By Golly, Ollie!

Recently, my local library curated a collection of books for a cozy mystery display. Among the books was Welcome to Murder Week by Karen Dukess. I immediately plucked it from the shelf to borrow, barely scanning the inside flap for the summary. It wouldn’t have mattered anyway. How do I resist a title like that?

In Welcome to Murder Week, Cath Little’s stable and reliable life is disrupted by the death of her flighty and mostly absent mother, who apparently had been planning a mother-daughter vacation to a quaint English village that was putting on a town-wide cozy murder mystery simulation. Everything about this trip was the opposite of what her mother liked, which was tropical climates, woo-woo hippie vibes, and handsome men that she would drop everything in her life for (including her own daughter). Cath would rather stay home to work her job at the optometrist’s office and cook batches of lentil soup for her elderly neighbor. Eventually, curiosity wins, and Cath finds herself in Willowthorpe, a picturesque village in England’s Peaks District. There, she meets a cast of memorable characters who help her solve not just Willowthorpe’s fictional Murder of the Week but the mystery of her mother’s attachment to this little village.

I thought the premise of the book was genuinely clever. It was among a collection of cozy mysteries, but Murder of the Week was actually just contemporary fiction. It was a grief journey where the fake cozy mystery becomes the tool Cath needs to piece together the true story of her mother. It’s a mystery inside a fake mystery, and Dukess weaves the two together masterfully.

I also adored the characters– both the actors and the real side characters, who seem more interested in helping Cath solve her personal mystery. Cath’s main companions are Amity, a romance writer who is trying to process her recent divorce. She’s full of life and still believes in love despite being hurt, yet she’s struggling to write her next book. And then there is Wyatt, who doesn’t understand why he’s there, just that his husband booked the trip for him…solo. Dukess gave these two their own character growth arc, so I found myself invested in them as much as I was invested in Cath. And of course, I cannot forget Dev, an artisanal gin maker, who unexpectedly sweeps Cath of her feet.

Welcome to Murder Week was a delightful read. It was full of plucky and often humorous characters, fast-paced plotting, twists and turns, and a swoony romance. But, Cath’s grief and emotional journey still carry the emotional weight it deserves too. This book is curl-up-under-a-blanket-on-a-rainy-Saturday-morning-with-a-cup-of-tea cozy. Speaking of which…

Teas to Sip While Reading Welcome to Murder Week

English Breakfast Tea

Look, you had to expect this one, right? English Breakfast is a quintessential English tea for Willowthorpe, a quintessential English village with cozy store fronts, cottage gardens, deep community that gathers in pubs (and plans village-wide murder mystery simulations), and a sprawling, hilly countryside spotted with manor houses. (I guess I shouldn’t assume this is “quintessential”. This is just how English villages are portrayed over here in the U.S. Basically, it’s the kind of village you might find in an episode of Rosemary and Thyme.) English Breakfast is often a blend of Assam, Ceylon, and Kenyan Black Tea. It’s a full-bodied, malty tea that stands up to milk and sugar. It’s one of my favorite ways to start the day!

Reading Nook Blend from Plum Deluxe

Books and stories are very much at the center of this novel. From Amity’s romance novels to the bedtime stories Cath grew up with to references to Agatha Christie mysteries. Which is why the Reading Nook Tea Blend from Plum Deluxe (REVIEW) is perfect. It’s a black tea blended with rose petals, lavender, chamomile, and vanilla essence.

Coffee for Cath’s American Senses

Will Cath ever develop a taste for tea? I’d like to think eventually she does, but until then I recommend pairing this book with your favorite coffee that you can prepare easily at home. Cath is pragmatic, so percolated coffee (or even French Press) feels appropriate here.

Robot’s Garden from Friday Afternoon Tea

I assume everyone in England has a green thumb and grows gardens, and love-interest Dev reinforces this stereotype. (I am of course, kidding). Nevertheless, it does seem quintessentially English, but more importantly, I think gardening becomes a symbol of Cath’s rootedness later in the novel. For this, I recommend Robot’s Garden from Friday Afternoon Tea. It’s a super earthy blend of green tea and pu’erh (the latter often tasting like autumn leaves on the forest floor, which is not as unappealing as that description sounds, I promise) with deep pink rose petals, golden marigold petals, and fragrant jasmine flowers.

What kind of tea would you sip while reading a (simulated) cozy mystery set in a quaint, English village?