Introduction

In the latest Tea Shop Mystery from New York Times bestselling author Laura Childs, Theodosia Browning attends a “Rat Tea,” where the mice will play...at murder.
 
When Indigo Tea Shop owner Theodosia Browning is invited by Doreen Briggs, one of Charleston’s most prominent hostesses, to a “Rat Tea,” she is understandably intrigued.  As servers dressed in rodent costumes and wearing white gloves offer elegant finger sandwiches and fine teas, Theo learns these parties date back to early twentieth-century Charleston, where the cream of society would sponsor so-called rat teas to promote city rodent control and better public health.
 
But this party goes from odd to chaotic when a fire starts at one of the tables and Doreen’s entrepreneur husband suddenly goes into convulsions and drops dead. Has his favorite orange pekoe tea been poisoned? Theo smells a rat.
 
The distraught Doreen soon engages Theo to pursue a discreet inquiry into who might have murdered her husband. As Theo and her tea sommelier review the guest list for suspects, they soon find themselves drawn into a dangerous game of cat and mouse...

INCLUDES RECIPES AND TEA TIME TIPS

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Excerpt

Feeling like her jog had blown off the dust of the day, Theodosia tugged gently at Earl Grey’s leash as they turned for home.

And that’s when it all went a little bit crazy.

Just as they were crossing Tradd, a car came hurtling out of nowhere. Engine roaring full bore, headlights blazing, the car headed straight for them. Caught in the middle of the street, Theodosia froze for a split-second, uncertain of which way to jump.

Surely, he’s going to swerve! That driver has to see us!

But no, the driver stayed his course. Crouched over his steering wheel, this shadowy ghost driver put the pedal to the metal and roared at them like an Indy car screaming down the straightaway.

With not much time to think, Theodosia gave Earl Grey a hard shove that sent him flying, and then she lurched after him. There was a high-pitched squeal of brakes as the car swerved, made a slight course correction, and kept coming at them!

Theodosia screamed as she made a second awkward, panicked leap out of the way. She felt the hot, swift slipstream of air and rush of metal as the car shot by, missing her by inches.

Flying through the air, she and Earl Grey were a tumbling mass of legs, arms, paws, and tail. Shocked grunts and oofs escaped their lips. Then they hit the ground in a crazy humpty-bumpty sprawl, rolling and bouncing up and over a low curb, finally coming to rest in a patch of French hydrangeas. view abbreviated excerpt only...

Discussion Questions

Did the author create a “sense of place” in her descriptions of the “rat tea,” the Indigo Tea Shop, and of Charleston?


What is the starting point of the book – the one action that gets the story rolling?


Laura Childs’ Tea Shop Mysteries are classic “cozies,” written in the spirit of Agatha Christie. Why do you think so many women prefer this kinder, gentler type of mystery?


How do you think tea – drinking it and brewing it – plays a role in this book?


Why do you suppose many women want to be entrepreneurs like Theodosia? And why do many women prefer to own a smaller, more manageable business?


Novels are much like three-act plays. There is an opening act, a middle act, and a concluding act. Where do you think these “break points” occur?

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