Lemon Curd Killer (A Tea Shop Mystery)

$14.87
by Laura Childs

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High tea and high fashion turn deadly in this latest installment of the New York Times bestselling series. Tea shop entrepreneur Theodosia Browning has been tapped to host a fancy Limón Tea in a genuine lemon orchard as a rousing kickoff to Charleston Fashion Week. But as fairy lights twinkle and the scent of lemon wafts among the tea tables, the deadly murder of a fashion designer puts the squeeze on things.   As the lemon curd begins to sour, the murdered woman’s daughter begs Theodosia to help find the killer. Tea events and fashion shows must go on, however, which puts Theodosia and her tea sommelier, Drayton Conneley, right in the thick of squabbling business partners, crazed clothing designers, irate film producers, drug deals, and a disastrous Tea Trolley Tour.   INCLUDES DELICIOUS RECIPES AND TEA TIME TIPS! Praise for the New York Times bestselling Tea Shop Mysteries "Murder suits [Laura Childs] to a Tea."— St. Paul  (MN)  Pioneer Press "Tea lovers, mystery lovers, [this] is for you. Just the right blend of cozy fun and clever plotting."— New York Times  bestselling author Susan Wittig Albert "A love letter to Charleston, tea, and fine living."— Kirkus Reviews Laura Childs is the New York Times bestselling author of the Tea Shop Mysteries, New Orleans Scrapbooking Mysteries, and Cackleberry Club Mysteries. In her previous life she was CEO of her own marketing firm, authored several screenplays, and produced a reality TV show. 1 When life hands you lemons, you're supposed to make lemonade. Theodosia Browning had adopted a slightly more creative approach. She was smack-dab in the middle of hosting a fanciful Limón Tea Party. Picture this if you will: Five dozen Southern ladies dressed in gauzy florals and wearing hats and gloves. All seated at elegant tea tables in the fairy-tale setting of an actual lemon grove strung with hundreds of white twinkle lights. Postcard perfect, yes? Now add in a delicate waft of lemon-scented tea, large glass bowls amply heaped with fresh-picked lemons, and lemon scones served as the first course. For the pièce de résistance, a fashion show was about to begin and a camera crew was on hand to capture all the highlights of the runway. Naturally, the usual gaggle of high-strung designers, stylists, and business partners paced about nervously in the background. A lot to contend with. Almost too much for Theodosia. It was one thing to serve morning and afternoon tea at her charming Indigo Tea Shop on Charleston's famed Church Street, another to juggle a major event such as this Limón Tea Party. "Grab another pitcher of lemonade, will you?" Theodosia said to Haley, her young chef and baker. "And that silver ice bucket as well." Theodosia blew a wisp of curly auburn hair off her face as she stood in the kitchen of the Orchard House Inn, home to South Carolina's only lemon orchard. All the food and beverages were being staged here with the help of Drayton, her tea sommelier, Haley, her chef, and two additional waitstaff. And each course was (thankfully!) going out on time. Seemed to be, anyway. "That woman is driving me batty," Drayton said as he measured out scoops of lemon verbena tea. A natural orator, each of his syllables was rounded and carefully cadenced. "You're talking about Delaine?" Theodosia asked. She gazed at him with crystalline blue eyes that were complemented by a peaches and cream complexion and an abundant halo of auburn hair. With her slender, athletic build, Theodosia always gave the impression that she was infused with energy and about to come uncoiled. "Delaine always drives me crazy," Drayton said. "That's nothing new. No, I'm talking about her overbearing sister, Nadine. The woman is positively outrageous. Not only is she bullying the poor models, she's been braying out orders to the film crew. And seriously ragging that dilettante of a film director whose name escapes me at the moment. My fear is that our lovely guests might pick up on the dissonance and frenzy wafting through the air." Haley looked up from where she was stacking lobster salad tea sandwiches on three-tiered trays. "You mean bad vibes?" Haley was sylphlike and blond, cute as a button, and in her early twenties-still easily impressionable. "Precisely," Drayton said. Theodosia glanced out the window over the sink and saw Nadine rushing around, waving her arms, looking as if she were jacked up on an entire bottle of Ritalin. "Tell you what. You and Haley make one more round with scones, tea, and lemonade, then carry out the tea sandwiches. I'll go see if I can wrangle Nadine." Theodosia, ever the peacemaker, didn't want trouble. She also didn't want Drayton to lose his cool. He was her steadfast, sixty-something tea sommelier and right-hand man who rarely got ruffled. But today he was edging toward it. Not that you could tell. In his cream-colored silk jacket and pale pink bow tie he was the picture of a Southern gent dressed for a lovely spring af

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