• Title:  Death on the Night of Lost Lizards
  Author: Julia Buckley
• Genre: Mystery
• Rating:  4.2 out of 5

Hana Keller and her tea-leaf reading grandmother are used to finding the perfect savory treats to pair with a delicious cuppa at her family’s tea house but when a local professor is killed, she uncovers a serving of suspects instead…

Hana Keller is getting ready for a lovely holiday season. She decides to host a tea at her apartment for her closest friends. During the cozy get-together, one of Hana’s friends gets a call that a murderer is on the loose and that the women should be careful. Hana soon learns that Sandor Balog, a professor of Hungarian Studies at the local college, has been viciously killed.

Hana gets one of her visions that she is going to be pulled into the professor’s death somehow. When Erik, her handsome detective boyfriend, finds several suspects at the Tea House, Hana knows she must now investigate. And when the wrong man is arrested, things come to a boil and Hana finds herself in the path of the real killer.

I enjoyed this read! The characters and setting—a Hungarian family-owned tea house—is unique, and I kind of want to hang out with these people. Actually, this book almost made winter and lots of snow sound appealing…which is saying something, for a lifelong southerner.

To me, the murderer wasn’t glaringly obvious, which is great, as “mysteries” where the culprit is clear are boring to read. Hana and her circle of people are fun and people I genuinely would like to spend time with. Definitely read this!

Julia Buckley lives in the Chicago area and teaches high school English. Death on the Night of Lost Lizards is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of Berkley in exchange for an honest review.)

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