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Death at a Firefly Tea
Not yet published
Expected 10 Mar 26A brazen killer sparks Theodosia Browning’s sense of justice in this latest installment of the New York Times bestselling series.
As fireflies dazzle like tiny glowing lanterns, tea maven Theodosia hosts an elegant evening tea on the patio of the Tangled Rose B and B. But in this gentle darkness an intruder has made their way in and slipped deadly drugs into the baked Alaska of Mrs. Van Courtland, one of Charleston’s local grande dames. Shocked by this brazen act, urged on by Mrs. V’s grieving son, Theodosia begins her own shadow investigation. Soon, she finds herself at odds with a greedy developer, the questionable residents of Honey Badger House, a vengeful ex-daughter-in-law, ne’er do well relatives, and a housekeeper who knows all the secrets. As Theodosia hosts a Moulin Rouge Tea and a Queen Victoria Tea, her tea sommelier Drayton is assaulted by a masked stranger and the fiancé of Mrs. V’s son is kidnapped. It’s only at the Starry Starry Night black tie ball that Theodosia stumbles upon the killer and gets pulled into a dramatic life and death chase.
As fireflies dazzle like tiny glowing lanterns, tea maven Theodosia hosts an elegant evening tea on the patio of the Tangled Rose B and B. But in this gentle darkness an intruder has made their way in and slipped deadly drugs into the baked Alaska of Mrs. Van Courtland, one of Charleston’s local grande dames. Shocked by this brazen act, urged on by Mrs. V’s grieving son, Theodosia begins her own shadow investigation. Soon, she finds herself at odds with a greedy developer, the questionable residents of Honey Badger House, a vengeful ex-daughter-in-law, ne’er do well relatives, and a housekeeper who knows all the secrets. As Theodosia hosts a Moulin Rouge Tea and a Queen Victoria Tea, her tea sommelier Drayton is assaulted by a masked stranger and the fiancé of Mrs. V’s son is kidnapped. It’s only at the Starry Starry Night black tie ball that Theodosia stumbles upon the killer and gets pulled into a dramatic life and death chase.
- GenresMystery
Kindle Edition
Expected publication March 10, 2026
3 people are currently reading
79 people want to read
About the author
Laura Childs
93 books2,255 followersLaura Childs is a pseudonym for Gerry Schmitt and she is the best-selling author of the Tea Shop Mysteries, the Scrapbook Mysteries, and the Cackleberry Club Mysteries.
Laura Childs is the New York Times bestselling author of the Tea Shop Mysteries, Scrapbook Mysteries, and Cackleberry Club Mysteries. In her previous life she was CEO/Creative Director of her own marketing firm and authored several screenplays. She is married to a professor of Chinese art history, loves to travel, rides horses, enjoys fund raising for various non-profits, and has two Chinese Shar-Pei dogs.
Laura specializes in cozy mysteries that have the pace of a thriller (a thrillzy!) Her three series are:
The Tea Shop Mysteries - set in the historic district of Charleston and featuring Theodosia Browning, owner of the Indigo Tea Shop. Theodosia is a savvy entrepreneur, and pet mom to service dog Earl Grey. She's also an intelligent, focused amateur sleuth who doesn't rely on coincidences or inept police work to solve crimes. This charming series is highly atmospheric and rife with the history and mystery that is Charleston.
The Scrapbooking Mysteries - a slightly edgier series that take place in New Orleans. The main character, Carmela, owns Memory Mine scrapbooking shop in the French Quarter and is forever getting into trouble with her friend, Ava, who owns the Juju Voodoo shop. New Orleans' spooky above-ground cemeteries, jazz clubs, bayous, and Mardi Gras madness make their presence known here!
The Cackleberry Club Mysteries - set in Kindred, a fictional town in the Midwest. In a rehabbed Spur station, Suzanne, Toni, and Petra, three semi-desperate, forty-plus women have launched the Cackleberry Club. Eggs are the morning specialty here and this cozy cafe even offers a book nook and yarn shop. Business is good but murder could lead to the cafe's undoing! This series offers recipes, knitting, cake decorating, and a dash of spirituality.
