Rating: 
Summary: POISON MY TEA
Review: This book was was trite, clique, and boring beyond decency. The only redeemable trait being the historical descriptions of Charleston, and the lovely idea of a tea shoppe. Midway, I was ready to admit guilt so the agony would end.Perhaps, I am not a fair critic of light fare..... it extracts from so many incredible works of art that await me. This was a required read for a book club so I gave it a go. If you enjoyed, "Murder She Wrote" this might entertain you. However, I think even Jessica Fletcher might have shyed from this mundane mystery murder.
Rating: 
Summary: bad local info
Review: This is just the type of light, cozy mystery I normally love. Unfortunately, I live and work in the area, and the author, apparently, didn't even do a halfway research job, much less know anything about Charleston. The local details are really bad. A local mystery group panned it for the inaccuracies.
Nor was the horticultural information accurate.
Shame. This could have been lots of fun, but there is no way I would read anything else by this author after this sloppy job.
Rating: 
Summary: Good Start to a series, but weak detection
Review: This novel had a good ambiance and I enjoyed all the details about tea blending, Charleston historic sites, and southern society. I was charmed by the main character and her supporting cast has promise--especially the cute lawyer, the dapper tea gourmet and blending guru, and southern lady to the core Aunt Libby. I did think the mystery itself took awhile to develop and the author's habit of flashing from one scene to the other and the inclusion of some scenes for no particular reason (attempts at red herrings?) were a little distracting. The plot was not as well crafted as other mysteries in this genre, and there were times when you really thought, "Can we just get on with it?!?"--but all that being said it was a good start and was enough to get me interested in reading a sequel. I did think this was much better than the scrapbooking mystery series by the same author.
Rating: 
Summary: A fine mystery with very vivid descriptions
Review: This novel is set in the historic district of Charleston. The main character owns the Indigo Tea Room. On the annual Lamplighters tour of historic houses, her tea room caters a garden tea in one of the historic houses. One of the waitresses finds a...[person] dead at one of the tables...Theodosia, the owner of Indigo Tea Shop is asked by her employees to find out who killed...[the person] The author has given us a cast of unusual and quirky characters. She has a real gift for description, which enhanced the story without going overboard. The mystery was excellent,...and I never knew that there was so much to learn about tea. I look forward to reading the next one.
Rating:
Summary: Cute, but odd
Review: This series is entertaining in its way, but a little odd. I would have found it slightly less rough going if Theodosia Browning was in her sixties, rather than her thirties, as it's hard to believe she's a fairly young woman, judging from her rather proper and formal behavior and speech. Still, I enjoyed the coziness of the setting, being an avid tea lover. The series grew on me, once I got used to the old-fashioned way it seems to have been written. Was a bit like a time warp, as if it had been written in the 1950s. Worth checking out though, if you love tea and comfort scones and a light mystery.
Rating: 
Summary: Exactly my cup of tea!
Review: What a wonderfully warm and entertaining book! I thoroughly enjoyed Death by Darjeeling and hope to get the next Tea Shop mystery (Gunpowder Green) soon. It's a great book to curl up with a cup of tea on a cold dreary day. A feel good read!
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