The Teaberry Strangler (Tea Shop Series #11) »

Laura Childs is also the author of the Scrapbook mystery series and the Cackleberry Club mystery series. In her past life she was a Clio Award-winning advertising writer and CEO of her own marketing firm.

The bestselling author of Oolong Dead serves up an Old-World treat, spiced with a Sherlock Holmes-style murder mystery.

It was the Dickensian evening Theodosia Browning had been hoping for. Charleston shop-owners dressed in cloaks of yore threw open their back doors to visitors, who took advantage of bargains and Theodosia's delicious teas.

But later, the alleys clear except for one body- which a horrified Theodosia discovers. It's Daria, the map store's owner. Locals have shown interest in buying her shop-but enough to kill? Plus there's been a customer hell-bent on acquiring a not-for­sale map. Most alarming of all theories, however, is Detective Tidwell's: the killer mistook Daria for Theodosia. And if that theory holds, the killer's work isn't done.

Publishers Weekly

Set in Charleston, S.C., Childs's tepid 11th tea-themed puzzler (after 2009's Oolong Dead) offers an elegant heroine in her 30s who some readers may feel too often acts like an old lady. One rainy March evening, while walking along a cobblestone alley, Theodosia Browning, the proprietor of the Indigo Tea Shop, spots Daria Shand, her good friend and owner of a neighboring shop, in a “nasty struggle” with an unknown assailant. The attacker flees at Theodosia's approach, leaving Daria dead in the alley. A minty fragrance Theodosia detects at the crime scene may provide a useful clue in her informal murder investigation. Childs supplies plenty of touristy asides as well as savory details about teas and gourmet goodies, if at the expense of the action. The continuing animosity between police detective Burt Tidwell and Theodosia adds some tension, but the mystery never quite catches fire as it simmers to a close. (Mar.)