Laura Childs is the New York Times bestselling author of the Tea Shop Mysteries, Scrapbook Mysteries, and Cackleberry Club Mysteries. In her previous life she was CEO/Creative Director of her own marketing firm and authored several screenplays. She is married to a professor of Chinese art history, loves to travel, rides horses, enjoys fund raising for various non-profits, and has two Chinese Shar-Pei dogs.
Laura specializes in cozy mysteries that have the pace of a thriller (a thrillzy!) Her three series are:
The Tea Shop Mysteries - set in the historic district of Charleston and featuring Theodosia Browning, owner of the Indigo Tea Shop. Theodosia is a savvy entrepreneur, and pet mom to service dog Earl Grey. She's also an intelligent, focused amateur sleuth who doesn't rely on coincidences or inept police work to solve crimes. This charming series is highly atmospheric and rife with the history and mystery that is Charleston.
The Scrapbooking Mysteries - a slightly edgier series that take place in New Orleans. The main character, Carmela, owns Memory Mine scrapbooking shop in the French Quarter and is forever getting into trouble with her friend, Ava, who owns the Juju Voodoo shop. New Orleans' spooky above-ground cemeteries, jazz clubs, bayous, and Mardi Gras madness make their presence known here!
The Cackleberry Club Mysteries - set in Kindred, a fictional town in the Midwest. In a rehabbed Spur station, Suzanne, Toni, and Petra, three semi-desperate, forty-plus women have launched the Cackleberry Club. Eggs are the morning specialty here and this cozy cafe even offers a book nook and yarn shop. Business is good but murder could lead to the cafe's undoing! This series offers recipes, knitting, cake decorating, and a dash of spirituality.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
Theodosia is hosting a firefly tea at Tangled Rose B and B full of fairy lights but murder is on the menu.
I genuinely loved this and this is really a 4.5! Set in Charleston, South Carolina, this is a great cosy mystery against the backdrop of one of my absolute favourite things in the world - a tea salon. This has everything I loved - endless food (orange and pecan scones, stews, mushroom lasagna, chocolate peanut butter pie to name but a few), proper tea (the shop has its very own tea sommelier who offers the guests my two favourite Mariage Frères blends, Marco Polo and Pleine Lune, at a Moulin Rouge themed tea party), a Victorian tea complete with a Victorian tea service, an antiquarian shop where you can adopt a teddy bear, and a busy community. This also has plenty of immersive descriptions, for example this is the author describing a house -
'There was a marble fireplace with an opening large enough to roast an entire log, bookcases on either side filled with leather books, two large upholstered sofas facing each other across a heart pine coffee table, and antique Chinese rugs on the floor. The walls were covered in hand-painted silk and were hung with dozens more fine paintings. There were exquisite ceramics, ginger jars, marble statues, art pottery, and silver candlesticks everywhere. In one corner, sitting atop a spinet desk was what looked liked a Remington bronze sculpture.'
The mystery plot is fine, I did love that the victim was a patron of various charities and one of them is given the spotlight here. This also has a lovely dog, Pumpkin, and the back of the book has got recipes, different ideas for tea parties, tea resources (magazines, blogs, purveyors of teas, tea plantations) and more. This is a really good cosy and definitely a series I want to dive into more!
My endless thanks to Berkley and NetGalley for this ARC!
