The Daydreamer Detective Returns A Favor

And it leads to the mystery of a long-gone runaway!

Mei can never catch a break from mysteries!

With her tea shop now open and living her dream life married to Yasahiro Suga, she's just trying to avoid bad luck and live a normal life. But when a friend shows up asking for help with an old missing person's case, Mei can't resist the pull of a mystery unsolved. She knew the young woman who went missing and had always wondered what happened to her. Now's her chance to find out, even if it turns long-time Chikata residents against her.

While Mei is working at the tea shop and helping with the case, she's also assisting her mom on the family farm. Convincing her mom to renovate the old house is not an easy task, and Mei is continually frustrated by her mom's lack of enthusiasm for the project. Until Mei's brother shows up and wants to buy the business out from under her, betraying Mei and Yasahiro in the process.

Can Mei find the missing woman and keep her reputation intact? And will she and Yasahiro repair their relationship with Mei's mom before it tears their family apart?

With her head in the clouds and a taste for solving crime, you don't want to miss Mei in The Daydreamer Detective Returns A Favor, the surprisingly rich fifth course to the Miso Cozy series.

Genre: Cozy Mystery

Series: Miso Cozy Mysteries, Book 5

Rating: PG-13

Published: January 17, 2018

Excerpt

"So what's on your mind? What do you need my help with?" I expected her answer to have to do with an elderly parent or aunt or something of that nature. If there was anything I was known for now, it was taking care of the older set, and I was proud of my achievements.

"It's complicated. Did you know I'm only about five years older than you, and that my family goes back in this town for several generations?" She dried a teacup, being careful to wipe the porcelain down thoroughly before setting it on the shelf next to the others.

"No. I didn't know that. Did we go to the same high school?"

"No. I went to high school in Kawagoe, but my best friend at the time went to your high school. Maybe you remember her? Ria Fukuda?"

I fumbled and dropped the teacup I was washing and blew out a relieved breath that it was undamaged. "Do I remember her? I think the whole town remembers her."

Ria Fukuda was Chikata's biggest mystery. Forget the deaths of Akiko's father or Etsuko or Amanda. The disappearance of Ria plagued our town for many years. One day, she had been laughing and playing with her friends at a town festival. The next morning she was gone. No note. No indication that she was unhappy and had run away. Nothing. The search went on for weeks, and her parents pleaded with town residents endlessly for help. They never gave up on her, even when all her friends had moved on to college and their adult lives.

"She was my best friend from birth. We were inseparable until senior high school when we went different ways." Akai's eyes were unfocused and distant, her memories diving back to over a decade ago. "After her mother died, I started visiting two, sometimes three, days a week with her father. He never recovered from her disappearance, always waiting at the window, looking outside, hopeful she would return."

Reader Reviews

"This was another awesome read in this unique cozy mystery set in Japan! This might be my favorite book in the series yet. The mystery was really well done, the missing person case Mei took on was very interesting and I couldn't wait to find out what had happened to her. And the twist at the end was great and totally not what I had expected." — Lola, Lola's Reviews

"I have enjoyed this series a lot as Mei develops into a more responsible and loving adult, continuing to work on her family's farm while also running her tea shop and solving another mystery. I like being able to learn about Japanese culture as well." — Donna Mitchell, Goodreads

"Ichiban! This mystery series is a true adventure. I am left hanging on the who done it and have yet to figure out the villain." — Karen Gibbons, Goodreads

"How much do I love this series? So much! Do you have certain books that just feel like curling up next to a warm fire on a winter day? That's what these books feel like for me." — Carysa Locke, Author