Hana Keller is enjoying a day off from serving up tea and delicious pastries at her family’s Hungarian Tea House when her downtime turns deadly…. The only thing Hana loves more than a good cuppa is finding a delicate porcelain treasure to add to her collection. She’s usually on the hunt for teacups but when she spots a rare wolf figurine at a local yard sale, she knows it’s her lucky day. … her lucky day. Hana also knows the wolf is valuable and tells the seller that he’s charging too little for it. His reaction is peculiar–he says he received the wolf from someone he doesn’t trust and he just wants it out of his life.
Hana is inspecting her new prize when she finds a tiny microchip attached to the bottom of the porcelain wolf. When she shows the figure to her police detective boyfriend, Erik, Hana is shocked to learn that the chip is actually a tracking device. They decide to confront the seller about the sneaky sale but when they arrive at his house, they find him dead. Erik and Hana now must hunt a calculating killer who has no intentions of crying wolf when it comes to murder…
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4.5 stars
Hana Keller and her family run Maggie’s Tea House, an establishment heavily influenced by the family’s Hungarian heritage and specializing in European-style traditional tea service. The women in Hana’s family all have psychic abilities and can sense things about people and the future. In this second installment in Julia Buckley’s A Hungarian Tea House Mystery series, Hana is enjoying a rare day off work. She goes to a yard sale and finds a couple of treasures, including a rare wolf figurine and two paintings. When she gets home, her detective boyfriend, Erik, finds a tracker on the figurine and goes to confront the man in charge of the yard sale. But when they arrive at his house, they find him dead. Erik and Hana are determined to solve the case, especially when it becomes apparent that Hana is the killer’s next target.
A fantastic addition to this enchanting series by Julia Buckley. The writing style flowed so effortlessly that I finished the story in 24 hours, which doesn’t happen very often. I really loved the setting – it had an almost atmospheric feel to it. The Hungarian traditions, food, and folklore added a unique layer to the story. The characters are developing nicely. We learn more about Hana’s psychic abilities and family history. The introduction of Erik’s sisters added plenty of entertainment to the story. It was fun seeing Hana bond with them, and I hope they will continue to make appearances in the upcoming books. The mystery was well done and kept me engaged. There were enough suspects, clues, and action to keep readers on their toes.
Overall, this is a charming paranormal cozy, with strong female characters, heartwarming family relationship, and mouthwatering descriptions of food. Julia Buckley is one of my favorite cozy mystery authors and I highly recommend any of books.
Thank you to Edelweiss and Berkley Publishing Group for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
I really enjoyed Death in a Budapest Butterfly, so when I saw book two in An Hungarian Tea House Mystery, Death of a Wandering Wolf by Julia Buckley was coming out, I knew I wanted to read it. And book two was just as good as the first one, which often isn’t the case in cozy mystery series.
Buckley continues with her excellent character development. We get to know more about Hana and her family, along with their psychic abilities and we get to meet some new characters, including Det. Wolf’s sisters, whom I hope to see in future books. And talking about psychic abilities, Hana is starting to explore hers more, which I absolutely love.
And I adore that Det. Wolf continues to believe in Hana’s powers and share information with her in regards to the case. So many cozies have the police presence or even the heroine’s family and friends discourage her from investigating, so when I find a cozy mystery series that encourages the main character, I get very happy.
In this book, as in the first book, we learn a bit about Hungarian folktales and a lot about Hungarian cooking. Death of a Wandering Wolf inspired me to look up a recipe for a Hungarian casserole that turned out delicious and helped to encourage me to try more of the recipes at the end of the book.
As for the mystery itself, there were lots of suspects and at no point was I absolutely certain who might be the killer. Another fantastic book in An Hungarian Tea House Mystery series and one that I highly recommend.
Read 2.15.2021
These books have a great narrator!!!
Fantastic book that drew me in from the very beginning! I love the bond between Hana, her mother, and her grandmother. It is something special that I wish I could share with my mother and grandmother. I also love learning about Hungary and Hungarian folklore. In this book, Hana attends a garage sale and finds a valuable collector’s item and artwork by the man holding the sale. The man turns out to be a famous Hungarian artist. Hana and her boyfriend, Detective Erik Wolfe, find a tracking device on the wolf and head back to the garage sale only to find the artist dead. Hana gets involved investigating, though it quickly turns dangerous for her. We get to meet Erik’s sisters in this book, which was fun, and they become Hana’s bodyguards for a time. This was an intriguing and well-written story that kept me wanting to read more to find out what happened. It was interesting to watch Hana try to come to terms with her psychic ability as well. I am so glad I discovered this series and can’t wait to read more! I highly recommend this series!!
I had not read book 1 but had no problem following the story in book 2 (but I will go back and read 1). I was totally hooked and couldn’t put it down. Great characters. Hana is smart and has no problem getting help when she needs it. Erik’s sisters are totally amazing. Loved all the stories about the paintings and history of the families. Great mystery that kept me guessing with its many suspects. A really charming book.
This is second in the Hungarian Tea House Mystery series and is even better than the first! The author is adept at presenting strong, believable characters who are engaging and likable, and defined well through their conversations and actions. She has also plotted and finely executed this mystery, and I enjoyed it from the first page. Most of it takes place in Riverwood, just outside of Chicago, with real action taking place in Chicago.
Three generations of women are involved in Maggie’s Tea House. Hana, her mother Magda, and grandmother Juliana love being in this Hungarian tea house and serving family gatherings and groups of all sizes, including many organizations in the Hungarian community. All three women have the gift of second sight passed down from great-grandma Natalia, Magda and Hana are coming to terms with their inclusion. Hana is still surprised at some of the feelings and lights she experiences when paying attention to her inner eye.
