mystery was enjoyable and I didn’t figure out whodunit until towards the end of the book. But the mystery was the only part of the book I really enjoyed. I just couldn’t connect with any of the characters. They were either bland or unlikable.

I had good hopes for the book, but it was not as much fun to read as I thought it would be. I’m glad I read it, because now I know and I know I don’t need to seek out the rest of the series, but I wish I had enjoyed the characters more.

The characters were all pretty much one-dimensional and seemed to only identify with their jobs or role in the main character’s life. It got to be a bit grating that life-long friends, even if they were only summer-time friends, were pigeonholed into roles that had nothing to do with their lives outside their jobs.

It was also a bit unbelievable that everyone in the small town, which had the ridiculous name of Gracious Grove (though everyone who lived there called it by the cutesy name GiGi) was crazy for collecting antique teapots. It was such a popular hobby that there were at least two, and possibly three, teapot collecting groups in the small town. It was also stretching reality a bit to believe that this same small town could support not only one, but three, tearooms.

As I said, the mystery was enjoyable. The book could have used a better editor. There was a sub-plot that seemed extremely complicated and convoluted. Usually in books, nothing is pointless; everything has meaning to either the book’s plot or an overarching story to carry from one episode to another in the series. I have not read any other books in the series, so I do not know if the complicated plot point had meaning for the overarching story, or was resolved, but I was a bit disappointed by it being so complicated and not having any kind of resolution.

I hesitate to recommend the book, as I really did not enjoy the characters and there is a huge annoying hole in the complicated subplot. At the same time, I don’t want to discourage anyone who wants to from reading this book. Though I guess I kind of have done just that with this review.  On the whole, the book was a tempest in a teapot.

One Bear’s Opinion: Three Cups of Tea, served from an antique teapot, with a slice of teacake

Happy Reading Everyone,
Oliver