SWEET TEA REVENGE by Laura Childs

Are you a reader
or an author?

Help us personalize your experience. Choose your role below.
You can always change this later using the switcher button.

Remember my choice for 30 days

You can switch anytime using the floating button.

Snowbound secrets, shifter wars, family lies, and epic battles — September delivers it all.

SWEET TEA REVENGE
Laura Childs

Reviewed by Min Jung
Posted September 1, 2013

Theodosia Browning is taking a break from being the owner and manager of the Indigo Tea Shop for a day to serve as a bridesmaid for her friend Delaine Dish, who is marrying attorney Dougan Granville. The wedding day, however, is getting off to a bad start. Delaine's maid of honour is late, and the city of Charleston is being battered by an unprecedented storm.

Theodosia does her best to keep Delaine calm and keep the wedding on track, but this proves to be an insurmountable task when the groom turns up dead. Delaine knows that Theodosia has a knack for successfully investigating various issues throughout the years, and she begs her bridesmaid to solve the murder of the man who was very nearly her husband. Although Theodosia is reluctant to do so at first, she slowly but surely gets pulled into sleuthing around, and she finds that there's much more than meets the eye with this late attorney.

Dougan's law partner is being less than forthcoming with Delaine about the will. Could it be that their business partnership gave him a motive to kill Dougan before he got married? Theodosia visits Dougan's ex- girlfriend (who attended the almost-wedding) to get some information on their relationship and Dougan's former drug use, only to find out that she had motives for wanting Dougan dead. And finally, the ATF is investigating Dougan's cigar store on suspicion of illegally importing Cuban cigars.

While she's sorting all of this out, Delaine lets Theodosia know that Dougan's house was part of a garden tour. As his house is next door to the Indigo Tea Shop, Delaine "suggests" that Theodosia can prepare his house, including providing refreshments. And to top it all off, a ghost hunting team from a reality television show wants to take film Theodosia visiting the crime scene.

Although the murder took place in the very beginning of the book, it took awhile for this book to really grab my attention, which I think had a lot to do with both Theodosia's reluctance to get involved with solving Dougan's murder and Delaine's bratty behaviour. Although it's understandable that she was grieving after Dougan was killed, she was painted in a very unsympathetic light from the first pages of the book, and nothing ever happened to make me root for her after that. Although I typically appreciate a book full of suspects and motives, SWEET TEA REVENGE felt overcrowded with them, and it felt as if more than one served as the proverbial red herring. The final piece of criticism I have is one I cannot share without revealing a plot spoiler, but it has to do with the true culprit and the reveal.

I typically enjoy this series, though, and I will continue to read it in the hopes that SWEET TEA REVENGE was a minor stumble in what is usually a very charming series with warm, inviting characters.

SUMMARY

In the latest novel frNew York Times bestselling author of The Agony of the Leaves, Indigo Tea Shop owner Theodosia Browning may always be a bridesmaid, never a bride, but this groom is never going to make it to the altar... Theodosia Browning's dear friend, Delaine Dish, has asked her to be a bridesmaid for her wedding. But when the big day arrives, everything seems to be going wrong. First, a massive storm is brewing over Charleston. A bad omen? Second, Delaine's maid of honor is late for the ceremony. And finally, the groom not only has cold feet—his whole body is cold. A murderer has crashed the wedding. As Theodosia comforts a devastated Delaine, she needs to sort out the suspects on the groom's side from the suspects on the bride's side. One thing soon becomes apparent—revenge won't be the only dish served cold at this wedding. And if Theodosia doesn't watch her step, a cold-blooded killer may have a rude reception in store for her... INCLUDES DELICIOUS RECIPES AND TEA TIME TIPS!

EXCERPT

Theodosia flew down the narrow hallway and rapped on the door of Dougan Granville’s suite. “Dougan, it’s time,” she called out. Theodosia knew he was a hard-driving attorney who was probably working right up until the last millisecond. Nothing. No movement, no answer. Theodosia leaned forward and put an ear to the door. Maybe he was . . . slightly indisposed? Could it be that he really was a nervous bridegroom? “Dougan? Mr. Granville? It’s Theodosia. We’re all waiting for you.” Still nothing. Wondering what protocol she should observe for something like this, Theodosia hesitated for a few moments. Then decided it didn’t much matter. Guests were waiting, the bride was waiting, it was time to get moving. She gripped the doorknob and turned it, then pushed the door open a good six inches. “Dougan,” Theodosia called again, trying to inject a little humor in her voice. “We have an impatient bride who’s waiting for her handsome groom.” There was no sound, save the monotonous drumming of rain on the roof and the gurgling of water as it rushed through the downspouts. Theodosia pushed the door all the way open and stepped across the threshold. “Dougan?” The room was completely dark and ominously quiet. Straight ahead, she could just make out a faint outline of heavy velvet draperies pulled across a bay window. Did Granville fall asleep? He must have. Wow, this is one relaxed guy on his wedding day. Shadows capered on the walls as she stepped past a looming wardrobe and pieces of furniture. The room had a strange electrical smell, as if an outside transformer had exploded. Theodosia tiptoed across the carpet, her silk mules whispering softly. When she reached the foot of the bed, she stared. A tiny bedside lamp shone a small circle of warmth on a battered bedside table, but there was no one lying on the bed. Nothing had creased the dusty pink coverlet. What on earth? Flustered, nervous now that they might have a runaway groom on their hands, Theodosia fumbled with the curtains and ripped them open. Lightning flashed outside, a sharp blade cutting through a wall of purple-black clouds. Still, this is better. A little more light. Just as Theodosia turned, something caught her eye. A fleeting image that she couldn’t quite process but one that unnerved her anyway. She slowly retraced her footsteps. Back to the sitting room area that had been in total darkness, as thunder boomed like kettle drums in some unholy symphony. That’s when she saw him. Dougan Granville was sprawled on a brocade fainting couch. His eyes were squeezed shut, his head had fallen forward until his chin rested heavily on his chest. On the small glass table in front of him was an empty glassine envelope and a scatter of white powder. Theodosia tiptoed closer, her heart hammering in her chest, her brain shouting screams of protest. An unwanted shot of adrenaline sparked by surprise and fear had sent her blood pressure zooming. Still, she was mesmerized, hypnotized, at what she was seeing. Was Granville just stoned? Or . . . something worse? Theodosia moved closer and stretched out a tentative hand. The very tips of her fingers brushed the pulse point of his neck. Granville felt ice cold and lifeless. There was no pulse, no respiration. Revulsion and fear rose up inside her like sulfurous magma from a roiling volcano. Theodosia understood, logically and viscerally, that Granville hadn’t just fainted on this fainting couch like genteel ladies of old. This man was seriously, catastrophically, dead.