Murder in a Cornish Teashop is the first novel in a new cozy mystery series by Fliss Chester and introduces Maddie Penrose, a former chef who has relocated to Cornwall to work in her grandmother’s teashop.
Title: Murder in a Cornish Teashop
Author: Fliss Chester
Narrator: Harrie Dobby
First Published: March 11, 2026
Publisher: Bookouture Audio
Genres: mystery
Acquired: via Netgalley from the publisher
*** Thank you to the publisher, Bookouture Audio, for providing me with an advanced audiobook copy via Netgalley for review purposes. ***
Maddie Penrose is staying with her beloved grandmother, Nor, at her idyllic Cornish farm. She’s looking forward to days helping out in Nor’s little teashop and evenings wandering down the cliff path to watch the sunset. But before Maddie has even finished serving up scones on her first morning, a man bursts through the door: Nor’s neighbour Clive has found a body in the field behind the teashop…
Maddie is straight to the scene, fancying herself as a bit of an Agatha Christie. But solving this mystery is far from a piece of cake. Her list of suspects is jam-packed with locals, with some a little too close to home: the newcomer renting out one of Nor’s barns is acting suspiciously, the victim’s boyfriend has disappeared without trace, and Clive isn’t really Maddie’s cup of tea either…
But the proof is in the pudding when there’s another murder – her prime suspect is dead. And when Maddie finds a backpack belonging to the first murder victim, her diligent notetaking and quick thinking leads her to discover that the killer will act again, and soon. Maddie is horrified to discover that it looks like she is their next target…
A bold and charming new sleuth in Maddie Penrose
I found this to be a fun & charming start to a brand new mystery series that I’m looking forward to reading more of.
Maddie is a lovely & smart main character and I love her interactions with her feisty grandmother Nor, as well as the cute Detective Inspector.
Like myself, Maddie loves watching mystery shows and trying to solve the case before the TV detective does, which makes her think she can try solving a murder mystery when it falls into her backyard.
She gets long well with the police inspector (not so much his sargeant) so has an easy time getting involved in the investigation. I did find that Maddie took a few extra risks that weren’t quite necessary, but we’ll see if her enthusiasm continues this trend in future books.
I really liked Maddie’s unique way of taking notes alongside her grandmother’s recipes, & also how her thought-process of solving mysteries runs alongside the way the recipes are built. It was really unique and made the food-lover/baker in me delighted.
A fun audiobook – definitely worth a listen!
The mystery was really nice paced and was fun to listen to in audiobook format. The action never lagged and the characters were interesting.
Harrie Dobby, the narrator, was really good (it was my first time listening to a narration by her). Each character was given their own distinct voice and it was easy to distinguish each person.
Maddie is a great new character but it was her grandmother Nor, who stole the story for me. She’s feisty and spry and has the same though-process as Maddie, so I can definitely see her getting involved in future mystery-solving shenanigans.
