Reviewed by Taylin
TITLE: Tea and Antipathy
SERIES: Damien Murphy Pet Sitting and Murder Investigations #1
AUTHOR: Meredith Spies
PUBLISHER: Self Published
LENGTH: 246 Pages
RELEASE DATE: June 30, 2023
BLURB:
Not everyone could say their luck started improving the day they got hit by a car, but not everyone was me. Which was good because one me is all the town of Lester Cove can handle.
Ever since, murder’s been afoot and my new friend seems to be right in the thick of things. Mrs. Witte is a sweet older lady but she cannot keep herself from getting involved with the murder mystery, and her stepson Benjamin seems to think that’s somehow my fault.
Look, I’m just a washed up child star turned accidental pet sitter and sometimes plucky sidekick. I had nothing to do with the deaths that seem to be happening at an alarming rate, deaths Mrs. Witte wants me to help solve. Dealing with Ben’s antipathy is on my list, right below cleaning up after a dead woman’s dog.
Tea and Antipathy is a cozy mystery with an MM romance woven in!
REVIEW:
Damien was in Lester Cove, a little town in Maine, to get out of the Hollywood rut and reset his acting career. Unfortunately, a murder left him with more responsibilities than he expected and some curiosity. When Ben appears, their encounters barely border on civil. Then, when Damien follows his curiosity certain leads, he finds much underlying love and ill-feeling within Lester Cove.
Tea and Antipathy is an amateur sleuth novel, which is a fun read containing many fun Hollywood extras, of which some belonged in the gossip columns, others didn’t. However, for me, there were so many side tales that it often derailed the story flow. Maybe, it was a ploy to mask the true baddie. If that was the intention then, then it worked.
The story is told in the first person, present tense, entirely from Damien’s viewpoint. Generally, chatter introduces characters, while physical descriptions and places are detailed, including some fashion tips that went over my head. These are features that some will love, while others may find it a touch too much. I didn’t mind some of the detail, but the occasional long paragraph sometimes made reading hard. One star of the show is Muffin the Cane Corso. He experiences as many, if not more, emotions than Damien. He’s a massive dog with a heart to match and a love for beefy treats.
Damien is an inquisitive soul that loves acting but isn’t sure about his direction in life. In the festival organizer, Renee Rhodes, Damien witnesses the good and bad of Hollywood – ego and all. Damien’s internal ramblings, too, give insight into his experiences, furthering the depth and background of the tale. There’s much for Damien to unravel. Along the way, he gets as much encouragement as he does warnings. All the characters, too, have personal stories, forming a web of life and death – specifically murder.
I found Tea and Antipathy a fun read, where fewer anecdotes would have made the overall tale punchier. There was drama, but I’m unsure whether their effect, other than those involving dogs, hit the intended emotional note. I imagine plenty of people loving this story, but some will find it a tad marmite.
RATING: 
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