by Laura Childs
Part of Tea Shop Mystery, book 1
First published 2001
Theo runs her Charleston tea shop with meticulous care, crafting perfect blends for loyal customers. Her world turns upside down when a patron drinks her prized Darjeeling and collapses dead from poison. Police immediately suspect Theo, though she knows she added nothing lethal to the brew. While the actual murderer remains at large, her reputation crumbles and her business faces ruin. Suspicious neighbors spread gossip through the community. Every new face entering her shop could belong to the killer, returned to observe the destruction. Theo pours each cup with growing dread, fearing another victim might emerge. She realizes she must solve this crime herself before someone else dies and before the scandal obliterates her livelihood completely. Her investigation requires the same careful attention she brings to selecting leaves and timing steeps.
Genres: mystery, crime, contemporary, adult-fiction, cozy-mystery
Vibes: atmospheric, cozy, introspective, suspenseful, tension-filled
Tropes: amateur-detective, self-investigation, wrongly-accused
Setting: Charleston, Darjeeling
379 pages · Paperback · Farmington Hills, Michigan, U.S.A.: Thorndike Pr
Content warnings: death, murder