local politics can bee killer

When Theodosia Browning envisioned her Honey Bee Tea as an event for Holly Burns and her art gallery, Imago Gallery, she never could have anticipated how it went. They held it at Charleston’s Petigru Park, where they city had recently added a beekeeping project, knowing it would be a lovely outdoor space to highlight the art Holly wanted to display. With her silent partner, she was hoping to add some prestige to her gallery, attract artists of a higher caliber, and find customers with larger budgets.

The Tea started out beautifully. The decorations were lovely, and the menu carefully chosen, from the Honey Child Tea to the glory bee scones and tea sandwiches. But then local politician Osgood Claxton III tried to take over and make a speech. Theodosia wasn’t about to stand for that, so she interrupts with tea and scones, and things settle down. But then a mysterious beekeeper appears, in full regalia, with a bee smoker in hand. He comes toward the tea party, and everyone is a little mesmerized by him.

As he gets close to the crowd, his smoker starts spewing out clouds of smoke. He walks deliberately toward Claxton, his smoke getting stronger. But as the party guests come in contact with the smoke, they start screaming, coughing, and crying. Clearly, there is something toxic about the smoke, but Theo watches as the beekeeper pulls out a gun and shoots the politician point blank. Claxton goes down, and Theo can tell that there is nothing anyone can do for him. But all around, people are screaming and running. Without thinking, she grabs a heavy vase and runs after the escaping killer.

The man in the beekeeper outfit ends up getting away, but not before seeing Theo coming after him and pointing his gun at her. She causes him to stumble and drop the gun when she throws the vase at him, but he still gets away. And by the time she gets back to what’s left of the party, emergency personnel are all over, helping the guests who need oxygen or loading them into the ambulances. Theo has to admit to the police that she chased after the killer and leads them to his gun and the smoker, which he had also dropped. But she also got admonished for putting herself in danger, by the police and by her tea sommelier and best friend Drayton Conneley.

The next day, back at Theodosia’s Indigo Tea Shop, they serve their customers delicious teas chosen by Drayton and treats that chef Haley comes up with. And when Holly comes in to talk about what happened at the Honey Bee Tea, she is heartbroken. Many of the art pieces she had brought to the park were destroyed, artists are pulling out of her gallery, and customers are changing their minds on the paintings they had agreed to purchase. She’s afraid she will lose everything, so she asks Theo to put her investigative skills to the problem and find the killer before she is completely bankrupt.

Theo agrees and starts to ask questions around town. The first thing she finds out is that Osgood Claxton had been in politics for a long time, and he had been known for making a lot of deals. He was not well liked, so trying to find someone who wanted to kill him might not be all that difficult. Then she finds out about his soon-to-be ex-wife, his ex-girlfriend, and all his political rivals. And not only that, but there is a local artist who was denied an $18,000 art grant by Claxton, and that man still held a grudge.

Theodosia has a lot of suspects to suss out, in between running the Tea Shop and their specialty tea parties. But she has to do it all quickly, or Holly and her gallery will be history. Although, with rumors rampant and bullets flying, it may turn out to be the end of Theo and her tea shop too.

Honey Drop Dead is book number 25 in Laura Childs’s Tea Room Mysteries, and it’s filled with her trademark balance of calming tea and dangerous investigations. It can be a little challenging to read at times, between Theodosia’s impetuous decisions that put her in peril and the descriptions of delicious food that makes you want to stop reading and dive into a big plate of scones. Fortunately, Childs does include several recipes at the end, including Haley’s Honey Chicken, Honey Bee Cookies, Cheddar and Sausage Scotch Eggs, and Tuscan Soup.

I am a big fan of the Tea Room Mysteries, and I really liked Honey Drop Dead. There are a lot of interesting suspects in the crime, and these are always so readable. I just wish that I could go to a place like the Indigo Tea Shop to read them. I could use the help of a good tea sommelier, and I definitely need more scones in my life. Plus, it’s always good to have friends who could solve a murder, just in case you get accused of one.

Egalleys for Honey Drop Dead were provided by Berkley through NetGalley, with many thanks.