Broken Bone China
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5.0 • 1 Rating
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- £4.99
Publisher Description
Theodosia Browning serves tea and solves crimes in Charleston, a city steeped in tradition and treachery in the latest Tea Shop Mystery from New York Times bestselling author Laura Childs.
It is Sunday afternoon, and Theodosia and Drayton are catering a formal tea at a hot-air balloon rally. The view aloft is not only stunning, they are also surrounded by a dozen other colorful hot-air balloons. But as the sky turns gray and the clouds start to boil up, a strange object zooms out of nowhere. It is a drone, and it appears to be buzzing around the balloons, checking them out.
As Theodosia and Drayton watch, the drone, hovering like some angry, mechanized insect, deliberately crashes into the balloon next to them. An enormous, fiery explosion erupts, and everyone watches in horror as the balloon plummets to the earth, killing all three of its passengers.
Sirens scream, first responders arrive, and Theodosia is interviewed by the police. During the interview she learns that one of the downed occupants was Don Kingsley, the CEO of a local software company, SyncSoft. Not only do the police suspect Kingsley as the primary target, they learn that he possessed a rare Revolutionary War Union Jack flag that several people were rabidly bidding on.
Intrigued, Theodosia begins her own investigation. Was it the CEO's soon-to-be ex-wife, who is restoring an enormous mansion at no expense? The CEO's personal assistant, who also functioned as curator of his prized collection of Americana? Two rival antiques' dealers known for dirty dealing? Or was the killer the fiancée of one of Theodosia's dear friends, who turns out to be an employee—and whistle-blower—at SyncSoft?
INCLUDES DELICIOUS RECIPES AND TEA TIME TIPS!
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Bestseller Childs's 20th Tea Shop mystery (after 2018's Plum Tea Crazy) opens with Theodosia Browning, the proprietor of the Indigo Tea Shop in Charleston, S.C., and tea sommelier Drayton Conneley enjoying a hot air balloon ride, until, to their horror, a drone strikes a nearby hot air balloon, killing Don Kingsley, CEO of a technology company, as well as his client and the pilot. Theodosia learns through her judicious questions, not entirely unwelcomed by Det. Burt Tidwell of the Charleston PD, that Kingsley, the apparent target, was possibly misusing company funds, and that his estranged wife needed money for the luxurious B&B she was planning to open soon. That a famous Revolutionary War flag, the object of a bidding war, has gone missing from Kingsley's home adds to the intrigue. Suspects abound, including the wife, a pair of hostile antiques dealers, and a museum representative. Tea-related recipes and a list of tea resources round out a volume sure to appeal to cozy fans.)
