Thursday, March 25, 2010

THE TEABERRY STRANGLER by Laura Childs (Berkley)


A back alley crawl, charming shops, flickering candles, wind and rain set a delightful background for an unfortunate murder. The owner of The Antiquarian Map Shop is found dead in the alley with historic maps found shredded on her shop floor. Theodosia saw the struggle in the distance and found the body of her friend. Suspects include the boyfriend, the assistant in the shop, someone who wanted the shop or maybe it had something to do with the maps. AlthoughTheodosia is running the busy and successful Indigo Tea Shop she is encouraged by others to investigate the murder in her spare time. She can’t help but ask questions which always gets her in trouble. First strange bones turn up in her backyard then her Jeep is run off the road by some nut case. There were a couple of interesting arrests and then in the lights of the flickering candles on the patio of the Heritage Society the murderer is revealed.

The Teaberry Strangler is a fun mystery, the eleventh in the series. All our favorite characters are back, with Dayton blending wonderful teas, Haley baking delicious treats, Detective Tidwell being his grumpy self, Delaine being impossible, and Earl Gray being loveable. The totally charming Indigo Tea Shop is busy as ever with amazing teas and delicious treats coming out of an impossibly small kitchen. As in Laura Child’s other Tea Shop Murder Mysteries there are rather impossible and dangerous adventures with elegant Charleston in the background.

Pour yourself a cup of tea and enjoy The Teaberry Strangler. Perhaps you would like to try some of the recipes, tea time hints and tea crafting ideas found in the back of the book. Doesn’t Frogmore stew sound intriguing? Or having a special tea or even making your own flavored tea? Scones and Bones is the next in this delightful series.

Reviewed by Jane DeWitt
FTC full disclosure - book provided by the publisher

1 comment:

karen said...

Reading Laura Childs tea series is like taking a vacation to Charleston. Thanks for the recommendation.