The last couple of weeks, I’ve been sharing with you my reviews of Katie Oliver’s Jane Austen Tea Society mysteries. Well, next week, on December 12th 2023, the third novel in the series, Cyanide and Sensibility will be on shelves, and I’m really excited to post my review of this great addition to the series in advance of its publication!

I am really grateful to Berkley and Austenprose for including me in the blog tour of Oliver’s new series and sending me the books to enjoy!

A new instalment

We are back in the town of Laurel Springs, Virginia, where Jane Austen professor Phaedra Brighton’s sister Hannah is opening her patisserie, Tout de Sweet. Everything is going swimmingly, with a brilliant turn out for the opening day, including local lifestyle and homemaking celebrity Rachel Brandon, who is thinking about featuring Tout de Sweet in her magazine.

Treats are flying off the shelves until Rachel’s assistant Anna tries a dark chocolate cupcake and immediately collapses. Anna later passes away, and it is revealed that the icing has been laced with cyanide.

As Tout de Sweet enters uproar, details of the poisoning become even murkier: because the cupcake was the last one of that flavour, and, before a fire alarm went off in the patisserie and the party had to evacuate, it was sitting on a plate in front of Phaedra and her father Malcolm.

Getting close to home

What ensues is an investigation in which not only is the murderer a mystery, but the intended victim too. Was the cake intended for Anna, or indeed for Rachel Brandon? Or were Phaedra and Malcolm the targets of the poisoning?

Phaedra and her friends Lucy and Marisol quickly derail their Jane Austen Tea Society meetings – meant to be a book club, often an amateur sleuthing club – to try and clear Hannah’s name and restore the reputation of her new business venture.

But Marisol is soon distracted by a new business owner in town: Michael Farrar, a suave gallery owner and art restorer who takes on a project of cleaning Phaedra’s parents’ prized painting.

Secrets swirl, and family histories start to become intertwined as the cyanide case does not seem to get any clearer and Phaedra takes – as usual – investigating into her own hands.

A wild ride

Yet again, I found myself unable to choose the correct suspect (although, of course, once I’d reached the end, I wondered how I couldn’t have seen it! I won’t be giving up my day job!) and completely gripped through the twists and turns of the story. I loved to hate Rachel Brandon in particular, who was so well-written as a thoroughly dislikeable character that I actually relished her popping up in the story.

I also really liked that Lucy and Marisol had more of a role to play in this instalment of the series. They are a fun mix of personalities with Phaedra’s character, and I loved seeing Phaedra start to subtly matchmake Marisol – like a true romantic heroine! Their cosy get togethers with wine, tea and gossip are like any good group of friends, and it just jumps off the page.

I am very much a huge fan of Mark Selden, and the slow burn between him and Phaedra has been so great, and definitely does not disappoint in this book.

Now, please can we have a fourth instalment, for more mysteries and more Mark and Phaedra please?

Thank you to Berkley and Austenprose for gifting me a copy of Katie Oliver’s book in exchange for review.

You can find Cyanide and Sensibility on Amazon here.