The Cryptic Clue

Hazel, Betty, Irene and friends still meet for a lunch break to discuss their life as tea ladies and life in general. It is 1966 and change is in the air. There is concern among the ladies that they may soon lose their jobs as some firms are replacing tea ladies with machines to dispense hot drinks. The ladies decide to call their friends to organise some direct action to try and save their jobs. In the factory where Hazel works there is also a move for a change of leadership in the firm, making most of the staff uneasy.

Irene learns that her husband died in prison and left her a cryptic message in a book which Hazel manages to decipher. This leads to an expedition to the Blue Mountains to follow the clues.

Meanwhile Hazel has met Oscar who has come from Denmark to Australia to work on the opera house building project and they become friends. Oscar helps the tea ladies when they uncover a mystery at the local church which leads them to discover a plot threatening national security.

The Cryptic Clue is a sequel to The Tea Ladies by Amanda Hampson. It is another cosy crime novel with several mysteries to solve as well as dealing with themes of friendship, dyslexia plus changes occurring in Australia in the mid 1960s.