Tea & Alchemy by Sharon Lynn Fisher

Independent woman meets mysterious recluse set in 19th-century Cornwall.

Mina and her twin brother Jack have been through a lot; they lost their parents and are trying to make ends meet on their own. While Jack works in the clay mine by day and ends his days in the pub drinking away his sorrows, Mina manages to have her own say in her daily occupation. She waits tables at a teahouse in town, the Magpie. Here she meets all the townfolk and learns all about serving tea and preparing the best baked goods, thanks to her lovely employer, Mrs. Moyle. She even learns she has a special ability to read tea leaves and is crowned tasseographer by her employer.

But her life drastically changes when she finds a body near the Treggarick estate, Roche Rock, and most definitely after meeting with its master, Harker Treggarick. He's known to be the town recluse and isn't often seen in town. No wonder rumours arise quickly after Mina discovers a body on his grounds...

Right off the bat, how gorgeous is this cover? I loved it from the moment I first saw it and I think it really catches the gothic vibe of the story and the most important elements of our two protagonists.

This book gave me Twilight vibes from the get-go right up until 70%. It's pretty obvious what Harker has to hide from the town and the mystery of the upheaval it's presented with.

The story started out pretty slow for me, and I found it hard to keep my concentration. I couldn't manage to read larger chunks of text early on in the story. I think this is because of the slower pace in the beginning, but also because of many repetitions.

Only at about 80% I started to enjoy the story more and that's also the point where Mina and Harker's relationship is starting to take on more shape. The revealing of the murderer's culprit and the revelation in all, made me like the story a bit more. Near the end, I also started to enjoy the beautiful scenery Sharon is portraying in her novel. I think this will be a great autumnal novel and will be more enjoyable to read when you can see the leaves falling from the trees while walking outside and hearing the crunch of stepping on dead leaves yourself.

One thing is for certain, I would definitely let Mina read my tea leaves!

All opinions are my own, I would like to thank NetGalley and the publisher of this book, 47North, for providing this DRC.