A Pirates and Plunder exhibit at Charleston's Heritage Society is the scene of a daring theft of a diamond crusted cup reputededly made from Blackbeard's skull and the murder and assault of two of the Society's staff in Scones & Bones (#129), the latest entry in Laura Childs' Tea Shop Murder series.
Theodosia Browning is in attendance at the gala party with her master tea blender and right hand assistant Drayton Conneley who just happens to be on the Board of the Heritage Society. As a favor to Drayton's friend Timothy Neville, Director of the Society, Theodosia allows herself to be drawn into investigating what really happened that night. Not that anyone, especially the Chief of Homicide, Burt Tidwell, could stop her!
Plenty of Charleston atmosphere and a cast of colorful characters with an interest in pirate loot are sprinkled through the pages as Theodosia and Drayton simultaneously deal with tracking down clues and hosting a prestigious wine and tea pairing at the Indigo Tea Shop for the annual Charleston Food and Wine Festival. It's never in doubt that Theodosia will tease (pardon the pun!) out the identity of the murderer/thief in the end...
Laura Childs throws in some bonus recipes at the end, along with some hints on how to hold a successful tea party. I personally was disappointed in the recipes, though! She mentions caramel scones in the text, among a number of different kinds of yummy-sounding scones, but gives us goat cheese (ugh!) truffles and cheesy bruschetta instead! With a title like Scones & Bones, I expected more than one lonesome scone recipe. Sigh...
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