From the desk of Laurel Ann Nattress:
Do you enjoy cozy mysteries? Or, are you in the dark about what they are about? Here’s a quick rundown or refresher for you:
Cozy mysteries are fun, engaging, and low impact mystery novels that usually involve a woman (just think of Jessica Fletcher from the TV show, Murder She Wrote) who is an amateur sleuth. Warning: they can be addictive.
Today I am happy to recommend a new book for your TBR that fits the bill as the perfect cozy mystery, with the added bonus of having a Jane Austen twist. Cyanide and Sensibility is the third novel in Katie Oliver’s A Jane Austen Tea Society Mystery series with modern-day characters inspired by Austen’s Sense and Sensibility.
Oliver’s intrepid heroine and sleuth, Phaedra Brighton, is on the case again. This time she is in pursuit of the culprit who poisoned a dark chocolate cupcake that sends her sister Hannah’s bakery assistant to the hospital. Can Phaedra save her sister’s reputation by discovering who the intended victim really was and stop them before they strike again?
Below is additional information about this delightful Austenesque cozy mystery that you won’t want to miss.
Best, LA
BOOK DESCRIPTION
Murder is on the menu and Phaedra Brighton is called on to serve up justice in the latest Jane Austen Tea Society Mystery.
While Phaedra Brighton might not have a Mr. Darcy (yet), she’s quite content with her loving family and loyal cat. Phaedra’s sister Hannah is the Jane to her Elizabeth, and Phaedra is ecstatic that Hannah has decided to move home for her next adventure—opening a business.
All of Laurel Springs is out in full force to celebrate the grand unveiling of Hannah’s new patisserie, Tout de Sweet, including local celebrity Rachel Brandon. Hannah is a master of her craft, with confections so divine, one bite will make you think you’ve died and gone to heaven.
Of course, you never want that to happen literally.
When one of Hannah’s famous dark chocolate cupcakes sends Rachel’s assistant to the hospital with poisoning, Hannah begs for Phaedra’s help to save her reputation and budding business. But Phaedra has more questions than answers: Who was the cupcake actually meant for? And how far is the culprit willing to go to take their target off the menu—permanently?
PRAISE FOR CYANIDE AND SENSIBILITY
- “This is the first book I have read in the Jane Austen Tea Society series, but it won’t be my last…If you enjoy cozy mysteries, then this is a book you will enjoy.”— Book Looks by Lisa
- “The book is filled with great characters and a fun, twisty plot. Highly recommend.”— Cara Putnam, author of Come What May
- 5 STARS — Gwendalyn’s Books
AUTHOR BIO
Katie Oliver is known internationally as a writer of Jane Austen rom-coms with a hint of mystery.
She loves a cozy mystery… and Jane Austen novels. So she put the two together to create Professor Phaedra Brighton, an intelligent, outspoken Austen scholar who teaches nineteenth century literature at Somerset University, a small liberal arts college located in Laurel Springs, Virginia.
When Phaedra lands in the middle of a puzzling murder mystery, she enlists the help of the members of the Jane Austen Tea Society, her good friends Lucy Liang and Marisol Dubois.
Ms. Oliver resides in South Florida with her husband, her computer, and an ever-growing stack of cozy mysteries waiting to be read.
WEBSITE | INSTAGRAM | FACEBOOK | X (FORMERLY TWITTER) | BOOKBUB | GOODREADS
BOOK INFORMATION
- Cyanide and Sensibility: A Jane Austen Tea Society Mystery (Book 3), by Katie Oliver
- Berkley (December 12, 2023)
- Mass Market Paperback, eBook, & Audiobook (320) pages
- ISBN: 978-0593337653
- Genre: Amateur Sleuths, Cozy Mystery, Austenesque Fiction
AMAZON | BARNES & NOBLE | PUBLISHER | BOOKSHOP | BOOKBUB | GOODREADS
We received a review copy of the book from the publisher. Cover image, book description, and author bio courtesy of Berkley © 2023, text Laurel Ann Nattress © 2023, austenprose.com, an Amazon affiliate.
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Austenprose 
It must be nice for her students that she is an author as well as an English professor of nineteenth-century literature. The descript sounds/reads lovely. Good luck with that one.
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I’ve got the first 2 on my shelf, and will soon be adding this one – then I plan to binge read my way through this winter :) I’m a big fan of binging cozies, and this one has me so intrigued!
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