Customer Reviews

Gunpowder Green

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Theodosia is thrilled to be catering the annual Isle of Palms Yacht Race. But the perfect day is brought to abrupt end when the gun signaling the end of the race explodes and kills Oliver Dixon. While it appears to be an accident, Theo isn't convinced and begins to investigate. Soon she has more suspects then she knows what to do with. Was it the result of an ancient feud? Or maybe the new, young widow wanted control of his fortune? Or could Oliver's business investor have wanted out of his investment enough to kill?

I thoroughly enjoyed this second mystery novel (following DEATH BY DARJEELING). The plot is complex, with the clues pointing in every direction possible. I still didn't know what was going on by the end, but the ending worked. I'm not a tea person, but enjoyed the information about tea. It was well scattered throughout and didn't bog down the storyline. My biggest complaint is the author's tendency to switch view-point characters for a few paragraphs at random within a scene. It makes for confusing reading but fortunately only happens a few times over the course of the novel.

I'm already looking forward to my next visit to Charleston and the Indigo Tea Shop. This is a fun, relaxing series with a wonderful cast of characters and good plotting. Put the kettle on and enjoy.

There's a lot more than tea brewing at the Indigo Tea Shoppe in this second installment of the Laura Childs series. Unfortunately, the plot doesn't keep up with the atmosphere. Clues point in every direction, but even on a second reading there's no "aha!" moment when the reader can see -- "Oh, that's where the murderer tipped his/her hand!" The plotting is not getting better as this series progresses.

My dear friend Theo Browning is back and I for one am delighted. Ms Childs characters are lifelike and interesting people. I would love to take a trip to Charlston and stroll through the historic district, perhaps even pay a visit to Drayton's home. The mystery is well plotted and convoluted enough to keep one guessing until the end. I just hate it when I guess the murderer a third or quarter of the way throgh the book. The tea tips and tasty tidbits recomended in the book are an added bonus. They encourage one to slow down and become a part of more gentle time which can be a great comfort in these turbulent times. I can hardly wait for Theo's next outing. I hope Ms. Childs continues to tantilize us with more hints from Theo's past and expands her relationship with Jory Davis and Burt Tidwell. I would also like to see her expand the characters of Drayton and Hayley, perhaps even give them a story of their own where Theo takes a more reserved roll in solving the case.

Theodosia Browning and the staff of her tea shop have the honor of catering the annual sailboat race in Charlestown. The starter, Oliver Dixon blows himself up with the antique starter pistol. The newlywed, 60ish, millionaire has no reason to kill himself and it doesn't look like an accident. Theodosia and her staff help Detective Tidwell solve the mystery.

This is the second of what I hope will be a long running series. The characters and settings are very interesting and the mystery is very good.

„Gunpowder Green" is the second book in the Teashop-Mystery-Series and it is even better than the first one, "Death By Darjeeling",

Theodosia and her friends/colleagues Drayton and Harley are catering for the Isle of Palms Yacht Race when the signaling gun explodes and kills a wealthy member of Charleston society, Oliver Dixon.

Theodosia is not convinced that Dixon's death was an accident and starts investigating on her own account. There are lots of suspects who might have wanted to do Oliver Dixon in: was it his young wife of nine weeks, who was after his money? Was it a member of the competing yacht club, a business associate? Or was the murder even a result of a longstanding family feud between the Dixon and the Cantrell families?

Laura Childs continues what she has begun in the first Teashop-Mystery: She gives loving & detailed accounts of people and places, without making the read tedious or peripatetic. Quite the contrary! Her knack of picturing and describing things made me want to slow down and savor every minute in Charleston's historic district, sneak a peak into her teashop and be served tea and a delicious pastries by Drayton and Haley.

Compared to the predecessor "Death By Darjeeling", the plot of the mystery in "Gunpowder Green" is far better evolved, even though some readers might be able to pin the perpetrator a lot earlier than I could.

Result: "In a world gone mad with indifference" (p.201) reading this book did make a difference to me;-). I enjoyed reading it until the very last page. A perfect, relaxing, fully-fledged-5-star cozy mystery! Am very much looking forward to reading the third book in this series!

