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Murder in the Tea Leaves (A Tea Shop Mystery) by Laura Childs
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About Murder in the Tea Leaves
Murder in the Tea Leaves (A Tea Shop Mystery)
Cozy Mystery 27th in Series
Setting - South Carolina
Publisher : Berkley (March 5, 2024)
Hardcover : 304 pages ISBN-10 : 0593200985
ISBN-13 : 978-0593200988
Digital ASIN : B0C777ZCXN
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It’s Lights, Action, Murder as tea maven Theodosia Browning scrambles for clues in this latest installment of the New York Times bestselling series.
When Theodosia Browning reads the tea leaves on the set of the movie, Dark Fortunes, things go from spooky to worse. Lights are dimmed, the camera rolls, and red hot sparks fly as the film’s director is murdered in a tricky electrical accident.
Or was it an accident? Though the cast and crew are stunned beyond belief, nobody admits to seeing a thing. And when Theodosia’s friend, Delaine, becomes the prime suspect, Theodosia begins her own shadow investigation. But who among this Hollywood cast and crew had murder on their mind? The screenwriter is a self-centered pot head, the leading actress is trying to wiggle out of her contract, the brand new director seems indifferent, and nobody trusts the slippery-when-dry Hollywood agent.
Between hosting a Breakfast at Tiffany’s Tea, a Poetry Tea, and trying to launch her own chocolate line, Theodosia doggedly hunts down clues and explores the seemingly haunted Brittlebank Manor where the murder took place. And just when she’s ready to pounce, a Charleston Film Board member is also murdered, throwing everything into total disarray. But this clever killer will go to any lengths to hide his misdeeds as Theodosia soon finds out when she and her tea sommelier, Drayton, get caught up in a dangerous stakeout.
INCLUDES DELICIOUS RECIPES AND TEA TIME TIPS!
"Quiet on the set! Quiet on the set!"
As if someone had suddenly spun a dial and cut
the volume, there was complete and utter silence in the darkened living room of
the dilapidated Brittlebank Manor.
"Roll film, and . . . action!" shouted
Josh Morro, the film's director.
Theodosia Browning watched, fascinated, as
actors recited lines, cameras dollied in for close-ups, and producers,
assistant directors, storyboard artists, set dressers, grips, writers, gaffers,
production assistants, makeup artists, and costumers all stood by, ready to
jump at the director's every command.
It was the first day of filming for Dark
Fortunes, a Peregrine Pictures feature film. And the first time tea shop owner
Theodosia had ever seen a full-fledged movie in the making. Of course, she
wasn't actually in the movie. But this week was still extra special for
Theodosia and Drayton Conneley, her dapper, sixty-something tea sommelier.
They'd been tapped to handle the craft services table, an all-day munch fest
for the cast and crew. It was proving to be a fun break from their normal roles
as hosts at the Indigo Tea Shop on Charleston's famed Church Street, where they
spent their days juggling morning cream tea, lunch, tea parties, afternoon tea,
special events, and catering.
Catering. Yes, that's exactly why Theodosia and
Drayton had loaded their craft services table with a bounty of tea sandwiches,
lemon scones, brownie bites, banana muffins, cranberry tea bread, and handmade
chocolate fudge. And of course tea, which was Drayton's specialty.
"This is exciting, yes?" Theodosia
whispered to Drayton. The director had called a sudden halt to filming and now
the crew milled about the darkened set like shadows flitting through a
graveyard.
"Exciting but strange," Drayton said,
touching a hand to his bow tie. "I had no idea so much work went into
filming a single scene." He peered through the darkness to where the
director was whispering to a cameraman. "And that director seems to be in
a constant uproar."
Josh Morro, the director, was most certainly
agitated. "Gimme some light, will you?" he barked. And lights
immediately came up revealing the shabby interior of a small, old-fashioned
sitting room. "And we need something more dynamic here. A line or action
that propels us into the heart of the storyline." Morro turned to Craig
Cole, the scriptwriter, and raised his eyebrows in a questioning look.
"It's already in the script, babe,"
Cole shouted back at him. Cole was Hollywood hyper, rail-thin with a pinched
face and shock of bright red Woody Woodpecker hair.
"No, it's not. The script is dreck,"
Morro cried as he leaped from his chair, knocking it over backward in the
process. He was tall and angular, dressed in jeans and a faded Def Leppard
T-shirt. Good-looking, handsome even, Morro had intense jade-green eyes and
wore a now-popular-again gunslinger mustache.
