The Tearoom Mysteries is a series of novels written by various authors, and published by Guideposts. There are a whopping 25 books in the series so far, the first one having come out in 2016, and the most recent one in 2018.
Susan Page Davis came up with the concept for this series, and she is the author of the 1st, 9th, 13th, 19th, and 25th books in it.
Interestingly enough, I've never read a mystery novel! Whether or not a person is of the Christian faith, I'm sure there are varying opinions about the genre, in view of certain subject matter (such as violence). Of course, one might view mysteries which are penned by believers in a more positive light than those which are not. Mysteries by believers which include a faith-related content might be viewed even more favorably.
As for the mysterious components in the Tearoom Mysteries, in reading the books' synopses, I see thievery (along with burglery, robbery, etc. etc.) is a common plot element. There's also a possible case of tea poisoning, and an incident with a horse. People going missing, possible arson, an injury, and an accusation of embezzlement also occur. A couple of the plots sound like they might not involve anyone necessarily doing anything they shouldn't (see this one and this one).
While reading a reviews of the first book in the series, I came across a really interesting one that mentioned a fiction subgenre called "cozy mysteries" or "cozies." I don't know that the idea of applying a term from the secular book market to faith-centered books completely appeals to me (though I'm not aware of the origins of that term or genre); it's possible I would prefer to define and describe non-secular works on their on terms, and in an individual way. However, I'm glad I came across this information, as a point of reference.
I wonder if there is a term for mystery stories which don't contain any sort of crime, act of violence, or misdeed--or maybe even any sort of subterfuge. I think such a subgenre would be helpful.
I'm 'tea'ckled pink that a link to these cleverly titled and cutely covered books came through my facebook feed. Perhaps the first work of mystery fiction I read should be one of them ☺.
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Some information about Guideposts...
From what I've seen, all of Guideposts' content isn't strictly Christianity-themed or Christianity-based. In reading through some online articles under their "Mysterious Ways" umbrella, I noticed some that dealt with other topics and traditions (for example, see this one and this one). I'm not sure about the content in their "Guideposts"-titled magazine (which is listed first here), as I haven't read one in recent years. I own one of the annual Daily Guideposts devotional books (from 2007); each of the entries in it is headed by a Bible verse, and short bios of the contributing authors are located at the back of the book--it short, it seems like a completely Christ-focused work to me.
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Guideposts' social media links:
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*The photo at the top of this post was sourced from the public domain.
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