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DEATH IN A BUDAPEST BUTTERFLY, the first in the new Hungarian Tea House Mystery series by Julia Buckley, is a delightful introduction to the author’s Hungarian culture. It’s packed full of mystery, folklore, and three generations of strong women who run Maggie’s Tea House. The protagonist, Hana Keller, along with her mother, Maggie, and grandmother, Juliana, are known for serving European High Tea and specialty events with a Hungarian flair. Ms. Buckley did an outstanding job capturing the essence of the Hungarian community through the use of vernacular and accents added to speech between the characters. Her introduction of Hungarian heritage via myths and legends, along with amazing food descriptions, added to the authenticity of the setting. The characters are well-developed and I enjoyed the touch of paranormal, especially with Grandma Juliana and her tea leaf readings.
When a woman is murdered with poisoned tea served from Hana’s special butterfly tea cup during one of the Tea House events, she gets involved in the investigation to help clear the Tea House’s reputation after clients start cancelling. Detective Wolf, the investigator, pulls Hana, her mother, and her grandmother into the interviews, to help translate the Hungarian spoken by the event’s attendees. These scenes add some light humor as the women help the detective understand their culture, plus it gives Hana an insider’s opportunity to sort out the clues from the witnesses. As the book progresses, so does Hana’s involvement with the detective, and a romance blossoms. Clues were liberally sprinkled throughout the plot but instead of trying to guess, I sat back and enjoyed the story as it unfolded until I’d read the very last page.
Hana’s grandmother is quite the accomplished cook and I was excited to see the author includes recipes for several of her own family’s Hungarian dishes. I was excited to try her recipe for Kiflis, or Dessert Crescents, which are basically a rich cookie dough rolled out and filled with a variety of sweet fillings. I was unfamiliar with the lekvar filling (your favorite jam can be substituted) but I managed to find some apricot lekvar on Amazon. Apricot jam is my favorite and the lekvar is even better! It tastes like eating fruit straight from the tree without being diluted with sugar, as is the case in jam. I also used some raspberry jam and blackberry jam I had on hand, and my taste testers liked that too, especially those with a sweet tooth. These cookies are a rich and flaky pastry that are delicious and elegant looking too.
Amazon Synopsis
Hana Keller serves up European-style cakes and teas in her family-owned tea house, but when a customer keels over from a poisoned cuppa, Hana and her tea-leaf reading grandmother will have to help catch a killer in the first Hungarian Tea House Mystery from Julia Buckley.
Hana Keller and her family run Maggie’s Tea House, an establishment heavily influenced by the family’s Hungarian heritage and specializing in a European-style traditional tea service. But one of the shop’s largest draws is Hana’s eccentric grandmother, Juliana, renowned for her ability to read the future in the leaves at the bottom of customers’ cups. Lately, however, her readings have become alarmingly ominous and seemingly related to old Hungarian legends…
When a guest is poisoned at a tea event, Juliana’s dire predictions appear to have come true. Things are brought to a boil when Hana’s beloved Anna Weatherley butterfly teacup becomes the center of the murder investigation as it carried the poisoned tea. The cup is claimed as evidence by a handsome police detective, and the pretty Tea House is suddenly endangered. Hana and her family must catch the killer to save their business and bring the beautiful Budapest Butterfly back home where it belongs.
A special thanks to Julia Buckley for providing one winner with a print copy of DEATH IN A BUDAPEST BUTTERFLY. Contest ends Wednesday, August 7, 2019 at 11:59 pm PST and limited to U.S. residents. Please use the Rafflecopter box located below to enter. The winner will be announced on this page and on Cinnamon & Sugar’s Facebook page, as well as notified by email (so check your spam folder!)
Adapted from a traditional Hungarian recipe.
- 6 cups flour (unsifted)
- 3 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1 pound butter
- 5 egg yolks
- 1/2 pint sour cream
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Raspberry, strawberry, or apricot lekvar; or almond paste, nut blend, or sweet cheese.
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In a large bowl (my grandmother recommends glass, for some reason), mix together the dry ingredients. Cut in the butter, then add the remaining ingredients (through the vanilla extract). Mix well, using your hands if necessary.
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Divide the dough into 2 portions, then refrigerate for 1 hour.
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Flour a board and roll out each dough portion. Cut the dough into 3-inch squares, and spoon the filling onto the center of each square. Roll straight and put on a greased or parchment-lined cookie sheet.
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Optional: After rolling kiflis, brush top with milk and dip into a mixture of ground nuts and sugar.
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Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes or until light brown. Cool and sprinkle with confectioners' sugar. Serve with coffee or tea.
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Substitute thick fruit jam for the lekvar if necessary.
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I was provided an advance copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
No, I no longer own a teacup collection or special ones.
Those Kiflis look yummy! I would love to read Julie’s book!
I don’t own any tea cups. The kiflis looks very good.
I don’t have any special teacups. Maybe I should start a small collection.
I used to have a teacup collection. Most of the teacups I received from relatives. My favorite was one from my Great Grandmother.
I collect tea cups especially ones with purple flowers.
Yes I have a few special teacups that were given to me by a special relative that were collected on her trips with her Mother as a child.
I own a special gold teacup and saucer that my mom gave me that belonged to a great, great aunt and her name was Teresa, she was who I was named after. I don’t think it is worth anything, it’s just special because it was hers and I was named after her and it was kept all these many years.
