High Tea and Misdemeanors

February 1, 2025
After 28 hair-raising adventures, one would expect Theodosia Browning to have developed a sense of caution. One would be wrong. The latest case for Charleston's Indigo Tea Shop owner and her tea sommelier, Drayton Conneley, is close to home. While they're catering a wedding high tea at Foxtail Flower farm for Jamie and Bettina, who's the niece of Theodosia's ditzy friend Delaine Dish, Theodosia notices maid of honor Celeste slinking toward the greenhouse housing the reception and sends Jamie after her. He arrives just in time for the greenhouse to collapse on both of them. Theodosia and Drayton work frantically to rescue the pair. Jamie is pulled out with some nasty injuries; Celeste does not survive. Theodosia calls her boyfriend, Detective Pete Riley, because she suspects that the greenhouse was tampered with, making this a case of murder. Dragging Pete along on a search for clues, she comes upon a trail camera she thinks might be helpful. The search is especially tempting to Theodosia for at least two reasons: They can't be sure who the killer's intended target was, and the family and her friends are urging her on. A skull added to Jamie's hospital lunch tray broadly suggests that he's in the killer's sights. Digging around, Theodosia unearths previous engagements for both Jamie and Bettina along with several people who hate Jamie for other reasons. Her sleuthing riles the killer, who's still active enough to put her in danger. A convoluted mystery that includes everything you always wanted to know about tea and putting on a tea party.

COPYRIGHT(2025) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

February 1, 2025
Theodosia Browning, owner of the Indigo Tea Shop, is catering a wedding reception when maid of honor Celeste decides to take a sneak peek into the reception venue, bringing the entire structure down on top of her, killing her and injuring Jamie, the groom. Not believing this was an accident, Theodosia investigates at the behest of the bride, Bettina, and her aunt and against the wishes of her police-detective boyfriend, Riley. Believing Jamie or Bettina was supposed to be the victim, Theodosia and her tea sommelier, Drayton, look into their pasts for motives. A kidnapping clarifies matters, and Theodosia risks lives to solve the murder and free the kidnapping victim. Although some readers may question her willingness to break and enter and to rush headlong into danger, the reckless, principled Theodosia, the lovingly described Charleston setting at Halloween, framed by details of tea and running a tea shop, and the plot twists all add up to a satisfying entry in the long-running series that includes recipes, teatime tips, and tea resources.

COPYRIGHT(2025) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.