Live and Let Chai

Written by Bree Baker

Narrated by Thérèse Plummer

When a body turns up on the boardwalk outside Everly Swan's iced tea shop and café, she becomes the number one suspect in a murder case. Can she bag the culprit, prove her innocence, and dish up the real killer before it's too late?

Life hasn't been so sweet for Everly Swan over the past couple of years, but now she's back in her seaside hometown of Charm, North Carolina. The proud new owner of Sun, Sand, and Tea—a café right on the beach—Everly thinks that things are finally starting to look up.
Until a grouchy customer turns up dead on the boardwalk with a jar of one of her specialty teas lying right next to him! When an autopsy reports poison in his system, things don't look good for Everly or her tea shop.

As the townspeople of Charm, formerly so welcoming and homey, turn their back on Everly, she fights to dig up clues about who could have had it in for the former town councilman. With the maddeningly handsome Detective Grady Hays discouraging her from uncovering leads
and a series of anonymous attacks on Everly and her tea shop, it will take everything she's got to keep this murder mystery from boiling over.

INCLUDES DELICIOUS FOOD AND DRINK RECIPES

• Language: English
• Publisher: Recorded Books, Inc.
• Release date: Jul 10, 2018
• ISBN: 9781501992162

Bree Baker

Bree Baker is a Midwestern writer obsessed with small-town hijinks, sweet tea, and the sea. She’s been telling stories to her friends, family, and strangers for as long as she can remember, and more often than not, those stories feature a warm ocean breeze and a recipe she’s sure to ruin. Now she’s working on those fancy cooking skills and dreaming up adventures for the Seaside Café mysteries. Bree is a member of Sisters in Crime, International Thriller Writers, and the Romance Writers of America. Visit her online at breebaker.com.

Reviews for Live and Let Chai

[Angel White · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This was such a fun break in between my other reads. I love this genre so much.

[Nina · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

i needed that in between my dark fantasy reads. the narrator was excellent and the story super quirky and nice. really liked it!

[Becky Baumgartner · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A cozy seaside mystery with lots of tea, quirky small town residents, and mysteries that will keep you on your toes. The narrator did the variety of voices well.

[book58lover · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A great introductory novel to a new series. I loved the character development, particularly Everly and Grady and look forward to more between those two !

[maydacat_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Having given up culinary school for the cowboy who then dumped her, Everly is back home. She opens an iced tea shop with old family recipes and a short but tasty menu to go with them. The town welcomes her with friendly support, until a body is found with a jar of her tea nearby. The new sheriff in town does her no favors by broadcasting that connection. But after an initial rough start, there appears to be a truce, at least, if not a growing relationship between the two. The mystery is well written and intriguing, especially for a first novel in a series. The characters are real and engaging, but the author does not let their development overpower the story. Still, we get a pretty good idea of what their personalities are like. It’s a well done cozy, and I am looking forward to more installments in the series.

[fernemysteryreader · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I am so delighted that this author/series was highlighted on a favorite cozy FB group page as I might not have discovered it independently and I absolutely loved it!From the opening sentences ofWelcome to Sun, Sand, and Tea. I perked up at the precious sound of seashell wind chimes bouncing and tinkling against the front door of my new cafe. "I'll be right with you." I was captivated to the beach setting of the new cafe in Charm, North Carolina and felt as though I had been personally welcomed into the beach town setting and far, far away from the cold wintry mix that I could hear outside as the 1st nor'easter snowstorm of the season.And as if I didn't love everything about Everly's cafe, her seagull buddy, and a cat who adopts her, her best friend Amelia owns a bookstore next to Everly's aunts' shop called "Blessed Bee" and Amelia has several Little Libraries around town with 2 on the boardwalk. But it wouldn't be a cozy mystery without a murder to solve and there's a new detective that may shake up more than just evidence. I'll only give a hint to share that dimples are involved which as Everly states, "Dimples were deceiving."For all those that love to discover recipes at the end of a cozy, there are a few enticing delights. I'm looking forward to trying the "Summer Strawberry and Sweet Tea" recipe as I can easily picture myself enjoying a reading break on our porch with this treat using my own mason jar glasses that I keep in the freezer and are always ready for the next glass of iced tea. I've never been a big fan of cucumbers but after reading the recipe of Everly's "Carolina Cucumber Sandwiches" I'm ready to give them a try too.p.s. I learned that Bree Baker is a pseudonym used by Julie Anne Lindsey and that she also writes using the names Julie Chase and Jacqueline Frost. I read the 1st novel in the "Christmas Tree Farm Mystery Series" by Jacqueline Frost last Christmas and have the 2nd in queue to read this year. So delighted to know I have so many more titles to investigate as I love this author's writing. I think I'll investigate the "A Kitty Couture Mystery Series" by Julie Chase next. I'm sure our 2 yr. old feline Holly will approve as she supervises all of my reading.

[kek55 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A quick and enjoyable read blending small-town intrigue, murder, and romance, with dashes of sweet tea and quirky relatives all blended in an East coast island setting. Quite a promising series start.