Steeped in Evil - Review & Giveaway

Review

Steeped in Evil by Laura Childs
The Tea Shop Mystery series #15

Theodosia Browning leaves tea and turns to wine-at least for the fancy new wine reveal at Knighthall Winery. Unfortunately, the opening is marred by murder. The owner's son, and organizer of the event, is found dead...in his own barrel of wine. Pressured by her good friend Drayton she starts asking questions, and is soon driven by her own curiosity to investigate the murder. What exactly was going on at the winery? What is "green alien"? Could it be something even more dangerous than men from outer space?

Laura Childs once again brings us the charming setting of Charleston, South Carolina and its environs with its quaint shops and interesting people. While exploring the new world of wine Theodosia gets involved with a new group of people, people who are not quite what they seem. As readers we learn about wine, as well as tea, as Theo expands her knowledge.

I really enjoyed this book, and not just because I'm an oenophile. Laura Childs pens another solid mystery in this enjoyable, long running series, adding depth to her characters and branching out to keep things interesting. Theo is a likeable protagonist who deals with not only murder, but also runs a successful business, handles friends who can be most difficult at times (I was pleased that I didn't "see" much of Haley in this outing), enjoys a bit of a romance, and always has time for a run with her dog, Earl Grey! I only wish I had her stamina! Steeped in Evil is a great addition to an always enjoyable series.

Recipes are included.

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Laura Childs has offered 2 of my readers an autographed copy of Steeped in Evil. All you have to do to qualify is comment on this blog post by 11:59pm EST Monday, March 17th. Let us know either your favorite wine or tea! I'll use Random.org to pick 2 winners who will be announced Tuesday, March 18th.

Currently Reading...

It's been a very busy week and I'm still reading All Things Murder by Jeanne Quigley. As I mentioned last Wednesday, this book is the first in the Veronica Walsh Mystery series which will be released May 21. I really am enjoying this book. Veronica is at loose ends, returning to visit her hometown after the soap opera she starred in for over 30 years was cancelled. When her neighbor is murdered and Veronica finds the body, she decides to start sleuthing. She has the help of a childhood friend and now her former co-star. Will these 2 male cohorts create more problems? We'll see.

Tea & Wine - An Interview with Laura Childs

I'd like to welcome Laura Childs to the blog today. Steeped in Evil, the 15th book in her Tea Shop Mystery series was just released last week.

Kathy: Setting plays such an important role in a mystery.  How did you choose Charleston, SC as the setting for the Tea Shop Mystery series?

LC: First off, there’s a tea plantation nearby, which is really quite cool.  It dates back to before the Revolutionary War.  And Charleston is an old city, with lots of history, mystery, flamboyant characters, and skeletons in the closet, so there’s a lot to work with.  I should also mention that Charleston is haunted.  Nothing better than a city filled with glowing orbs, ancient cemeteries, and clanking ghosts.

Kathy: Theodosia is a tea drinker, but in Steeped in Evil she enters the world of wine.  I love both tea and wine, but enjoy wine more.  Although I love all types of wine, Gewertztraminer is my favorite.  Are you a wine lover?  Do you have a favorite wine?

LC: Oh yes, I adore wine.  I have an ’82 Chateau Lafite Rothschild that I’ve been hoarding for years, as well as a few bottles of Chateau Margaux on my shelves.  As you can probably tell, I’m a red wine drinker.  Though I do love a good bottle of Veuve Clicquot.

Kathy: I’m lucky in that I live in the midst of New York wine country.  I often go on wine tours and have explored wineries in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Texas, as well as NY.  Have you toured a winery?  Was it similar to Theo’s experience (sans dead body, of course . . . I hope). 

LC: I’ve visited a few vineyards in France and have been to Napa and Sonoma at least a dozen times.  I love to go just before the crush when the vines are fairly bursting with grapes and that wonderful peppery smell permeates the air.

Kathy: Some of my favorite characters are Earl Grey, Boo, Poobah, and Mocha.  Do you think animals play an important role in a mystery, even if they aren’t main characters?  Are they based on any real life animals?

LC: I think having an animal lends depth to a character.  Plus, when your character is alone, an animal makes for a caring listener – Theodosia definitely bounces a few ideas off Earl Grey, who is based loosely on my mother’s dog Elmo.  Boo and Poobah are based on my two Shar-Pei dogs, Moosha and Asia.  And Mocha is definitely based on the real-life Mocha Gent, a Quarter Horse I owned when I was younger.

Kathy: You write the Scrapbooking Mystery series and the Cackleberry Club Mystery series as well as the Tea Shop Mystery series.  How do you juggle all 3 series at the same time?

LC: I do juggle them, just not at the same time.  I’m usually writing a Tea Shop Mystery in Spring, a Scrapbook Mystery in early Fall, and a Cackleberry Club Mystery in Winter.  But writing 3 books isn’t any different than my former life as CEO of a marketing firm.  In that business I often juggled 20 different clients and their separate and distinct campaigns for TV, radio, and print advertising.

