The Postmarked Will

Before you read

1. A postmistress finds a package that went undelivered for nearly a year. What would you do with mail that was never meant for you, and when, if ever, is it right to open it?
2. Cozy mysteries often put a nosy, observant amateur at the center of a small town. What do you hope that kind of detective notices that a professional might miss?
3. Think of the people in your own town or neighborhood who know everyone's business. Are they a comfort, a nuisance, or both?
4. Many cozy readers love a clever animal sidekick. What do you expect from a cat in a mystery, and what would make you groan?

Discussion questions

Spoilers ahead. Finish the book first.

1. Tessa opens the package from Pruitt & Larkin even though she knows the rules about other people's mail. How does the book ask you to judge that choice, and did you agree with her reasons?
2. Jebediah Hughes hides his evidence behind riddles: "Look beneath the lion," then the four lines that begin "Lion guards the first truth." Did you piece any of it together before Tessa and Archibald did, and which clue felt the fairest?
3. Harlan Pike seems like a harmless, sweaty man with a bow tie for most of the book. Looking back, which small moments pointed to him, and why do you think so many readers (and Tessa) overlooked them?
4. Everett Sloan is the obvious villain, with his clean shoes and his staged chest pains in the patrol car. What does the author gain by letting him be the first answer instead of the last?
5. Harlan says Jebediah laughed at him, and Tessa decides his pride mattered as much as his greed. How does wounded pride drive other characters in the book, such as Marianne Vale and Milton Pruitt?
6. Several people are framed or nudged under suspicion: Marianne with the photograph, June Whitlock with the burned receipt. How did it feel to suspect them, and did the book play fair about who was telling the truth?
7. The second half turns to the Violet Circle, Rose Bell and Opal Griggs, and the question of who owns a family's history. What does the attic scene say about the stories towns choose to tidy away?
8. The culprit in the final scene turns out to be wearing a disguise, and Tessa notices the beard is not real. Earlier, Marianne describes the visitor as a polite man with a gray beard and round glasses, and says he was "too polite." Did that detail make you suspicious, and what does the disguise say about how people in a small town trust a courteous stranger?
9. Eula Mae's bakery, the Founders' Day festival, the town council and Mrs. Bixby's quilting display all give Cedar Springs its character. Which part of the town would you most like to visit, and what does the town do well or badly when it is under strain?
10. Archibald finds the lion's panel, knocks the mail sack into the hook and ruins a lot of dignified plans. Is he a clue-finder, a comfort or a comic relief, and what would the story lose without him?

Pairing menu

Drink

A pot of hot tea, since Tessa drinks tea while she works through the evidence at her kitchen table (and lemonade if you want the Founders' Day lawn).

Bite

A cinnamon roll or pecan twist from Eula Mae's Bakery, the treats that Nolan and Eula Mae keep pushing across Tessa's counter.

Setting

A porch swing or a cool shady spot near running water, like the mossy springhouse in the cedars, where one of Jebediah's secrets turns up.