My Five Word TL:DR Review: A gothic, haunted murder mystery

TFToRD has a lot going for it. A gothic novel, set in 1920’s Paris that revolves around a Russian tea shop that sells tea and baked goods during the day and deals with seances and readings at night.

Zina and her grandmother Baba Valya run the Samovar tea room. As the story begins things are going smoothly but Zina is a little restless and so when she’s approached by two characters seeking her abilities to try and find out what happened to their father she is drawn in by their stories and decides to help them. Against the wishes of her grandmother and her warnings about the dark arts.

So we have two different timelines. We get to take a look back at Baba Valya as a younger woman, her romance and the birth of her daughter Svetlana. Svetlana was unfortunately murdered at a young age and her daughter Zina was raised by Valya. The mystery of what took place during those earlier days is what we gradually uncover as the story progresses. In the current timeline we follow Zina as she is sucked into the mystery of the missing Duke, her mother’ and grandmothers involvement and a police investigation that has been reinstated following questions about two possible murders.

What I enjoyed about this. I really liked the tearoom and all the little mention of different teas, herbs and cakes and pastries. Russian delicacies that these women make and bake for their customers. At night Baba Valya undertakes seances – these are not real though, Valya fears attracting dark or restless spirits. This isn’t to say that Valya and Zina are actually fakes, they are both adept at readings, Zina reads auras and Valya reads coffee cups.

I really enjoyed the friends that surround Valya and Zina, even the found friends that are eventually roped into their problems trying to oust a dark spirit. Then we have a persistent police officer who turns up at the tea room consistently looking for answers. This element of the story has a little romance going on but it isn’t any sort of insta-love and it certainly doesn’t take over the rest of the story but instead serves to heighten the suspicion and mistrust. I also like Valya, she’s a wily old woman, fierce and devoted to her family and protecting their livelihood.

In terms of Zina, I didn’t dislike her but at the same time I found her a little irritating occasionally and to be fair I can’t really pin down why that is. There were occasions where I felt the dialogue she used was a little too modern and it jolted me a little. Then we also have Princess Olga and Prince Alec – both felt a little over the top somehow.

But, I think the real issue I had here was the story felt a little over long and went round in circles a bit losing me in the middle. Plus, I eventually had joined the dots and figured out what was really going on, which isn’t a problem so much but I felt the story could have been a little more punchy and that would probably had kept me in the dark for longer.

As it is, there’s a lot going for this. I really enjoyed the setting, the Russian emigre community and the fortune telling. I did feel it was a little overlong and I did have the odd little niggle here and there but I have no doubt this is going to find it’s audience.

I received a copy through Netgalley, courtesy of the publisher, for which my thanks. The above is my own opinion.

My rating 3.5 of 5 stars