Kathy: The Cackleberry Club Mysteries have a somewhat different vibe from your other two series.  Was this intentional?

LC: Absolutely.  Different locale, different characters, different stakes - so the series needed its own clear and distinct voice.  I purposely set the Cackleberry Club Mysteries in the Midwest and gave it a down-home, slightly folksy feel with lots of female-friendly humor.

Kathy: What first drew you to cozy mysteries?

LC: I love the idea that they’re a kinder, gentler type of mystery.  And the bad guy (or girl) is always brought to justice in the end.

Kathy: Do you write in any other genres?

LC: I’m currently working on a hard-edged thriller set in the Twin Cities.

Kathy: Tell us about your series. 

LC: Tea Shop Mysteries – Theodosia Browning, proprietor of the Indigo Tea Shop in Charleston, SC, is a clever businesswoman and savvy amateur sleuth who seems to get roped into investigating local crimes.

Scrapbook Mysteries – Scrapbook maven Carmela Bertrand and her BFF Ava are crazy, kooky ladies who live in New Orleans’s French Quarter.  If mysteries aren’t enough, how about cemetery crawls, voodoo shops, and haunted houses!

Cackleberry Club Mysteries – Suzanne, Toni, and Petra, the ladies who run the Cackleberry Club, serve up eggs for breakfast and murder on the side, while Sheriff Doogie tries to keep these clever gals out of the crime-fighting business.

Kathy: Do you have a favorite character?  If so, who and why?

LC: Seriously?  I love them all!

Kathy: If you could have a dinner party and invite 4 authors, living or dead, in any genre, who would you invite?

LC: John Sandford, Lee Childs, James A. Michener, and Edgar Allan Poe (he can bring the wine!)

Kathy: What are you currently reading?

LC: I’m reading Wil S. Hylton’s Vanished: The Sixty Year Search for the Missing Men of World War II.  I’m a real World War II buff.

Kathy: Do you have plans for future books either in your current series or a new series?

LC: There are lots more books coming.  I have three 3-book contracts for each of my current series (so that’s 9 books) and a 2-book contract for my thriller series (so that’s 2 more books).  I’m going to be verrrry busy.

Kathy: What’s your favorite thing about being an author?

LC: Being verrrry busy.  And drinking tea all day.

Spotlight - A Skeleton in the Family

Today I'm shining a spotlight on A Skeleton in the Family by Leigh Perry. This book, the first Family Skeleton Mystery, was published in September 2013.

From the back cover:

Most families have skeletons in their closets...

Moving back into her parents' house with her teenage daughter had not been Georgia Thackery's "Plan A." But when she got a job at the local college, it seemed the sensible thing to do. So she settled in and began reconnecting with old friends.

Including Sid. Sid is the Thackery family's skeleton. He's lived in the house as long as Georgia can remember, although no one, including Sid, knows exactly where he came from and how he came to be a skeleton.

Sid walks, he talks, he makes bad jokes, he tried to keep Georgia's dog from considering him a snack. And he manages to persuade Georgia to let him leave the house. But when she takes him to an anime convention-disguised as a skeleton, of course-he sees a woman who triggers memories of his past.

Now he is determined to find out how he died-with Georgia's help. But their investigation may uncover a killer who's still alive and well and bad to the bone...

Sleuthing and the BFF… Guest Post/Review/Contest

Sleuthing and the BFF…
By Duffy Brown

It’s that dark and stormy night we hear so much about, your car just broke down in the middle of nowhere and you forgot to recharge your cell phone. In the moonlight you see an old dilapidated farmhouse off in the distance.

The question is… Who’s walking to that farmhouse with you?

Sherlock has Watson with him, Perot has Captain Hastings, Nancy Drew has boyfriend Ned, Stephanie Plum has Lula. Some sleuths even have a cat or dog. Sometimes they even talk. I wish my cats talked. Actually I wished they did the laundry and vacuumed but I digress.

Every sleuth has a BFF to chat with, get into trouble with, drink with.

On TV Beckett has Rick Castle. The SCI people have each other kicking around and Lizbeth has tea-drinking Patrick Jane in the Mentalist.

It’s not just solving the crimes together that makes them BFFs, but sharing their personal lives. IMO it’s this personal touch that’s the most interesting part of the show or book. Don’t you love when Sherlock does something nice for Watson or Perot and Hastings travel and take on the chase together or when Becket and Castle turn to each other and say I know who the killer is!

That LuLa is a once-upon-a-time hooker makes for a great character, that Patrick Jane is hunting for Red John keeps us riveted, that Rick Castle is has a grown daughter and a boyfriend who is nothing like Rick and has his mother is living with him gives a human touch to finding killers and tripping over dead bodies.

