Broken Bone China: A Tea Shop Mystery

Bestseller Childs’s 20th Tea Shop mystery (after 2018’s Plum Tea Crazy) opens with Theodosia Browning, the proprietor of the Indigo Tea Shop in Charleston, S.C., and tea sommelier Drayton Conneley enjoying a hot air balloon ride, until, to their horror, a drone strikes a nearby hot air balloon, killing Don Kingsley, CEO of a technology company, as well as his client and the pilot. Theodosia learns through her judicious questions, not entirely unwelcomed by Det. Burt Tidwell of the Charleston PD, that Kingsley, the apparent target, was possibly misusing company funds, and that his estranged wife needed money for the luxurious B&B she was planning to open soon. That a famous Revolutionary War flag, the object of a bidding war, has gone missing from Kingsley’s home adds to the intrigue. Suspects abound, including the wife, a pair of hostile antiques dealers, and a museum representative. Tea-related recipes and a list of tea resources round out a volume sure to appeal to cozy fans. [em]Agent: Sam Pinkus, Keystone Literary. (Mar.) [/em]