Cole's face contorted in anger. "Watch it,
pal. I wrote that script." His lips barely touched his teeth as he spat
out his words.
Morro shook his head tiredly. "Fess up,
man. You plagiarized a Japanese film that won a Nippon Akademii-shou back in
ninety-five."
Cole's face turned bright red to match his hair.
"That might have been the seminal inspiration," he shot back,
"but every line of dialogue is completely mine!"
The director stared thoughtfully at the small
round table where a woman wearing a purple-and-gold tunic with matching turban
sat across from Andrea Blair, the film's leading actress.
"She should read the tea leaves," Morro
said slowly. "That's what we need. The fortune teller has to read the tea
leaves before she delivers her line."
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Why Write About Tea?
By Laura Childs, New York Times
bestselling author of Murder in the Tea Leaves
A lot of readers are curious about why I chose to write about tea. Actually, tea is just the hook, a subtle reference point, for writing my hybrid cozy-thrillers – what I like to call thrillzys. On the other hand, I do love tea. I’ve traveled through China, Japan, and Indonesia and had the good fortune to sample many of their exquisite teas. In Japan I visited an actual tea plantation set on the steep slopes near Mt. Fuji.
When I signed my first contract with Penguin Random House to write the Tea Shop Mysteries, tea was just beginning its resurgence. Tea shops were popping up like errant mushrooms, tea kiosks were appearing at shopping malls, and women were pulling out their gloves and fancy hats to wear at tea parlors, church teas, and tea clubs.
But what really appealed to me was the idea of a genteel female tea shop owner (as my protagonist) juxtaposed against a backdrop of murder and mayhem. Now there was something that had never been done before. And after a bit of research, I set the series in Charleston, SC because it’s a spooky (some say haunted) city with an actual tea garden located nearby.
So I had my concept, my protagonist, and a fairly dramatic setting. And of course I had all those wonderful teas to inspire my titles. Darjeeling tea jumpstarted Death by Darjeeling, Gunpowder Green just begged to be a title, as did Oolong Dead, Plum Tea Crazy, Haunted Hibiscus, and lots more.
Interestingly, when I began the series, I figured I would write about six or seven Tea Shop Mysteries. But the books were popular from the get-go and now have taken on a life of their own. Right now I’m working on book 28 and there seems to be no end in sight. (Lucky me!)
My tea shop owner, Theodosia Browning, established the Indigo Tea Shop along with Drayton Conneley, her tea sommelier, Haley Parker, her chef and baker, and Earl Grey, the tea shop dog. And because the Indigo Tea Shop is located smack dab in the heart of Charleston’s 350 year-old Historic District, there’s bound to be some excitement. In fact, I always start my first chapters with a bang – we’re talking deadly poisons, shootings, hangings, car crashes, stabbings, explosions, fires, strangulations, drugs, and even a plunge from the tower of a haunted mansion.
And always (always!) Theodosia gets dragged into these murders. Sometimes they happen when she’s catering a tea event, sometimes dear friends are impacted and, when the police come up empty, they beg her to run a shadow investigation. Of course Theodosia always complies. And comes through with insights, clues, and even criminal apprehensions. All the while running a tea shop, imagine that.
As the Tea Shop Mysteries have grown in popularity, many readers have asked about the teas that are mentioned. Most are readily available at your local tea shop or the major online tea retailers – which I list in the back of each book. Of course, some of the teas that Drayton, my bow tie-wearing, slightly snooty tea expert, creates are totally fictitious. These might include his Lamplighter Blend, Palmetto Blend, and Holiday Blend (black tea with dried cranberry, oranges, and Indian spice).
There’s also no Indigo Tea Shop on Charleston’s famed Church Street, though many of my readers have asked to see photos and detailed plans. Which I guess means I’ve succeeded in creating a real sense of place!
So pour yourself a cup of tea, snuggle up with my newest mystery, Murder in the Tea Leaves, and get lost in a dreamy, aromatic blend of tea and mystery.
Love,
Laura Childs
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About Laura Childs
Laura Childs is the New York Times bestselling author of the Tea Shop Mysteries
Laura specializes in cozy mysteries that have the pace of a thriller (a thrillzy!) Her three series are:
The Tea Shop Mysteries 
The Scrapbooking Mysteries
The Cackleberry Club Mysteries
Laura’s Links: Website – Facebook Purchase Links – Amazon – B&N – Kobo – Bookshop.org – PenguinRandomHouse
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I love the tea shop mysteries!
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