Murder in the Tea Leaves by Laura Childs

Available: March 5, 2024

Rating: 5 scones

The Indigo Tea Shop has been asked to do craft services at a movie set. Tensions are high among the people working there but never so high as when the director sits in a chair and is electrocuted. Who gave him the chair? Unfortunately the set lights were all down and no one saw a thing but Theodosia knows it was someone on the set who was responsible. Was it the diva actress? The replacement director-in-waiting? The bullied screenwriter? Or someone else entirely?

This is one of my all-time favorite series. I've even gone to Charleston to visit the sites described in these books (spoiler alert: in this book Theo says Indigo is the premiere tea shop in the city, there are actually NO tea shops in Charleston!) For the first several years after I saw this series, I resisted reading it because it sounded very high brow and I didn't think I'd connect with it but that couldn't be farther from the truth. Theo is classy and Drayton is the very epitome of class, but they're also down-to-earth and sweet and the relationship between them in terms of work and personal, is perfect. They make a wonderful crime-fighting duo. We also get to see Theo's Aunt Libby in this book. Her appearances throughout the series have been rare but she's a character I really like and would love to see more of. I also wish Haley would be more involved in their sleuthing, she's a charming character who's kind of been relegated to the background.

If you have not read the Tea Shop series, this is one you absolutely must read. I would also say it's a good intro into the genre for those who maybe haven't previously read cozies.

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC.