Peach Tea Smash

A Tea Shop Mystery #28

By Laura Childs 

ISBN: 9780593201022 

Website: laurachilds.com

Brought to you by OBS reviewer Andra                   

Summary:

Murder at an Alice in Wonderland–themed event threatens to send Theodosia Browning through the looking glass in the latest entry in this New York Times bestselling series. During the Mad Hatter Masquerade, a fundraiser hosted by the Friends of the Opera on the grounds of the old Pendleton Grist Mill, Harlan Sadler, husband of Cricket Sadler, the chairwoman, is killed. He’s been hit in the head with a croquet mallet, and his body hung on the chains and paddles of the grist mill. Nobody can figure out why since Harlan was much beloved by everyone. It’s only after Cricket and Delaine beg Theodosia to investigate that she realizes the killer might have mistaken Harlan for his crazy son, Duke. After all, Duke is a slum landlord and recently injured a woman in a boating accident. (Goodreads)

Review:

Peach Tea Smash by Laura Childs is book number twenty-eight in the “A Tea Shop Mystery” series. It is also the first book by this author that I have read. I found this book intriguing enough and I did continue reading the book, but I am wondering if I would have enjoyed the story if I were more invested in the residents of Charleston and those involved with the tea shop.

The story starts out pretty fun filled as a vast majority of who’s who in town is at the Mad Hatter Masquerade Ball. The reader is introduced to various town’s folks and all is going swimmingly for Theodosia… well… until she sees the body of Harlan Sadler, the spouse of the chairperson (Cricket Sadler) for the Mad Hatter Masquerade Ball. And so it starts – Theodosia trying to deduce who the murderer is before anyone else gets hurt.

I found Theodosia a bit scattered in her sleuthing, it seemed that she just fell into some good intel and went with it. A bit more deductive reasoning would have enhanced this read, in my opinion. However, being this is my introduction to Theodosia and her amateur sleuthing ways, this may just be the way she is.

I was impressed with the fact that Theodosia “was used to staging exciting events. A Firefly Tea at an old plantation, a Murder Mystery Tea in a haunted house…even a Honeybee Tea in Petigru Park.” But the Opera Society’s masquerade party at the old Pendleton Grist Mill near the City Marina seems to be the most unusual location.  I also quite enjoyed reading about the themed teas held at the Indigo Tea Shop. With the shop being decorated and the different teas and meals to go with it sounds like so much fun. And being in a household of tea lovers, this definitely appealed to me.

In the end, while there were sufficient “potential” suspects, Theodosia did eventually come up with the murderer – and I was surprised at “whodunit” and isn’t that what reading a cozy mystery is all about – not figuring out “whodunit” until the end. So, mission accomplished 🙂

If you enjoy cozy mysteries, tea and a decent read…I suggest picking up the latest addition to the Tea Shop Mystery series by Laura Childs. Though be warned, it might be best to start the series from the beginning to get a sense of what Theodosia is all about!