Product Details
Blood Orange Brewing (Tea Shop Mystery)

Blood Orange Brewing (Tea Shop Mystery)
By Laura Childs

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Social darling Delaine Dish is throwing a lavish Candlelight Concert to raise funds to restore a run-down Victorian home.

Product Description

The new mystery in the bestselling series that's growing by leaps and bounds-and serves up "just the right blend of cozy fun and clever plotting."*

Social darling Delaine Dish is throwing a lavish Candlelight Concert to raise funds to restore a run-down Victorian home-and Theodosia Browning is more than happy to help out with tea and tasty treats from the Indigo Tea Shop.

Unfortunately, the unveiling of Theo's opulent spread proves to be far from grand after retired CEO and beloved politico Duke Wilkes falls to the floor with a jagged piece of metal protruding from his neck. When the Widow Wilkes begs Theo to apply her sleuthing skills, she can't refuse. But her investigation opens up a simmering pot of shady politics and personal payback, and Theo soon finds herself in a situation stickier than any jam she's ever served.

Product Details

  • Amazon Sales Rank: #370011 in Books
  • Published on: 2006-04-04
  • Original language: English
  • Number of items: 1
  • Binding: Hardcover
  • 304 pages

Features

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
If Southern cozies are your cup of tea, you'll enjoy curling up with the seventh installment of Theodosia Browning's sleuthing adventures (after 2005's Chamomile Mourning). Theodosia, owner of Charleston's Indigo Tea Shop, is catering a fund-raiser for the local Heritage Society. The food is great, and all of Charleston's bigwigs are enjoying themselves, until a retired businessman and politico, Duke Wilkes, is murdered. Maybe Wilkes was offed by a greedy property developer who disliked Wilkes's zeal for historic preservation, or maybe an entrepreneur his venture capital firm turned down was out for revenge. Childs has a great eye for local color—the book is filled with depictions of stately historic homes and Confederate re-enactors, and the luscious descriptions of Lowcountry cuisine will make your mouth water. Several recipes and Childs's "Teatime Tips" round out this delightful read. (Apr.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

About the Author
Laura Childs is a pseudonym for an advertising guru in Minneapolis. She is also the author of the popular Scrapbooking mystery series.

Customer Reviews

Pleasant3
Blood Orange Brewing was a pleasant comfortable outing with Theodosia and friends. Although the murder occurred at the very beginning of the book, the sleuthing seemed to fall flat. I did not find the solution very satisfying. It seemed to be randomly selected because it was time to end the book. I missed the explanation of the why behind the plot development concerning Earl Grey even after rereading the end of the book looking for the answer. I found that loose end troublesome. I did enjoy the interactions between Theodosia, Drayton and Haley. And as usual, the descriptions of the food and teas were mouth-watering as well as the included recipes. The tea shop mysteries are still engaging and a recommended read however I would not consider this its best outing.

Disappointing3
This book seems to miss the mark in an otherwise enjoyable series. While the descriptions of the teas and food are good, the mystery falls short. Throughout the whole story, Theo moans that she's having trouble finding clues and solving the murder; then suddenly at the end it comes to her and she goes racing off to find the proof. There is never any mention as to how the murder was done in that house during a concert with numerous people or how the secret rooms played into it. It was not a satisfying conclusion at all. The characters seem to be acting as they normally do, and Haley's manic character has been toned down at last, although she has some expressions that don't really ring true: "Pop a chill pill, Drayton!" Who talks like that? In general, the characters are likable, but they're not enough to carry this poorly planned mystery.

Good, but not the best of series4
This was a solid addition to Childs' tea series, but not the best. The plot was somewhat slow and almost plodding at times. While I don't mind slow, this just didn't have the punch of some of the earlier books. We lost Theodosia's romantic interest in the last book and this one seems to be unsure where to go with that. I really thought she might develop something with the detective, but this book seemed to leaning towards Parker...not though with any major changes. I think some additional story on Drayton and Haley would be a nice addition to future books...Haley is working on a recipe book in this book and that adds to her character somewhat, but should continue to build. This book is more of a stagnation in the series than a continuation on the ladder. Definitely something to read if you have read the rest of the series, but not a good place to start if you are just joining the series.