In my book the Consignment Shop Mysteries protagonist Reagan has BFF Auntie KiKi. KiKi was once a roadie for Cher and spouts Cher-isms when giving sage advice like A girl can wait for the right man to come along but in the meantime she can have a darn good time with all the wrong ones. When KiKi was born the angels chanted cha-cha-cha over her crib and turned her into Savannah’s resident dancing teacher, when Reagan’s mom was born she was wrapped in a blanket with pink elephants resulting in Reagan being named Reagan.

In Pearls and Poison, Reagan’s mom is running for city council and her opponent winds up dead…that’s one way to win an election. Daughter Reagan and Auntie KiKi run to the rescue to find the real killer discussing suspects over martinis.

Back to our dark and stormy night. We know who our sleuths have at their sides when going into that creepy old house. So who would you have tagging along. Who is at one person that when you show up at their house with a dead body grabs a shovel and doesn’t ask questions.

When life goes right to hell in a hand-basket, who do you want at your side?

CONTEST:

Answer Duffy's question  (When life goes right to hell in a hand-basket, who do you want at your side?) in the comments section of this post and be entered to win a Pearls and Poison tote bag. Be sure to leave your e-mail address so that I can contact you should you win. Two winners will be chosen by random.org. This is a quick contest-get those comments in by Saturday night (March 8, 2014 by 11:59pm EST) to qualify! Sorry, US mailing addresses only.

Review

Peals and Poison by Duffy Brown
Third in the Consignment Shop Mystery series

Reagan Summerside's mom, the judge, is running for Alderman, but things get sticky when a nasty mudslinging opponent winds up dead, poisoned by some honey bourbon; bourbon the judge said she was bringing him as a good will gesture. Reagan just wants to protect her mom and keep Aunt Kiki out of harms way, but. as usual, she finds lots of trouble.

Duffy Brown gives us another fun romp through Savannah with Reagan, her family, and friends. While trying to clear her mother, Reagan antagonizes several suspects and makes plenty of new enemies, who may want to do her serious harm. Aunt Kiki, afraid of being replaced as a partner in sleuthing, is also determined to help, and thus cause Reagan more worries.While things are heating up between Reagan and Boone (which neither of them can believe) we also learn there's a relationship of another kind between Boone and Guillotine Gloria (AKA Reagan's mamma). With all the stress and downright danger, as well as a surprise new hairstyle, Reagan's biggest shock may be what happens on the final page of the book!

I just love the antics of this Southern crew. Duffy Brown has a great cast of characters who make murder fun! I'm pleased to meet Mercedes, a new character (and what a character she is) and a great addition to the local ensemble. If you like your mysteries on the zany side, as I certainly do, this book and series is for you!  I only wish I could visit and give a hot dog to Bruce Willis while sipping a martini on the porch of the Prissy Fox.


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Duffy Brown loves anything with a mystery. While others girls dreamed of dating Brad Pitt, Duffy longed to take Sherlock Holmes to the prom. She has two cats, Spooky and Dr. Watson, her license plate is Sherlock and she conjures up who-done-it stories of her very own for Berkley Prime Crime. Duffy’s national bestselling Consignment Shop Mystery series is set in Savannah and the Cyclepath Mysteries are set on Mackinac Island. Duffy writes romance as Dianne Castell and is a USA Today bestselling author.

http://www.duffybrown.com

Currently Reading...

I just started reading All Things Murder by Jeanne Quigley. This book is the first in the Veronica Walsh Mystery series which will be released May 21.

For 32 years Veronica starred in the soap opera, Days and Nights, but when the show is cancelled she realizes roles are more difficult to come by for an almost 54 year old actress. She decides a change of scenery is what she needs, so Veronica moves back to her home town in the Adirondacks. However, I have a feeling the slower pace of her charming town will soon prove dangerous. I've already had a brief introduction to an unpleasant character and I have a feeling a murder is imminent!

Spotlight - Pearls and Poison

I'd like to shine a spotlight on the upcoming release Pearls and Poison by Duffy Brown. This book is the 3rd Consignment Shop Mystery and a great addition to this fun series.

From the back cover:

It's election time in Savannah, Georgia, and Judge Guillotine Gloria-aka Reagan Summerside's mom-is neck and neck in the polls with Kip "Scummy" Seymour. But the already dirty campaign is about to get downright filthy-with one candidate getting buried six feet under...

With her strong opinions and knack for getting into trouble, Reagan is not an ideal volunteer for her mother's alderman campaign. Plus, she'd rather be running her consignment shop, the Prissy Fox, and eating doughnuts with her dog, Bruce Willis. But when her mother's opponent, Kip, is found poisoned and her mother is pegged as a suspect, Reagan nominates herself as lead murder investigator.

Reagan is intent on finding Kip's killer and clearing her mother's good name, but she soon finds herself on the bad side of Kip's enemies-turned-suspects.This time, no amount of costumes and makeup can keep her inconspicuous and out of danger. Because the closer Reagan gets to the truth, the hotter things get...

Be sure to visit the blog this Friday, March 7th as I'll have a guest post by Duffy Brown as well as my review for this book.