I have heard these delicious little morsels called kalachki but my mother called her’s balish.. Her recipe also used cream cheese and not baking soda. As far as having a special tea cup, I do not have any other than the ones in our china set. It’s a mug or nothing.
My Mom has a wonderful, eclectic collection of teacups, and I am trying to follow in her footsteps.
I own one that my mom gave me. It’s clear with gold trim.
My mom has a desert rose tea cups.
I have made cookies very much like these with recipes of my Swedish and Polish ancestors so will hopefully be trying out this one soon to see how it compares.
I have a decent sized English bone China tea cup collection but don’t get all of them out at once. I exchange the cups relating to the seasons so that I will use my Christmas ones at the appropriate time of year especially!
I’d love to win a copy of this book especially a hardcover which I find much easier to read and hold onto and use on my book stand.
Thank you for your great review and posting the recipe and photos too, Kim.
Cynthia
I love the cover, I don’t own any tea cups. Thanks for this amazing giveaway.
The book looks amazing, I don’t have any tea cups. Thanks.
I do! I know Marie K probably wouldn’t approve of so many, but my grandmother and I picked them out together and they still mean a lot to me. Plus, I have a place to keep them. 🙂
I don’t have any special teacups but I do have special coffee cups.
I don’t have any teacups but my sister has a collection going, so I watch for fun ones for get sometimes.
Love the Writer’s Apprentice series, this one sounds good too. Can’t wait to read.
I used to, but have given most of them to my sister who has a more delicate collection than I.
I have one that I bought as a decoration. It’s blue with gold accents.
I can’t wait to try these cookies!
Yes! I have so many! One very special one is from my mom who was passed down to her mom that she got from Poland. It is hand painted, very fine porcelain. It is a real treasure and keepsake!
I have a tea cup I got from my older sister when j was pregnant with my daughter 14 years ago. It looks like a old ceramic pot for plants, and it has a lid on it too. I love this cup??
I won a set of 6 small teacups that were my Grandmother’s . They are so pretty and dainty…I am actually afraid to use them for fear of breaking one. I would never find a replacement! Thanks for the chance!
“own” not “won”. LOL
I have both my late mother’s in law and my late mother’s tea service sets. While they’re not really unique or ornamental, I love that, despite neither woman knowing each other, both sets are very similar in design.
I have a few special teacups that I received as gifts.
No don’t own any teacups. I collect mugs. Thank you for a chance to win a print copy of Death In A Budapest Butterfly.
I have a special tea cup with lavender flowers. Thank you for the chance
I used to have a small collection, but gave them all away when I moved.
How exciting a Hungarian themed book. My grandparents were Hungarian.
The ones I own are not necessarily special, but they are pretty.
I have a few antique teacups from my mom.
I have a couple of teacups that are special because my mom picked them up for me but I don’t use them, I have them on a shelf. I love these cookies, my mom made them every Christmas and as fast as she made them they were gone. Thanks for the memory reminder.
I do have special teacup from family and friends. I’ve also bought a few! My mother-in-law called her cookies Little Hungarian Cookies
I received a set of teacups a friend purchased on her trip to China.
I don’t have a special teacup, but I have several special mugs.
no teacups at all special or otherwise
I don`t have any special tea cups. Those cookies look so good
I have one special tea cup that was gifted to me by a close friend many years ago.
I found a beautiful one at an antique shop in Vermont that has lovely yellow roses on it. Every time I look at it it reminds me of my Mom as she loved yellow roses. Thank you for this chance.
I own a decorative teacup set but not teacups to use per se.
I have several special teacups. One specific is a pattern of Forget me Nots in memory of my mother.
I have several special teacups. One specific has a pattern of Forget me Nots in memory of my mother.
I do not have a collection
Those look sooo yummy. New recipe to try!
Those look sooo yummy. New recipe to try!
I have a miniature Longaberger tea set that my younger grandkids enjoy using for tea parties, but don’t have any special teacups myself. The closest thing I have is a mug that says Rise and Shine that my then four-year-old grandson picked out for me as a Christmas gift two years ago. He was so excited about getting me “a teacup for your tea.”
No, I don’t own any special tea cups.
My family didn’t drink tea — well, not hot tea, only iced. And I think I was an adult turning 30 before I even had hot tea. Now hubby & I will drink Earl Gray tea with lemon & honey, but we drink it in mugs, coffee mugs.
Yes, I collect and love orphaned teacups.. Thanks
I have a special teacup that came with a tiny stuffed bear.
My special teacups are in the sets of china that belonged to my Grandmother and Mom. Not only are the beautiful but they have special meaning to me because of who owned them and the years of memories they hold. When I use them, I can feel them close to me as they memories seeping into my heart.
I do not own any special tea cups as I am mainly a iced tea drinker.
No special teacups but tons of coffee mugs!
I do have a teacup collection that I cherish. Some of them have been handed down through generations and others were gifts from around the world.. We call those cookies kolacky but whatever name they go by I love them❤️
No. But my grandma sure does. She’s got cups with each states flowers on them. Specially designed ones shaped like flowers with matching spoons. Etc.
No I don’t have tea cups. My mom did but not sure what happened to them.
I have one teacup. A dainty one with violets on it that reminds me of my grandmother.