A Tea Shop Mystery
Title: Death by Darjeeling
Author: Laura Childs
Publisher: Berkley Prime Crime Mystery (Penguin)
Length: 242 pages
The best thing about cozy mysteries is generally not the mystery, but the cozy. The whole point of reading them is to sink luxuriously into a world of soothing smells and comforting sensations.
I find myself completely suckered by any paperback with the familiar palm labeled “Berkley Prime Crime Mystery,” knowing full well I’ll be in for a delightful dive into a two hundred page world. Usually part of fun serials, Berkley corners the market on the cozy mystery genre with this logo.
Laura Childs pulls the cozy serial off beautifully with her Indigo Tea Shop run by one Theodosia Browning. Such a delightful name! When I read or hear it I immediately think of Theodosia Burr Alston. Childs doesn’t stop there, though, the Indigo Tea Shop also features a dog named Earl Grey!
Tea preparation tips, recipes, and delightful garden descriptions will have you wishing you lived in South Carolina amidst a caddy historical society sampling tea blends.
For a more thorough review and a Darjeeling Cashew Cream Cheese recipe, click the photo I borrowed from the Kahakai Kitchen. It will take you to their blog.
The Keeping Quilt
Little girl got soap in her eye in the bath tub tonight. It was awful. There was banshee-like screaming, bright red faces from all involved, and a lot of tears. Her daddy, the man with the magic hands, was able to pat her back long enough to soothe her into a half slumber after we got the eye rinsed out and pajamas donned. Just as we headed out of the room, though, a little voice piped up from beyond the darkness, “But you didn’t read me my bedtime story.”
So snuggled under her own quilt, I whispered to her the story of Patricia Polacco’s family –
Title: The Keeping Quilt
Author: Patricia Polacco
Publisher: Aladdin Paperbacks
The Keeping Quilt is a beautifully illustrated family history that spans six generations. From the first immigrants of a family coming to America, through the making of a family quilt from the few cherished possessions they have from the mother country, through weddings, births, and old age, The Keeping Quilt tells a story of many lives united by love and history.
This book doesn’t just belong in every child’s library, but every quilt lover’s library as well. As we were reading, I couldn’t help but be reminded of Rich Fabric edited by Melinda McGuire and all the beautiful family histories captured in that volume as well.
I’m so glad I stumbled across this book today at the bookstore, honored to have been given the opportunity to step into Polacco’s family for the evening, and amazed at how perfectly soothing it was for a child who was emotionally and physically exhausted after a battle with a bar of soap.
Jane Austen Themes Soothe My Heart
Title: Mr. Darcy Broke My Heart
Author: Beth Pattillo
Genre: Fiction/ Chick-Lit
Publisher: Guideposts
Length: 268 pages
This book is adorable. There’s a lot of reviews on Amazon regarding it that I don’t understand because it seems people went into it expecting far more quality literature references and less cheesy romance – but I specifically picked it up because my brain hurt and I wanted to not think. If you want to shut yourself off from life for two or three hours, this book is perfect.
Claire is invited to read her sister’s paper at a Austen fan club in Oxford. Once she gets there, however, she finds herself infatuated with a fellow seminar member like a silly school girl. Claire embraces a teen girl mentality for a brief few days away from home – appropriate for her character since she never really got to be a silly teen because her parents died in an accident and she had to raise her kid sister.
If you were a silly teen once, however, the idea that a grown woman would be so ridiculous is a little irritating. Of course, there’s plenty of Jane Austen interludes to distract you from that irritation, and Pattillo’s version of what First Impressions might have been is fun.
This is not the best Jane Austen spin off or tie in. Follies Past by far takes the cake on the genre. But it’s good fun, light-hearted, and makes for a great right before bed or bubble bath read.
Anakalian Whims 