A Dark and Stormy Tea

March 1, 2022

From the multi-award-winning Andrews, past master of laugh-out-loud avian titling, Round Up the Usual Peacocks puts Meg Langslow on the trail of three separate cold cases when a member of her techie nephew's true-crime podcast team has an unfortunate accident that could have been attempted murder (40,000-copy first printing). In the New York Times best-selling Childs's A Dark and Stormy Tea, tea maven Theodosia Browning is approaching St. Philips Graveyard one rain-wrought night when she witnesses the murder of a friend's daughter and immediately starts investigating--never mind the serial killer loose in Charleston. In the Edgar Award-winning Krueger's Fox Creek, Ojibwe healer Henry Meloux protects a stranger named Dolores Morriseau who had sought his guidance but now finds herself pursued by hunters, with Cork O'Connor hot on their trail; his wife, Meloux's great-niece, is with the endangered Dolores (150,000-copy first printing). Author of the "Hugo Marston" mystery series, English journalist-turned-Texas prosecutor Pryor launches a new series with Die Around Sundown, set in World War II Paris, where Det. Henri Lefort has just a few days to solve the murder of a German major at the Louvre Museum (40,000-copy first printing). In Bark to the Future, latest in Quinn's doggedly funny New York Times best-selling series, PI Bernie Little and his devoted canine, Chet, try to figure out what happened to the woman who reigned as prom queen of Bernie's high school class and now seems to have vanished (75,000-copy first printing). With Quarter to Midnight, the New York Times best-selling Rose takes us to New Orleans, where police officer-turned-private eye Molly Sutton is tasked with helping a steamy-hot young chef prove that his NOPD dad's death was not suicide. Former director of the Wollongong Writers Festival, Scrivenor delivers the booming-big debut Dirt Creek, in which D.S. Sarah Michaels investigates the disappearance of 12-year-old Esther as she walked home from her rural Australian school even as Esther's classmates offer their own insights (150,000-copy first printing). In Schaffhausen's Long Gone, Det. Annalisa Vega recoups from having turned in her ex-cop father for murder by investigating a detective's suspicious death, which leads her to a slick car salesman trying to charm her best friend (40,000-copy first printing). Walker's popular hero, Bruno, chief of police in the Dordogne village of St. Denis, faces Spanish nationalists with plans To Kill a Troubadour after release of "Song for Catalonia" by a local folk music group.

Copyright 2022 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

June 15, 2022
In her 23rd outing, tea shop owner Theodosia Browning takes on a serial killer. Theodosia's heading home on a dark and stormy night when she sees two people struggling in a graveyard. The man vanishes, leaving behind the body of a young woman Theodosia is sorry to recognize as Cara Chamberlain. The women of Charleston are living in fear of a serial killer: It's either Fogheel Jack, back after a seven-year hiatus, or a copycat. Cara was working as an intern for Channel 8, whose star reporter, Monica Garber, faints when she sees the body. Theodosia and her tea sommelier, Drayton Conneley, have a long history of helping Theodosia's boyfriend, Pete Riley, and his police colleagues solve crimes. So when Cara's mother, who owns a bookshop near the Indigo Tea Shop, begs for help, they plunge into the investigation. Theodosia is suspicious of the boyfriend Cara just broke up with and a true-crime writer who's living next door, but there's another possibility: a ruthless realtor who's trying to get Cara's mother out of the building where her five-year lease is thwarting his plans. Whether the motive is money or mania, her snooping puts Theodosia in mortal danger. A delight for mystery mavens and foodies, with Charleston providing the suitably spooky background.

COPYRIGHT(2022) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

August 1, 2022
On an unseasonably cold, rainy, foggy spring evening in Charleston, South Carolina, Theodosia Browning, owner of the Indigo Tea Shop, witnesses a murder in a local cemetery. She soon learns that the victim is Cara Chamberlain, the daughter of friend and fellow business owner Lois Chamberlain, who begs Theodosia to find Cara's murderer. Cara was killed in a manner recalling murders committed by the notorious Fogheel Jack, whose original crime spree ended seven years ago. Soon another murder follows, and Theodosia researches the original crimes, interviews suspects, and works to determine what the victims had in common. More tragedy befalls Lois; Theodosia's chef is attacked; and, finally, Theodosia is kidnapped. Fast pacing and the always-engaging Theodosia combine with the vividly described Charleston setting and plenty of intriguing details about running a tea shop in this charming entry in the long-running series. Tea lovers will enjoy the appendixes, too, which include recipes and lists of tea resources and tea merchants, as well as Charleston tourist information.

COPYRIGHT(2022) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

June 10, 2022

Childs's 24th "Tea Shop" mystery (following Twisted Christmas Tea) doesn't disappoint. Theodosia Browning, owner of the Indigo Tea Shop, observes a startling scene when she takes a shortcut home one foggy night. She thinks she has witnessed a murder and the deceased is the daughter of her friend Lois, who runs the local antiquarian bookstore. Could Lois's daughter be the latest victim of a killer being dubbed Fogheel Jack? When her friend asks Theo to find her daughter's killer, she can't say no. There are many men who fit the profile: her new neighbor who writes true crime novels; the victim's boyfriend; a nosy tabloid journalist; and a real estate developer and his private security guard. With the help of her tea sommelier, Drayton, and her boyfriend, Detective Pete Reilly, she begins to eliminate suspects one at a time, sometimes by less than legal means. The police receive a tip that appears to solve the case, but can Theodosia and her friends finally let down their guard? VERDICT Recommended for fans of the series and lovers of culinary cozy mysteries. Recipes and "Tea Time Tips" are included.--Jean King

Copyright 2022 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.