High Tea and Misdemeanors (A Tea Shop Mystery) by Laura Childs
About High Tea and Misdemeanors
High Tea and Misdemeanors (A Tea Shop Mystery)
Cozy Mystery.
29th in Series
Setting - South Carolina
Publisher : Berkley (March 4, 2025)
Hardcover : 320 pages
ISBN-10 : 0593815440
ISBN-13 : 978-0593815441
Digital ASIN : B0D66RG6JG
When a wedding is tragically averted by the death of the bridesmaid, Theodosia is determined to prove that it was murder in the latest entry in this New York Times bestselling series. Theodosia Browning and her tea sommelier, Drayton Conneley, are tapped to cater the elegant wedding of Bettina and Jamie. Theodosia and Drayton are setting up when they hear a crash from the greenhouse. Shockingly, they discover that part of the roof has collapsed trapping a bridesmaid and the groom. He will pull through but the bridesmaid is no more. Theodosia is convinced it was murder. INCLUDES DELICIOUS RECIPES AND TEA TIME TIPS!
About Laura Childs
Laura Childs is the New York Times bestselling author of the Tea Shop Mysteries
Laura specializes in cozy mysteries that have the pace of a thriller (a thrillzy!) Her three series are:
The Tea Shop Mysteries 
The Scrapbooking Mysteries
The Cackleberry Club Mysteries
Interview
When did you first realize you wanted to be a
writer?
I’ve had the writing bug all my life. As a kid I
wrote short stories and plays and told ghost stories around campfires. In
college I wrote for the school newspaper, then went into advertising where I
wrote and produced hundreds of radio and TV spots. I headed my own advertising
for 20 years, then segued into novel writing.
How long does it take you to write a book?
I’ve written books in 3 month’s time and also
stretched them out to 10 months. It just depends on the deadline that my
publisher sets. Here’s the big secret – most writers are a bit lazy so if you
give us enough time, we’ll stretch out the writing process as long as we can.
What is your work schedule like when you’re writing?
I pretty much write from 9 to 5 with a half hour for
lunch. Of course, when I’m working on promotion and advertising (which I do a
lot) I don’t do any “serious” novel writing that day.
How do books get published?
It usually begins with a literary agent who pitches
a writer’s idea to a book editor. If the editor is intrigued, the agent has
their writer submit the first 3 chapters and a short synopsis. If you’re lucky
and your story hits the editor’s hot button, they’ll probably want a finished
manuscript within the year.
Where do you get your information or ideas for your books?
Sometimes ideas explode happily from my imagination,
other times I might see a crazy article in a newspaper or magazine that
springboards me into thinking about a nice juicy murder plot. For example, I
once read a celebrity interview where the celebrity said her first acting job was
playing a ghost on a Halloween ghost train. Did I work that ghost train idea
into a book? Did I ever. I wrote a Halloween-themed mystery with a dramatic
runaway haunted train ending!
What do you like to do when you’re not writing?
I enjoy travel, lunches with friends, reading, and
bike riding. But the funny thing is, when I’m not writing I’m often thinking
about character names, ideas for plots, and new ways to murder one of my
characters. That’s the thing about being an author, there’s always lots of
stuff buzzing around in yourhead!
What was one of the most surprising things you learned in creating your books?
Probably how long it takes for a book to get to market.
Let’s say it takes me six months to write a book and send it off to my editor.
Once the manuscript hits his desk, it’s sent to editing, then back to me for
proofing, then back to my editor along with my ideas for what the cover images
should be. The art directors come up with cover sketches for my approval, then
the book is slotted for publication and the promotion and publicity folks go to
work. Surprisingly, from the time I deliver a manuscript it take a full year before
my bookappears in book stores.
How many books have you written?
I’ve written 58 books in 25 years and am working on
2 more books right now.
Do you have any suggestions to help me become a better writer?
I think the best writers are the ones who are voracious readers. The more you read, the more you pick up tricks from veteran authors. For example, when I first started out I’d read a book for fun, then I’d go back and carefully analyze it. I’d figure out what intrigued me and kept me reading, where the major turning points were, and how the author pulled me in emotionally. There are also lots of good books on novel writing (one is Writing the Breakout Novel by Donald Maas) that are super helpful.
Do you hear from your readers much? What do they
say?
I interact with my readers constantly. On Facebook and in person at book signings, talks at libraries, and book fairs. And believe me, do I ever listen to them. My readers tell me what they like about my characters, what kinds of plots they prefer to read, and even give me suggestions for character names. I give careful consideration to absolutely everything my readers say. They are my number one audience – and since writing is basically entertainment, I always strive to keep my readers highly entertained.
What do you think makes a good story?
It’s been said there are only a dozen or so basic story themes – finding romance, solving a murder, saving the world, finding your way home, taking up a difficult quest, etc. So a writer needs to be able to take one of these themes and put their own personal twist on it. Take for example The Wizard of Ozwhere Dorothy tries to find her way home. In the movie ET: The Extra Terrestrial the little ET alien also wants to find his way home but it’s done with a whole new spin,including friends who want to help and enemies who try to block his path. It’s perfectly okay to recycle a well-known theme, just be sure to reimagine it in your own unique way.
What would you like my readers to know?
I’d love to tell them about High Tea and
Misdemeanors, my brand new Tea Shop Mystery. At a glorious autumn wedding
at a country flower farm, a mysterious greenhouse collapse claims the life of
an innocent bridesmaid and injures the groom. As the heartsick bride sobs over
these tragic events, tea maven Theodosia Browning wonders if it really was an
accident. Even as police and paramedics arrive, Theodosia hunts for clues. And
when the groom is targeted again, she launches a full-on shadow investigation. As
Theodosia hosts an Under the Tuscan Sun Tea and a Victorian Halloween Tea, she
remains on the prowl for this murderer and saboteur. And eventually finds
herself deep in a low-country swamp where she stumbles upon a deserted sawmill
and a merciless killer desperate for revenge.
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