Another great book by Ms. Childs. Love this series. ( )

I have read books in this series both earlier and later in the series than this book. I decided a while ago to go back and read the ones I'd missed in the series. This is one of those.

I did learn that "agony of the leaves" relates to the tea leaves as they steep/brew. I could see the agony theme in Theodosia's discovery of Parker's body and her grieving afterward.

I wonder how much prior Childs decided Parker's character would be a murder victim. Does it explain the sudden cooling of the Theodosia-Parker relationship? Or was it just a convenient way to remove a former love interest from complicating future entries?

There are recipes and tips for themed teas as well as tea resources included. ( )

An improbable set of intersecting circumstances detracts not at all from this cosy mystery. The new boyfriend Max needs some better rendering other than just being a swoon worthy kisser. ( )

And now I am all caught up. Childs needs to write another book ASAP! ( )

I had been debating whether or not to keep reading the Tea Shop series - it seemed to be getting formulaic for me, but then I thought about how quickly these tend to read and how they are a reading palate cleanser - nice, light, shorter than a main course. So, I picked up the latest yesterday and read it (there's that quick to read part). The killer stayed hidden behind a bunch of red herrings until near the end, when certain events gave me pause to think about this person [but then, there weren't many clues or reasons to support this person as the killer - I didn't care for that as much - just one thing almost thrown out near the beginning].

Things I continue to enjoy: Drayton and Haley's back and forth banter, anything with Earl Grey (the dog), the tea party ideas in the story and the back of the book, Delaine's comic relief interruptions.

Things I could do without: more descriptions of Charleston [it's the 13th book, for crying out loud, it's been described pretty well already], clothing descriptions [that's just a personal issue, as I'm not a big clotheshorse], and how Theo is intimidated/threatened in similar ways to many of the other books in the series [yes, one of the ways was novel in this book, but it immediately followed one that has been really overused]. ( )