Tea Time in Charleston

The Queen of the Tea Shop Mysteries is Laura Childs. Proprietor Theodosia Browning is creative with her shop and with the special Tea Parties she offers. Her Indigo Tea Shop in lovely Charleston is the social center of the city.

In The Ming Tea Murder, an 18th century Chinese teahouse has been transported to the Gibbes Museum in Charleston. Before the evening is over, museum donor Edgar Webster has been found dead in the teahouse. When Theo's boyfriend Max becomes a suspect, it's time for her to solve the case and still plan and execute several wonderful events at her shop.

A detour from the plot. Theodosia has a vivid imagination and I always love the various teas she organizes. In this book it is Halloween, but tea events at Indigo Tea Shop do not follow the norm. Her first tea of the weekend is a Titanic Tea. The tearoom is decorated like the first-class dining room on A deck on the RMS Titanic, even down to the white paper napkins emblazened with the White Star Line logo. The menu includes some of the same foods served on that fateful night. As lovely as the setting at the Indigo Tea Shop is, I'm not sure I'd be comfortable having tea surrounded by all the trimmings of the sinking of the ship. But I am not a fan of the movie, so maybe that has something to do with it.

Another tea planned for the weekend is the Tower of London Tea on Halloween evening.There will

be fruity scones, Ann Boleyn chocolate dipped strawberries and crustless tea sandwiches, all accompanied by Drayton's special tea blend Lady Jane Grey tea and Was of the Roses Tea.

I enjoy these books although sometimes I wonder if Theo and the people in Charleston ever sleep. So many social events, so little time.

The first book is this series is Death by Darjeeling.