It is August, and the New York state division of the International Teapot Collectors Society (ITCS) is holding its annual convention in Butterhill, New York. Rose Freemont, owner of Auntie Rose's Victorian Tea House, is attending along with her fellow teapot collectors from Gracious Grove, the Silver Spouts. Meanwhile, Rose's granddaughter, Sophie Taylor, is taking care of Rose's tea house.

Zunia Pettigrew, the president of the New York state division of ITCS, offers her opinion on the value of several members' teapots, upsetting most of them. Rose Freemont is aghast when Zunia proclaims Rose's antique teapot, a possible Buddhist holy water vessel, a fraud. A confrontation ensues between Zunia and Rose. In the meantime, Rose's old nemesis, Thelma Mae Earnshaw, is spreading lies about Rose at the convention.

Later that night, there is a storm, and an alarm goes off. People emerge from their bedrooms to find Zunia Pettigrew dead, her head bashed in, Rose's teapot lying nearby. Rose and all the convention goers become suspects in Zunia's murder. Sophie Taylor rushes from Gracious Grove to Butterhill to clear her grandmother's name.

As she investigates, Sophie discovers a tangle of affairs and lies and wonders if she will ever find the murderer and free her grandmother from suspicion.

I enjoyed this book, and it made for a quick read. I had previously read the first and third books in this series and so was familiar with Sophie, Rose, Thelma Mae Earnshaw, and Sophie's friends. This plot definitely had a tangle of lies and deceit, and I did not guess the murderer by the end of the book. This is a great cozy mystery to curl up with on a rainy day, preferably with a nice cup of hot tea! ( )

Another enjoyable visit with the teapot collectors of Gracious Grove. Rose Freemont and her good friend and employee at Auntie Rose's Victorian Tea House have traveled to Butterhill, NY to attend the annual convention of International Teapot Collectors Society. After the first days meeting Zunia Pettigrew invites members to bring up teapot and she will inspect them and give the owners an idea about their history. The first two teapots she looks, the first she calls a fake and cracked and on the second argues with the owner about the “pottery mark” on the teapot. When she gets to Rose's she claims it's not a teapot at all and certainly not old, but a cheap reproduction from China. Rose is sure that Zunia is wrong and has some inflammatory words with Zunia. In addition, Thelma Mae Ernshaw who owns a similar tea house next door to Auntie Rose's and hasn't been on speaking terms with Rose for decades spreads some vicious rumors about her and a death that occurred in Auntie Rose's a few months earlier. In the early hours of the next morning, a disturbance is heard in the hallway of The Stone and Scone, where most everyone has accommodations. When they get to the hallway by the elevators they find Zunia, dead hit on the head with Rose's teapot. Rose immediately becomes a prime suspect, But the police soon learn that most everyone had a reason to want her dead. Soon, Rose's granddaughter, Sophie, arrives to be there for Rose and to hopefully gather enough information to completely clear her grandmother.

A well told story with interesting and believable characters.

Recipes are also included in the book.

Will be watching for next book in this series. ( )

Author Amanda Cooper has brewed another winning cup of mystery with her second addition to her Teapot Collector Mystery series.

As with book one, TEMPEST IN A TEAPOT, this book was written from different POVs. It follows several of the characters through the story, allowing the reader to actually be in key scenes as opposed to “hearing” about them through other characters in the book.

While I was surprised SHADOW OF A SPOUT left Auntie Rose’s Victorian Tea House and Gracious Grove behind with this being only the second book in the series (a lot of authors may have waited until further into a series), I found it to be very enjoyable. Well done, Ms. Cooper. That being said, I do look forward to getting back to Gracious Grove.

The mystery of who killed Zuna Pettigrew (love that name), was not short on suspects, with main character Rose Freemont topping the list. I had my suspect all picked out and ended up being very wrong. I love when a book does that to me.

With SHADOW OF A SPOUT, author Copper has certainly assured there will be more books in this wonderful series. Especially with the last few paragraphs bound to leave readers steeping as they wait.

Don’t miss A Cup Of Enlightenment at the back of the book (right after a yummy Cherry Blossoms Cookie recipe). It’s a wonderful and extremely interesting explanation on types of tea and how to steep them properly, written by Karen Owen aka Karen Mom of Three who writes the blog and FB pages, A Cup Of Tea And A Cozy Mystery. I’d love to see more of these features in future books in this series. ( )