Full disclosure. I did the cover reveal for Amita Murray’s Arya Winters and the Tiramisu of Death. I’ve known about the book since Agora Press/Polis Books was negotiating for the American rights to it. It was described to me as a macabre cozy, and even the description says Arya Winters is a typical cozy heroine, living in a cottage in a small English village, Trucklewood, while baking for a living. While Arya Winters is a fascinating character, this is definitely not a cozy mystery, and most cozy readers would object to the sex, the talk of sex, the display of the naked corpses, and the naked people in the woods. However, if you’re a fan of The Addams Family, you’ll probably enjoy the book. Arya Winters is a train wreck waiting to happen. Well, she really is happening.

Arya Winters appears to suffer from some sort of social anxiety disorder, and she has since she was a child. Many people don’t like her blunt honesty. She says exactly what she’s thinking. When she sees a curvaceous woman in yellow, she calls “yellow marshmallow”. That’s actually one of her nicer comments. Arya’s father just couldn’t handle her behavior, so he and her mother left her with her Auntie Meera, a pagan herbalist, when Arya was eight. Now, she’s twenty-seven and bakes macabre pastries for a living. Her biggest regret is that she had a fight with Auntie Meera before her aunt was murdered, left naked and splayed on her kitchen floor.

Arya is upset about her aunt’s death. She’s also not happy that her boyfriend, Craig, broke up with her before she could break up with him. So, she’s been spying on him with binoculars. In fact, when his Uncle Tobias is killed, Arya is sitting in the bushes watching Craig, so she knows he’s not guilty. She just can’t tell the police why she knows that. Arya always liked Tobias, and she even left him the tiramisu that turned out to be the cake that poisoned him. She convinces herself she can find clues if she crosses the yellow crime tape and goes through his house. She not only finds a connection to her aunt’s murder, she claims Tobias’ standoffish cat, The Marquis.

In the course of the mystery, Arya, who hates all connections to people, puts herself out there in order to try to solve the murders of Auntie Meera and Uncle Tobias. As narrator, Arya reveals how uncomfortable she is talking with others while trying to control her anxiety. She’s drawn to a new neighbor, writer Branwell Beam, but she has a hard time connecting except for sex, and he continually brushes away her offers. A former school friend, Tallulah, shows up in Trucklewood as a teacher, but Arya can only see the terrible ending to their former friendship.

As Arya bakes, runs through the woods to escape her own anxieties, and confronts the other villagers, she slowly puts her thoughts together, her realization as to why people have died. No, Arya isn’t a likable amateur sleuth. But, she’s a fascinating one.

No, I really don’t see Arya Winters and the Tiramisu of Death as a cozy mystery. Instead, it’s a mash-up of all the outrageous behavior watchers grew to expect from The Addams Family. Meet Arya Winters whose comments can be contemptible at times. She’s an intriguing narrator. If Arya wasn’t the narrator, this book wouldn’t be anywhere near as interesting as it is.

Amita Murray’s website is http://www.amitamurray.com/

Arya Winters and the Tiramisu of Death by Amita Murray. Agora Press, 2021. ISBN 9781951709471 (paperback), 296p.

FTC Full Disclosure – I received a .PDF to review for a journal.