I genuinely loved this and this is really a 4.5! Set in Charleston, South Carolina, this is a great cosy mystery against the backdrop of one of my absolute favourite things in the world - a tea salon. This has everything I loved - endless food (orange and pecan scones, stews, mushroom lasagna, chocolate peanut butter pie to name but a few), proper tea (the shop has its very own tea sommelier who offers the guests my two favourite Mariage Frères blends, Marco Polo and Pleine Lune, at a Moulin Rouge themed tea party), a Victorian tea complete with a Victorian tea service, an antiquarian shop where you can adopt a teddy bear, and a busy community. This also has plenty of immersive descriptions, for example this is the author describing a house -
'There was a marble fireplace with an opening large enough to roast an entire log, bookcases on either side filled with leather books, two large upholstered sofas facing each other across a heart pine coffee table, and antique Chinese rugs on the floor. The walls were covered in hand-painted silk and were hung with dozens more fine paintings. There were exquisite ceramics, ginger jars, marble statues, art pottery, and silver candlesticks everywhere. In one corner, sitting atop a spinet desk was what looked liked a Remington bronze sculpture.'
The mystery plot is fine, I did love that the victim was a patron of various charities and one of them is given the spotlight here. This also has a lovely dog, Pumpkin, and the back of the book has got recipes, different ideas for tea parties, tea resources (magazines, blogs, purveyors of teas, tea plantations) and more. This is a really good cosy and definitely a series I want to dive into more!
My endless thanks to Berkley and NetGalley for this ARC!
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
A down-sizing society doyenne, an invaluable Remington statue, a bitter ex-wife, a few wayward teens and a ransom demand. How did it all devolve into murder? Theodosia is on the case again!
Theodosia is smack in the middle of a cozy firefly tea and the beautiful little insects are putting on a glorious show. But so is someone else. Someone, posing as a waiter, poisons a wealthy society lady in the middle of the dessert course! Theo gives chase but the person flashes a butane torch at her and makes their escape. This time, this time, Theo is NOT going to get involved. Except, how can she not?
This is one of my very favorite series. I adore Theodosia and Drayton and Hayley and all the tea shop regulars. Aunt Libby also plays a fairly large role in this book, which I loved. Theo hosts creative themed teas, shops for antique books, buys a new ball gown for a fancy ball, drinks champagne with the upper crust, and takes Earl Grey for a few runs through the side streets of historic Charleston. There's a lot to love about the series and I'm also very fond of Childs's writing style. She puts so much atmosphere into her books, with billowing fog and rain, both light drizzle and gully-washer downpour. Her characters also sparkle, I've cast them in my mind so I would recognize them if I saw them in the streets.
This book has all the fun and excitement I've come to expect from the Tea Shop series, an amazing accomplishment for a 30-book series that's been going on for almost 25 years. I hope it never ends!
Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC.
Theodosia is smack in the middle of a cozy firefly tea and the beautiful little insects are putting on a glorious show. But so is someone else. Someone, posing as a waiter, poisons a wealthy society lady in the middle of the dessert course! Theo gives chase but the person flashes a butane torch at her and makes their escape. This time, this time, Theo is NOT going to get involved. Except, how can she not?
This is one of my very favorite series. I adore Theodosia and Drayton and Hayley and all the tea shop regulars. Aunt Libby also plays a fairly large role in this book, which I loved. Theo hosts creative themed teas, shops for antique books, buys a new ball gown for a fancy ball, drinks champagne with the upper crust, and takes Earl Grey for a few runs through the side streets of historic Charleston. There's a lot to love about the series and I'm also very fond of Childs's writing style. She puts so much atmosphere into her books, with billowing fog and rain, both light drizzle and gully-washer downpour. Her characters also sparkle, I've cast them in my mind so I would recognize them if I saw them in the streets.
This book has all the fun and excitement I've come to expect from the Tea Shop series, an amazing accomplishment for a 30-book series that's been going on for almost 25 years. I hope it never ends!
Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
Laura Childs continues entertaining readers with her Tea Shop mysteries. The characters are fun to follow, the Charleston setting is perfect and the mystery keeps you guessing. Find a cozy seat, pour a cup of tea and sit back for an afternoon of entertainment.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
fun setting with a nice vibe for this cozy mystery that worked really effectively. would recommend this one. 5 stars. tysm for the arc.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews