Book Review: Tea & Alchemy by Sharon Lynn Fisher

My thanks to Netgalley, 47North and Sharon Lynn Fisher for the eARC in exchange for a review of this book.

When I was in college, I had the opportunity to take a class focused on studying vampires in different short stories and books. This book opens with a quote from Polidori's The Vampyre. For those that don't know the background, Polidori was there the night of the contest, the one that gave readers Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. It's that background, a dark and dreary estate out in what feels like the middle of nowhere, that helps set the mood and location of this book. This book reminded me of those stories I studied, showing that Fisher did her research and absorbed their influences, using the familiar from those works and creating a new vampire story. Because let's face it, vampires are something that has been around in books, shows and films for ages. This book fits in with other gothic romances but at the same time stands apart, because while I found familiar vampire ideas while reading, I did not expect the changes that Fisher created that made this different from other vampire works.

This book follows Mina Penrose (yes, Mina, Fisher did that and made her vampire a man named Harker. On the nose? Obviously. But I look at it as a nod to those characters, a show of respect for the characters that have come before). The other lead is, as I said before, Harker Tregarrick, a recluse living in a chapel that overlooks the village, whose family land and history has kept rumors swirling about what kind of man would keep himself locked away from the rest of the village. After the death of her parents a few years earlier, Mina has found something for herself to do, work in a tea room while her twin brother, Jack, works in the mines like their father did. At the start of the book, Mina is starting to realize that she can see shapes in the tea leaves left behind in the cups of customers coming throughout the day. Mina can see things in the shapes, recognizing enough that when things happen to those customers of the leaves she's "read", she realizes that she can see things coming for those people before they happen. Mina reads the leaves of one patron, hinting at something bad to come, and then finds a man murdered on her way home. The body is at the edge of the Tregarrick property, which leads Harker to come down from his tower to meet Mina, and the two slowly come to work together to find out how the stories about the Tregarrick family relate to what is now happening in the village.

I really liked Mina. I liked the idea of a young woman taking steps to change her life, getting a job, learning to read, creating more for her life so that she has something to look forward to. Mina's job puts her at odds with her brother, who has been trying to get Mina to give up her job for reasons of his own. I liked the dynamic between the siblings, which made sense in terms of the period and just the way siblings quarrel over many things. Mina has a solid head on her shoulders, logical and curious, which helps her when she meets Harker and starts to work on unraveling the mystery of the story. Harker is given his own chapters to narrate, which help to build up the tragic backstory of a man forced to become a vampire and then choosing to cut himself off from society rather than risk harming anyone he meets. Fisher manages to create two distinct voices in these chapters, separating the points of view perfectly, with each working to elaborate the nuances of Mina and Harker and revealing their histories in an natural way. Nothing felt shoehorned in, nothing was forced. The reveals worked to build sympathy for the characters and created an eerie atmosphere that worked for the mystery at the center of the story.

All the secondary characters were given their chance to shine with Fisher easily making them as detailed as the leads even with the little page time they had. I wanted to wring Jack's neck and I loved the support that Mrs. Moyle gave Mina. I enjoyed their interactions and the build of the story. I liked the familiar gothic setting of the moors and an old village filled with the usual small-minded people and the people who are able to come together to help those that need it. The focus of the novel worked, building the tension needed for the mysterious assailant that Mina and Harker are trying to find. And the reveal about what exactly is working against the characters and how it relates to Harker and Mina was just so interesting. I was not expecting the reveals that Fisher gave and I appreciated how Fisher was able to hold some of the smaller threads of the story I was still wanting to understand and then provided the answers readers needed. Everything flows in the book, the slow burn between Mina and Harker adding to the easy pace of the story. The book flows, think more trickling stream versus rushing river, and it adds to the vibe of cozy murder mystery that allows readers to enjoy the reveals as they come without being rushed. It's obviously well-researched as well, always a plus in my opinion.

All in all, I really enjoyed this book. I read Fisher's debut, Ghost Planet, back when it was first published and managed to find my copy in my library a few nights ago. I also have The Ophelia Prophecy right next to it on the shelf, so obviously will be starting that book this weekend. I also have Salt & Broom on my tablet, so suffice to say, I have a good number of Fisher novels to get back to reading, and a bunch more that I'll soon discover for the first time. Thanks to this book, I've found another author that I'll be following closely from now on, and I always like it when I can find an author with enough books to add to my towering TBR stacks.

Rating on my scale: 9 Stars. I'm a selfish reader, I wish there was a little more to the story. More to delve into, more to witness with how it ends or even what is to come. Still, like I said, there are more Fisher books for me to read, so at least there's that for me.