Murder in the Tea Leaves (A Tea Shop Mystery)
by Laura Childs

About Murder in the Tea Leaves


Murder in the Tea Leaves (A Tea Shop Mystery)
Cozy Mystery
27th in Series
Setting – South Carolina
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Berkley (March 5, 2024)
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 304 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0593200985
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0593200988
Digital ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0C777ZCXN

It’s Lights, Action, Murder as tea maven Theodosia Browning scrambles for clues in this latest installment of the New York Times bestselling series.

When Theodosia Browning reads the tea leaves on the set of the movie, Dark Fortunes, things go from spooky to worse. Lights are dimmed, the camera rolls, and red hot sparks fly as the film’s director is murdered in a tricky electrical accident.

Or was it an accident? Though the cast and crew are stunned beyond belief, nobody admits to seeing a thing. And when Theodosia’s friend, Delaine, becomes the prime suspect, Theodosia begins her own shadow investigation. But who among this Hollywood cast and crew had murder on their mind? The screenwriter is a self-centered pot head, the leading actress is trying to wiggle out of her contract, the brand new director seems indifferent, and nobody trusts the slippery-when-dry Hollywood agent.

Between hosting a Breakfast at Tiffany’s Tea, a Poetry Tea, and trying to launch her own chocolate line, Theodosia doggedly hunts down clues and explores the seemingly haunted Brittlebank Manor where the murder took place. And just when she’s ready to pounce, a Charleston Film Board member is also murdered, throwing everything into total disarray. But this clever killer will go to any lengths to hide his misdeeds as Theodosia soon finds out when she and her tea sommelier, Drayton, get caught up in a dangerous stakeout.

INCLUDES DELICIOUS RECIPES AND TEA TIME TIPS!

About Laura Childs

Laura Childs is the New York Times bestselling author of the Tea Shop Mysteries, Scrapbook Mysteries, and Cackleberry Club Mysteries. In her previous life she was CEO/Creative Director of her own marketing firm and authored several screenplays. She is married to a professor of Chinese art history, loves to travel, rides horses, enjoys fundraising for various non-profits, and has two Chinese Shar-Pei dogs.

Laura specializes in cozy mysteries that have the pace of a thriller (a thrillzy!) Her three series are:

The Tea Shop Mysteries – set in the historic district of Charleston and featuring Theodosia Browning, owner of the Indigo Tea Shop. Theodosia is a savvy entrepreneur, and pet mom to service dog Earl Grey. She’s also an intelligent, focused amateur sleuth who doesn’t rely on coincidences or inept police work to solve crimes. This charming series is highly atmospheric and rife with the history and mystery that is Charleston.

The Scrapbooking Mysteries – a slightly edgier series that takes place in New Orleans. The main character, Carmela, owns Memory Mine scrapbooking shop in the French Quarter and is forever getting into trouble with her friend, Ava, who owns the Juju Voodoo shop. New Orleans’ spooky above-ground cemeteries, jazz clubs, bayous, and Mardi Gras madness make their presence known here!

The Cackleberry Club Mysteries – set in Kindred, a fictional town in the Midwest. In a rehabbed Spur station, Suzanne, Toni, and Petra, three semi-desperate, forty-plus women have launched the Cackleberry Club. Eggs are the morning specialty here and this cozy cafe even offers a book nook and yarn shop. Business is good but murder could lead to the cafe’s undoing! This series offers recipes, knitting, cake decorating, and a dash of spirituality.

Laura’s Links: WebsiteFacebook

Purchase Links – AmazonB&NKoboBookshop.orgPenguinRandomHouse

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Series Name: The Order
Book Number in Series: Book 2
Release Date: May 28, 2026

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Enemies to lovers ⚔️
Morally black MMC 🗡️
Obsessive FMC 🕷️
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Slow burn 🔥
Cat and mouse 🐈‍⬛\
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#PrettyRuthless #LexiDavis #DarkAcademia #secretsociety
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Series Name: The Order
Book Number in Series: Book 2
Release Date: May 28, 2026

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𝗧𝗥𝗢𝗣𝗘𝗦
Dark academia 🕯️
Secret society 🕳️
Enemies to lovers ⚔️
Morally black MMC 🗡️
Obsessive FMC 🕷️
Predator vs predator 🐆⚔️
Slow burn 🔥
Cat and mouse 🐈‍⬛\
Touch-averse hero 🧊
Forced proximity 🌲
“You don’t belong here” 🎓
“Run.” / “Make me.” 🏃‍♀️💀

𝗕𝗟𝗨𝗥𝗕
At Ashford University, power doesn’t belong to professors.
It belongs to the students.
The ones with the right names.
The right connections.
The ones who decide what happens behind closed doors.
Becky Dawson doesn’t belong there.
She’s not rich. Not connected. Not invited.
But she knows something’s not right.
And every answer leads back to one man.
Carrson Ashford.
Cold. Controlled. Untouchable.
They say he’s dangerous. They don’t know the half of it.
Now Becky’s on the hunt.
Studying him, following him, learning patterns he thinks no one sees.
Because Carrson isn’t just a man.
He’s a door.
The heir to a world built on power, ambition… and survival.
But Becky isn’t the only predator here.
Carrson notices. Pushes to see if she’ll break.
When he presses a blade to her throat, she doesn’t run.
When he tells her to stay away, she steps closer.
When he tells her to run,
she waits to see if he’ll chase.
That’s a problem.
Because Becky Dawson?
She’s not supposed to be part of his world.
But now that she is,
He can’t decide
if he wants to destroy her…
or never let her go.

#PrettyRuthless #LexiDavis #DarkAcademia #secretsociety