Book 48, 2021

Shades of Earl Grey by Laura Childs

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



I brought my work book home last night to finish. It was Shades of Earl Grey by Laura Childs, and it's the third part of the "Tea Shop" mystery series, featuring tea shop owner Theodosia Browning.

Theo is delighted to attend the engagement party of a friend's niece, allowing her to relax and mingle for once instead of catering an event. The festivities are interrupted when the glass roof of the atrium crashes in, killing the groom. In the resulting chaos, the bride-to-be's priceless heirloom wedding ring goes missing. Theo can't help but think someone stole it, and she is convinced that the person was attempting to access the atrium from the roof when it caved in. Theodosia's speculation seems spot on when another priceless jewel is stolen from an exhibit at the historical society. The police aren't so sure there's a cat burgler in Charleston's historic distract, but Theo continues to pursue that line of thinking. With the help of family and friends, she sets a trap for the burgler, never realizing the danger she may be putting herself in.

Since the mystery seemed to revolve around the thefts, I think the author could have skipped the murder entirely. In fact, I wouldn't even classify it as a murder. It was more of an unfortunate accident, although the death did occur while someone was actively involved in a crime. I did enjoy this book more than the first one I read in the series, but the author has a distracting habit of using characters' full names repeatedly. Theodosia is dating Jory Davis. We get it. There's no need to state that Jory Davis called, or that Theo is looking forward to dinner with Jory Davis. The author did this with other characters, too. I found it annoying.

I would love to quote my favorite lines, but I cannot. I keep a small post-it note on my bookmark that I jot page numbers on, and I forgot to get the pertinent page numbers off of it before taking said bookmark back to work in another book. If I remember, I'll post favorite lines later.

EDIT: Got it!
"...I'd be just another old gal sitting alone in her house conversing with fifty cats."

The story was enjoyable for the most part, earning it four stars.