raconteur reviewed on 9/29/2010 + 168 more book reviews

Helpful Score: 2

I thought this book was one of the less stellar ones in the series. For one thing, there is an entire scene in there that has NOTHING to do with either the mystery or even as a way to provide background/scenic information. The whole scene just seemed like something the author needed to put in there as a way to meet her word quota - it's 5 pages of pointlessness.

Also, the attention paid to the mystery could add up to 10 pages. The rest is filled with long, detailed descriptions of teas, food, antiques, and tourist information about Charleston. So, this is less of a mystery and more of a tourist guide to Charleston.

Finally, Theodosia didn't even solve this murder - the murderer was on top of her, literally, before she ever figured it out. I, on the other hand, knew who did it from the second chapter.

The thing I noticed about this series is that it is becoming predictable. The culprit is ALWAYS the least suspected person. All I have to do is look for the character about whom there is the least written. That is always the culprit, no exceptions.

The redeeming value in this book - as well as the whole series - is that Theodosia, Drayton, and Hayley are fun to read about. I read these books less for the mystery (which is badly done, IMO) and more for the fact that I just love peeking into the daily lives of these characters.

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