|
Berkley, Sept 2004, 19.95, 240 pp. ISBN 0425198138 Theodosia Browning, owner of the Indigo Tea Shop in the historic downtown district of Charlotte, South Carolina, agrees to cater the “Ghost Crawl” society tour of the Jasmine cemetery sponsored by Charleston's Medical Triad. The host is Dr. Jasper Davis, the uncle of Theodosia's boyfriend Jory. Uncle Jasper and his team developed the Novalaser, a less invasive way of performing angioplasty. All of a sudden Dr. Davis keels over and is dead; Theodosia finds a syringe near the body. Jory asks his girlfriend to investigate his uncle's death since she has a history of solving homicides. She plunges into the investigation with plenty of enthusiasm and everyone who knows her believe she is on the trail of the killer. When she is out horseback riding, someone tries to shoot her and shortly thereafter somebody throws a rock through her window warning her to stop her inquiries. Theodosia becomes even more determined to find the killer since she doesn't let her fear interfere with keeping her promise to Jory. The latest Tea Shop Mystery is a delectable and delicious amateur sleuth mystery with mouth watering recipes which are worth the price of the book. The description of tea and the meals that The Indigo Tea Shop serves will make readers salivate. The heroine out does herself in this homicide investigation because she is investigating homicides without empirical evidence. Laura Childs serves up a delightful tea and murder mystery. Harriet Klausner | ||
|
Plot & Themes Tone of story - suspenseful (sophisticated fear) How difficult to spot villain? - Very difficult--no foreshadowing/clues Time/era of story: What % of story relates directly to the mystery, not the subplot? - 70% Murder of certain profession? Kind of investigator Kid or adult book? - Adult or Young Adult Book Any non-mystery subplot? descript. of violence and chases - 10 % Planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 40 % Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 40 % How society works & physical descript. (people, objects, places) - 10 % Crime Thriller Yes Murder Mystery (killer unknown) Yes Main Character Gender - Female Profession/status: Age: - 20's-30's Ethnicity/Race Main Adversary Identity: - Female Age: - 40's-50's Profession/status: Motive of antagonist - revenge How sensitive is this character? Sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor Intelligence - Very much smarter than other characters Setting United States Yes The US: - Southeast Writing Style Accounts of torture and death? - generic/vague references to death/punishment Amount of dialog - significantly more dialog than descript |
||