Oolong Dead
Laura Childs
Berkley, Mar 2009, $24.95
ISBN: 9780425225998
The proprietor of the Charleston Tea Shop Theodosia Browning is having a great time competing in the Charleston Point-to-Point Race. All of a sudden her horse becomes riled and out of control. Theodosia Browning leaps off and does a controlled roll limiting her injuries. However, her sudden landing leads to the discovery of the body of TV reporter Abby Davis with a bullet wound in the victim’s forehead.
The last time they met, Abby tried to bait Theo into a cat fight, but the storeowner refused to be play Abby’s game. Detective Burt Tidewell shocks Theo, who has solved several homicides, when he tells her to investigate. Her former boyfriend, Abby’s brother Jory, is back from New York and also asks Theo to make inquiries. When she goes to the old plantation what Abby and her husband Drew donated to a historical trust corporation, she finds the remains of a bride who vanished a hundred years ago. In the present she learns that several people benefited from Abby’s death as the reporter made many enemies on her climb to the top.
Putting aside the coincidence of another corpse in Theo’ path and the cop encouraging her to investigate, this is another delightful amateur sleuth in which readers obtain a taste of the South. The heroine is an easy going person but her demeanor hides her steel spine and independent heart. Theo does what she belies is right even when it may harm a relationship she cherishes. Besides a wonderful look at Charleston and surrounding Low Country, fans will relish drinking tea with Theo as she tries to solve the homicide of someone she disliked.
Harriet Klausner
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