Rating: Liked It!
Source: Publisher
Description: Tea maven Theodosia Browning and her tea sommelier Drayton Conneley are guests at a bird hunt styled in the precise manner of an English shooting party. Which means elevenses (sloe gin fizzes), gun loaders, the drawing of pegs, fine looking bird dogs, and shooting costumes of tweed, herringbone, and suede.
But as gunshots explode like a riff of Black Cat firecrackers, another shot sounds too close for comfort to Theodosia and Drayton. Intrigued but worried, Theodosia wanders into the neighbor's lavender field where she discovers their host, Reginald Doyle, bleeding to death.
His wife, Meredith, is beside herself with grief and begs Theodosia and Drayton to stay the night. But Theodosia awakens at 2:00A.M. to find smoke in her room and the house on fire. As the fire department screams in and the investigating sheriff returns, Meredith again pleads with Theodosia for help.
As Theodosia investigates, fingers are pointed, secrets are uncovered, Reginald's daughter-in-law goes missing presumed drowned, and Meredith is determined to find answers via a séance. All the while Theodosia worries if she's made a mistake in inviting a prime suspect to her upscale Lavender Lady Tea.
Genre: Mystery - Cozy
Why I Picked This Book: I enjoy this series and that cover is just so pretty.
My Impression: This series is just as warm and cozy as the cups of tea that Theodosia and Drayton serve at Indigo Tea Shop. Yes there's murder and mayhem and the occasional dangerous situation but it doesn't take away from the pure coziness of the series. This book was no exception and the murder and mayhem were on serious overdrive. There's murder, fire, missing people, secrets, lawsuits, intrigue, and family tensions. The number of suspects is huge but at the same time no one has an overwhelming motive. Watching Theodosia snoop around, ask interesting questions, and theorize with Drayton and Haley was lots of fun. As usual even though I had a guess who the killer was I enjoyed getting to the big reveal so much that it didn't bother me at all.
The book isn't flawless. Theodosia has a case of the "too perfects" which is a condition that plagues many a cozy heroine. She's lovely, has perfect taste, everyone likes her, and she's an expert on just about everything there is. However, she's not arrogant or annoying so the too perfects didn't keep me from liking her and seriously wishing that the tea shop really did exist.
If you enjoy a cozy mystery this is a delightful series with entertaining mysteries, an enjoyable cast, and warm fuzzy cozy feelings.
Would I Read More of this Series/Author? Of course. I keep meaning to go back and read the series from the beginning and I'll be picking up the next book.
Would I Recommend this Book? If you enjoy cozies this is one of the coziest of series!
* I received this book in exchange for an honest review. As always my opinions and impressions are completely my own. *
I love the tea shop and setting. This sounds like the perfect cozy to snuggle up with it!
ReplyDeleteI do love the sound of this one...and the cover is gorgeous.
ReplyDeleteI love this series. I plan to buy it one of these days.
ReplyDeleteThe cover is gorgeous and the story sounds good too. I'll stick to the series I've latched onto but this is one that would pull me in too I think.
ReplyDeleteI really like the sound of this cozy mystery series! On to the TBR list it goes!
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