The Teaberry Strangler: Amazon.ca: Laura Childs: Books

Product Description

The bestselling author of Oolong Dead serves up an Old-World treat, spiced with a Sherlock Holmes-style murder mystery.

It was the Dickensian evening Theodosia Browning had been hoping for. Charleston shop-owners dressed in cloaks of yore threw open their back doors to visitors, who took advantage of bargains and Theodosia's delicious teas.

But later, the alleys clear except for one body- which a horrified Theodosia discovers. It's Daria, the map store's owner. Locals have shown interest in buying her shop-but enough to kill? Plus there's been a customer hell-bent on acquiring a not-forsale map. Most alarming of all theories, however, is Detective Tidwell's: the killer mistook Daria for Theodosia. And if that theory holds, the killer's work isn't done.

About the Author

Laura Childs is the New York Times bestselling author of the Cackleberry Club, Tea Shop, and Scrapbooking mysteries. In her past life she was a Clio Award–winning advertising writer and CEO of her own marketing firm. She lives in Plymouth, Minnesota.

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com ^(beta)

Amazon.com: 4.1 out of 5 stars (32 customer reviews)

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Mixed Feelings..., Mar 29 2010

By Rick - Published on Amazon.com

This review is from: The Teaberry Strangler (Hardcover)

I've read all the books in this series, and I read for one reason alone -- atmosphere. Childs is VERY good at this. I can't tell you how many cozies I've read that have a fabulous setting in a wonderful era or at the perfect time of year, and other than being told once or twice, "It was October in Vermont..." the book could just as easily have been set in February in Flint, Michigan, circa 1979. Not so with Childs. Some (many) would even say she overdoes the atmosphere, but that's fine with me. I object, by the way, to the fashionista aspects of the story -- antiques are fine, "Coco Chanel" blouses are a bit grating. Characters? Eh, okay, I guess. Theo and Haley are cool, Drayton and Tidwell are better. So, for atmosphere, this book gets five stars; character development gets 3.5 or even 4 stars. But... Here's where it gets bad. Plotting. As noted by others, Childs' plotting is almost unimaginably bad, juvenille on a scale that my vocabulary finds difficult to detail. She uncovers zero clues, zero clues are presented to us, and the grand climaxes are so far out of left field as to simply not be believed. Felonious motives and solutions to the crimes are flat out invented in the last two pages. And sometimes, Childs simply loses her mind. In the last of her tea shop books (not this one), Theo restrains the killer by (I am NOT making this up) squirting a tube of glue into said killer's hair after said killer has been knocked to the ground. The glue firmly secures the bad guy/girl to the ground until the cops show up. What more can be said?

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A very hesitant 4-star rating, Mar 18 2010

By Holly Kincaid "Book addict" - Published on Amazon.com

This review is from: The Teaberry Strangler (Hardcover)

"The Teaberry Strangler" is the eleventh installment in Laura Child's Tea Shop Mystery series. I have read each and every one and have largely enjoyed the series. The novels are set in Charleston, South Carolina and truly meet the definition of "cozy" - a beautiful sense of place, interesting characters and a little intrigue thrown in.

Unfortunately, I think this is one of the weaker books in the series. The wonderful descriptions of Charleston (and its society gatherings) are included but the mystery itself is insubstantial. The murder takes place, Theodosia (our main character) lines up a cast of suspects with flimsy motives and then the reader is left hanging since there are no clues as to who actually did it. The murderer is revealed in the final pages and it is totally "sprung" on the reader since new information is given. The mystery definitely feels like an afterthought in this book. I also thought the character development was fairly non-existent as well. Not much has changed in any of the character's lives and Drayton and Hayley continue to exist in order to give Theodosia someone to talk to. To add freshness to a long series, I would love to see a future mystery written focused more on one of those two characters, particularly Drayton (lots of unrealized potential here).

To sum it up - if I were picking up the book as a first time reader, it would rate a 3-star. Since I have come to love the books as a whole and there is some halo effect going on, I would rate it a 4-star for me. Settled on 4 stars with some reservations .....

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Love the series, but is it losing steam?, May 3 2011

By S. Collier - Published on Amazon.com

This review is from: The Teaberry Strangler (Mass Market Paperback)

I've been reading the Laura Childs Tea Shop Mysteries since she began writing them more than 10 years ago, and while this remains one of my favorite series, I got the feeling with this book that Laura Childs is starting to get bored of Theodosia and her friends in Charleston. The first chapter, the plot becomes a bit thin when Theodosia, walking in a dark alley at night witnesses a murder, and it all seems a bit surreal and not completely believable. The dialog between Drayton and Haley this time around is a bit strained, the wacky women who are owners of the perfumerie just aren't well developed, and there are a lot of lose ends surrounding the characters that hang out in the map shop. Also, the whole situation with the archeological dig in the backyard of Theodosia's new home seems but a mere distraction, and doesn't really tie in well at all with the murder. I felt with this book that the end is near unless Childs can breath some new and compelling life into these stories. I'm sad to see the series take this turn, but other authors I read have gone through the same thing, and perhaps its time to focus on other stories. Childs' Cackleberry Club mysteries are hilarious and I look forward to reading more about Suzanne, Petra and Toni in the future. Maybe Childs is just spreading herself too thin across all these series?

› Go to Amazon.com to see all 32 reviews 4.1 out of 5 stars