IN TOO STEEP

Love and murder are in the air in a coastal Oregon town.

In the time since widowed Vivian Wainwright, owner of the Willow Pattern Tearoom, along with her assistants, Jenna Ramsey and Gracie Jackson, solved a murder but almost died for their pains, they’ve grown more interested in love, but they can’t resist a little sleuthing when beachcomber Lewis Trenton is murdered. A newspaper photograph of the interior of the late recluse's shack informs Vivian—whose English mother provided the recipes for a tearoom featuring all things British—that Lewis had a replica of Big Ben sold in her tearoom. Deciding that tracking down the friend who gave it to Lewis and may not know of his death will be a harmless occupation, she pursues the trail of the statue, which turns out to be hiding a valuable diamond. All the while, Vivian is concerned about her memory because things keep turning up in the wrong places. As her friendship with pet store owner Hal Douglass turns romantic, like Jenna’s with Det. Lt. Tony Messina, she worries that she’s not spending enough time with her dog, Felix. Once Vivian turns the diamond over to Messina, the Portland police, who are hunting for a gang of robbers, suspect that Lewis was fencing their hauls. But Vivian’s certain that he was not and sets out to prove it. Unwilling to involve Messina until she finds more proof, she once again finds herself in danger.

A charming group of sleuths spices up a middling mystery.