This includes her recent feelings when meeting William Kodaly, a painter who had an estate sale in his home. Unbeknownst to her when she went there, Kodaly is a highly sought-after Hungarian artist, who, like her grandmother, immigrated from Hungary. Hana, a collector of things that get her attention, including various tea settings and Hungarian figurines, found a unique wolf statue at his estate sale that was very underpriced. He was happy with the price he set as it he simply wanted to get rid of it. She also purchased a couple of his paintings, one that was done in Hungary. He has heard of her family and the tea house and wants to have coffee with her sometime.
Erik, Hana’s boyfriend, a detective, saw a tracking device on the wolf, and wanted to go back to find out more about the man. An hour later, when she and Erik arrive, Kodaly was dead, murdered. Hana may have been the last person to talk with him. Days later, an attempt is made on Hana’s life, and Erik prepares to keep her under guard of family members when he has to be at work.
Hana was instrumental in finding the killer of a woman in their tea house a couple months ago, which is when she met Erik. Her instincts and the way she processes clues is valuable, even though Erik wants to protect her and keep her out of the line of fire. Hana can’t help but begin to ask questions regarding Kodaly. He dated several women in the Hungarian community, a love ‘em and leave ‘em kind of guy. Those women remained friends with him afterwards, even those who were married at the time.
One of the delightful surprises in this novel is meeting Runa and Thyra, Erik’s twin sisters. I love the two of them – won’t say more than that – and hope to see much more of them in the future! Another surprise is the family history that Henrik Sipos, another immigrant from Hungary reveals, another friend I hope to see more of.
There are twists and turns throughout that enhance the novel. The Hungarian fairy tale also adds to the story. This mystery is fast-paced and thought-provoking. My sleuth cap did not work at all this time – the whodunit was not even on my suspect list! The end is full of surprises, and I am already looking forward to the next one. I highly recommend this to those who enjoy well-crafted cozy mysteries, tea houses, art and collectibles, Hungarian culture and foods, and characters that are like family.
From a thankful heart: I received a complimentary copy of this novel, and this is my honest review.
This is a series I hope has a very long run. Hana, her mother and her grandmother are wonderful characters and together they run Maggie’s Tea Room. With their strong Hungarian roots, the tea room is steeped in Hungarian traditions, food and folklore. Hana’s mother and grandmother have psychic abilities and now Hana is starting to be aware that she, too, may have some of those abilities. On her day off, she and Katie visit a yard sale. due to bad weather, the sale is being held in the homeowners basement. There are lots of great finds and Katie is the first to find treasure. Not only a great sweater that would look great on Hana’s boyfriend, Erik Wolf but the big score is a rare wolf figurine worth at least $500. When Hana sees it she knows she must have it but can’t afford it. That is until she sees the price tag – a mere $5! Being a very honest person, she approaches the owner to let him know that it’s worth so much more. He says it’s only worth $5 to him, regardless. The other draw in the basement sale is a large grouping of paintings, very good ones and it turns out that the owner is the artist. Hana is strongly drawn to them and wonders if that draw has a connection to her growing abilities. Not able to stay any longer, she leaves with the sweater, the figurine and a couple of the painting but will return with Erik. When they do, it’s to find that the owner has been murdered. Will Hana find herself on the killer’s hit list?
The mystery was very well done, complex and full of twists and red herrings. It’s refreshing to see the relationship between Hana and Erik when it comes to the investigating. Erik may be a police detective but he isn’t one to dismiss Hana’s intuitions. The Hungarian background is wonderful and I’m sure that I would be a regular visitor to Maggie’s Tea Room just to soak up the atmosphere. As an added plus, we are introduced to two new characters – Erik’s sisters, Runa and Thyra. I was so drawn into the story that I finished it in record time and I’m holding a spot on my TBR list for the next in the series.
My thanks to the publisher Berkley and to Edelweiss for giving me an advance copy in exchange for my honest review.
Death Of A Wondering Wolf is the second book in the A Hungarian Tea House Mystery series.
Hanna Keller is enjoying a rare day off from her family’s tea house. She decides to stop at a yard sale to see if she might find any teacups to add to her collection. Instead, she finds, is what she believes, a rare figurine of a wolf. She explains this to the owner, William Kodaly, and offering to pay more for it. He refuses her offer, saying that he just wants to get rid of it and that he doesn’t trust the person who gave it to him. She also purchases a couple of beautiful oil paintings that he had painted. She then heads to meet her police detective boyfriend, Erik, for breakfast. She shows him the figurine and as he is looking it over, he shows Hanna that there is a tracking chip on the bottom. They immediately leave to return to the house to learn why it has the chip on it. But when they arrive they see a woman coming out of the house screaming and they will soon find the man has been murdered.
As Hana is starting to learn more about Kodaly she meets Henrik Sipos. Not only did Hana learn about Kodaly’s time in her little community, but also when Sipos knew him in Hungary. As a side story, Hana learns that as a very young child had gone missing, Hana’s grandmother and great grandmother, using there psychic abilities to find the missing Sipos. Hana has been trying to get Erik to share more about his family. She is surprised when she stops by his apartment to drop off a note and some of his favorite Hungarian food and as she is about to leave, a set of beautiful twins come out of his bedroom. Hana is of course speechless and the twins take the opportunity to introduce themselves and turn out to be Erik’s sisters.
The book is well-written and reads at a good pace. A great addition to this exciting new series. I’m looking forward to learning more about the twins and Erik’s family.
A delicious-sounding recipe is also included in the book.
I will be watching for the next book in this interesting series.
This is the second book in the series. Very well written mystery with great storyline. Hannah finds a specialized teacup at a sale, buys it after talking to the seller and later discovers a tracking chip on the cup. With the help of her detective boyfriend Erik they must solve a murder and the mystery of the cup. Plenty of action and fun hope there will be more books with these characters