The story opens with Indigo Tea Shop owner and amateur sleuth Theodosia Browning viewing a Gaslight and Galleons Parade from friend Timothy Neville's mansion. A local banker, Carson Lanier, falls from a rooftop and impales himself on an iron fence. Some observers thought they heard a shot before he fell. However, it is later discovered that Lanier was shot with a bolt from a medieval crossbow before he fell. At the request of her friend Timothy Neville, Theodosia becomes involved in the investigation into Lanier's death.
I think this series needs a shot in the arm. The same events happen in the same order in every book. While I applaud the author for always having the crime committed in the first chapter so that the entire book is devoted to the whodunnit, after that the book is stale. We series readers know that secondary character Delaine Dish will host a fashion show where 2 women will have an argument and Delaine will then have a tantrum that can only be soothed by Theodosia. We know there will be 2 extravagant tea events in her shop, although those tend to be rather interesting. We also know that the Heritage Society, chaired by Timothy Neville, will be the place where the crime or a crime will be committed. Usually it is where the crime to be solved in the book occurred. The murder place should be varied.
The main characters are great. Theodosia, her tea blender Drayton Connelley, her cook Haley and police detective Bert Tidwell are awesome. Some of the regular secondary characters are no longer interesting, especially Delaine, and the author should create some new ones. Theodosia has some eccentric relatives that maybe should become more prominent characters. Theo uses her secondary characters to help her solve murders so it is crucial that they not only be interesting but grow as characters.
I was disappointed with this installment of the series. I will give the series one more chance but if the author doesn't mix things up a bit I will stop reading it.
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