Laura Childs pens another delightfully tea-fueled cozy!
A suspicious death on a film set and a cast and crew of potential suspects thrust Indigo Tea Shop owner Theodosia and her tea sommelier Drayton into a new investigation.
This is one of my favorite cozy mystery series, and this 27th installment is an excellent example of why this series is bestselling and beloved. It is well-written, has a charming setting, lots of tea and food references, and wonderful characters.
The world-building in this series is fantastic. Set in Charleston, SC, each book feels like a little tour of that beautiful city with lots of history, architecture, and amazing food. Charleston is a place I love visiting, and the vibe of that city really comes through in the pages of these books. There's even a potentially haunted attic and a ghostly legend in a historic home in this one.
While this is book 27 in the series, a reader could jump in here easily. The characters are warm and relatable. I love Theodosia, Drayton, and the rest of the crew. Theo is a bright and likable FMC, and Drayton is charming and full of personality. Sleuthing along with them feels like going on an fun adventure with old friends. They are surrounded by an engaging group of secondary characters, including Haley, who is always baking the most mouth-watering treats, and Theo's adorable pup, Earl Grey.
As a tea lover, the tea parties, special events, and all the tea talk in these books are irresistible to me. The Breakfast at Tiffany's and poetry-themed tea parties in this one sounded delightful. Set against the backdrop of all the lovely tea shop activity is a dysfunctional movie set with several suspects and plenty of motives. The mystery was fast-paced, with some twists and a bit of danger. I was hooked from the start to the action-packed finish! Highly recommended to cozy mystery lovers and those who want to try a cozy!
My steep was Abundance Passionfruit Elderflower Green Tea from Plum Deluxe Tea a tea company name dropped in the book!
Thank you to Berkley Publishing for the free book!
PUBLISHER'S SYNOPSIS:
It’s Lights, Action, Murder as tea maven Theodosia Browning scrambles for clues in this latest installment of the New York Times bestselling series.
When Theodosia Browning reads the tea leaves on the set of the movie, Dark Fortunes, things go from spooky to worse. Lights are dimmed, the camera rolls, and red hot sparks fly as the film’s director is murdered in a tricky electrical accident.
Or was it an accident? Though the cast and crew are stunned beyond belief, nobody admits to seeing a thing. And when Theodosia’s friend, Delaine, becomes the prime suspect, Theodosia begins her own shadow investigation. But who among this Hollywood cast and crew had murder on their mind? The screenwriter is a self-centered pot head, the leading actress is trying to wiggle out of her contract, the brand new director seems indifferent, and nobody trusts the slippery-when-dry Hollywood agent.
Between hosting a Breakfast at Tiffany’s Tea, a Poetry Tea, and trying to launch her own chocolate line, Theodosia doggedly hunts down clues and explores the seemingly haunted Brittlebank Manor where the murder took place. And just when she’s ready to pounce, a Charleston Film Board member is also murdered, throwing everything into total disarray. But this clever killer will go to any lengths to hide his misdeeds as Theodosia soon finds out when she and her tea sommelier, Drayton, get caught up in a dangerous stakeout.
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