Though Charleston's Indigo Tea Shop normally never caters a party, proprietor Theodosia Browning makes an exception for the annual Isles of Palm Yacht Race. She and her crack staff of two even make a new tea, GUNPOWDER GREEN, for the "Tea by the Sea" event. The gala is going quite well though Theodosia observes an argument between upper crust Oliver Dixon and Fred Cantrell. Not long afterward, Oliver fires the finishing line gun, but it misfires exploding in his face leaving him dead.

Everyone including police detective Burt Tidwell believes an unfortunate accident has occurred. That is everyone except Theodosia who feels someone pulled off a clever homicide by disguising it as one of those misfortunate events that happen in life. Unable to leave it alone, Theodosia begins making inquiries that places her in danger.

The latest Indigo Tea Shop mystery, GUNPOWDER GREEN, is an engaging cozy that sub-genre fans will want to read along with a spot of their favorite beverage, preferably green tea. The story line engages the audience from the start though why the heroine insists murder occurred against the overwhelming evidence seems inane on Theodosia's part. Fans will enjoy the antics of Theodosia and her employees as they put their personal spin on the perils and delights of tea flavored boiling water. Laura Childs provides the right combination between tidbits on tea and an amateur sleuth cozy that will send readers seeking a cup of DEATH BY DARJEELING, the series previous novel.

Harriet Klausner

I've tried to give these books a fair chance. I like the Charleston setting and there are some good recipes in the back of the book if you enjoy tea. However, the writing gets in the way. All of the books in this series contain sentence fragments and don't seem to have been proofread. The characters are one-dimensional. They are not likeable. Theodosia is a busy-body, and comes across as an arrogant know-it-all who really has an issue about competing with the police and obstructing justice. Haley is irritating beyond belief. Drayton seems to be the only regular who is not obnoxious. The plots are silly. I would probably go to the library and page to the back of the book for the recipes but would not waste the time and money reading these

GUNPOWDER GREEN is the second book in Laura Childs' tea mystery series and I truly enjoyed it. I was so interested in the facts that the author presented about various teas. I also enjoyed the various facts about Charleston.

The plot is very developed and I found it easy to stay with and so refreshing from really simplistic mysteries. The book has more depth than most and I was intrigued with the viewpoints presented from the various characters.

I also really have loved the inclusion of her dog. It is a warm side to this thoroughly enjoyable series.

Background on the book: Theodosia caters an event at the yacht race and the gunshot that fires the end of the race is actually the gun exploding, killing the gentleman who pulled the trigger of the antique gun... is it an accidental death like so many believe, or is it something more along the lines of premediated murder?! Having nothing to do with herself, other than being the first person on the scene and being a childhood friend of the prime suspect's sister/aunt/some female relation, Theodosia decides to get involved in sleuthing to discover what exactly happened, and why!

My Opinion: Laura Childs has definitely progressed stylistically in this, her second book of the Tea Shop Mysteries, with more complete sentences (be they occasionally run-ons and yes, some fragments) and most of the chapters were much longer than 3 pages (thanks!). Her attempted humour at a certain character's grammatical structure was rather humourously ironic, especially since she seems to have trouble in that department herself (my BA is in English so maybe I should be a little kinder...). I'm starting to like the characters more and I do find it refreshing that Theodosia is not constantly discussing her need to lose weight (she's described as being slim and pretty) or attempts at trying to tame frizzy hair, or comparing herself to other women like it is so often done in many cozy mysteries (not to bash Joanne Fluke, but really, after what, 10, 11, 12 books and we've still got 20lbs to lose?). I do wish the book was not so dismissive about Theodosia's relationship with Jory Davis (he's mentioned twice... in passing), but we shall see if that relationship comes to something a little more substantial in the 7 or so more books in the series.

Conclusion: All in all, it was a fun read-in-the-sun-by-the-pool type of book that is short enough to read in three hours or so. "Shades of Earl Grey" here I come!

I love both the Tea Shop and Scrapbooking series by Laura Childs. You feel like you are right in the middle of Charleston. Make sure you read her Tea Shop books in the order they were written because in this novel she tells you in one paragraph not only details about the crime in her first novel, but also who each suspect and exactly who the murderer was. That would be a tremendous disappointment to me if I had not read her first book in this series already. Other than that small complaint, Laura Childs is a favorite of mine.