Give a plum cheery round of applause for our special guest, Laura Childs, New York Times best-selling author of Plum Tea Crazy.

Laura Childs

Pairing Tea, Food, and Mystery

I’ve always considered food and mystery to be a very inspired pairing. There’s nothing like cuddling under a cozy quilt and reading like crazy while you sip a cup of Darjeeling tea and munch a cream scone. Or even enjoying a cup of tea with your favorite chocolate. It just works. Maybe the sugar feeds your adrenaline or maybe it harkens back to that great feeling you got as a kid when you popped jujubes and watched the Twilight Zone on TV.

Whatever the reason, I’ve taken to including recipes in all of my Tea Shop Mysteries. My newest mystery, Plum Tea Crazy, offers recipes such as Chocolate Tea Bread, Baked French Toast, Griddle Scones, Ricotta-Orange Tea Sandwiches, and Plum Crazy Plum Crisp. Along with a rip-roaring mystery (I always plop a dead body right in chapter one!) there’s also a fair amount of tea lore and helpful information about tea. Because, yes, I firmly believe that folks really do want to know the difference between a Darjeeling and an Assam, or learn what’s the perfect Chinese black tea to serve with a chicken salad tea sandwich.

And just like a good book, tea warms the heart and speaks to the soul. Sharing a pot of tea can turn acquaintances into friends, friends into confidantes. Most importantly, tea’s heady scent can act as aromatherapy to cheer you up or lull you into sleepy time. And just the very act of taking tea, of making time for this genteel ritual, can help calm the most overwrought of hearts.

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It’s definitely time to put the kettle on and curl up with a book now. And if you’d like to know a little bit about Plum Tea Crazy, I’m delighted to tell you:

As tea shop owner Theodosia views Charleston Harbor’s Gaslights and Galleons Parade from the widow’s walk of a nearby mansion, a local banker tumbles over the narrow railing and plunges to his death. But when Theodosia discovers that the victim was actually shot with a crossbow, this tragic accident turns sinister. With pacing that moves like a thriller, and any number of quirky suspects, it’s one of the reasons Book Riot named my Tea Shop Mysteries to their list of “25 of the All Time Best Cozy Mystery Series.”

Hugs to you,

Laura Childs

Laura Childs is the USA Today and New York Times bestselling author of the Tea Shop Mysteries, Scrapbooking Mysteries, and Cackleberry Club Mysteries. Book Riot recently named the Tea Shop Mysteries to their list of “25 of the All Time Best Cozy Mystery Series.” In her previous life Laura was CEO of her own marketing firm, authored several screenplays, and produced a reality TV show. She is married to Dr. Bob, a professor of Chinese art history, enjoys travel, and has two Chinese Shar-Pei dogs.